Category Archives: Animals

Florida researchers capture invasive pythons by attaching GPS collars to prey

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Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 20ft, have surged in south Florida due to snake owners releasing them when they get too big

To better find, capture and remove invasive Burmese pythons in Florida’s Everglades, a team of researchers is attaching location-tracking collars on animals such as raccoons and opossums that the predatory snakes feed on.

Burmese pythons have surged in south Florida in recent years, because many snake owners release them into the wild after they become too large to take care of.

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Greens decry ‘utter decimation’ of independent observer program for live exports

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Most voyages carrying livestock out of Australia sailed without an observer, with half of those ships claiming they had insufficient space for an extra person

Almost half the live export ships that sailed from Australia without an independent observer claimed there was “insufficient space” to allow them onboard last year, new data shows.

The independent monitoring scheme established in 2018 after 2,400 sheep died while being exported by Australian exporter Emanuel Exports has weakened considerably since its resumption from a Covid-related pause, data shows.

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Fecal bacteria ‘rampant’ on New York sidewalks, researchers find

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Co-author advises taking off your shoes at the door after studying dog poop on Upper East Side

Researchers at New York’s Marymount College have published a study that, in its essence, attempts to establish how much dog poop footwear carries into the homes of New Yorkers on the affluent Upper East Side.

The study, released to the Indoor and Built Environment journal, concludes there’s a strong argument for leaving your outside shoes at the door – or risk tracking fecal bacteria around the house.

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Have you seen this bug? Scientists call on Britain’s gardeners to track elusive aphid

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The elusive giant willow aphid goes into hiding in spring. Now the Royal Horticultural Society wants volunteers to help find out why

Gardeners have been urged by scientists to help find a mysterious bug which disappears in spring and reappears at the end of summer.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is asking people to send in sightings of the giant willow aphid (Tuberolachnus salignus) so that they can find out where it goes and how it interacts with garden plants.

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‘Finch-smuggling kingpin’ sentenced to prison for bird trafficking into US

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Insaf Ali smuggled songbirds in hair curlers from Guyana to New York when JFK airport authorities discovered the ruse

A man who repeatedly admitted scheming to smuggle finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions was sentenced on Thursday to a year and a day in prison.

It was Insaf Ali’s second time being sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court for a crime related to bird trafficking, and he vowed it would be his last.

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India urges citizens to ‘hug a cow’ on Valentine’s Day

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Campaign seeks to boost traditional Indian values and offset ‘dazzle of western civilisation’

The Indian government has urged people to set aside the “western” traditions of Valentine’s Day and instead celebrate the occasion by cuddling up with the country’s sacred cows.

In a new appeal, 14 February has been declared Cow Hug Day, when people are encouraged to take the animals into an embrace. Cows are holy within Hinduism, the majority religion in India, and are considered sacred animals across the country.

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Friendly Ghost: white dog running with coyotes gets help from rescue group

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Animal spotted in the desert of southern Nevada likely to have been abandoned as a puppy, rescuers say

For the last few months, a ghost has roamed the desert of southern Nevada near Las Vegas with a pack of coyotes. The apparent phantom is actually a white dog named Ghost, who observers say the animals accepted as one of their own.

Residents in Henderson spotted the dog running through their neighborhood at night, sometimes with the coyotes as they played together, for at least six months, according to a fundraiser for the animal. But neighbors, who documented his movements on social media, grew concerned about an injury on Ghost’s leg that was causing a severe limp and tried unsuccessfully to catch him.

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Florida still world’s shark bite capital – but attacks on humans lowest in decade

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Across the world there were 57 unprovoked shark bites in 2022, most of which occurred in the US and Australia

Florida has retained its title as the shark bite capital of the world, according to new figures, but globally the number of such attacks on humans is at its joint lowest level for a decade.

Across the world there were 57 unprovoked shark bites in 2022, most of which occurred in the United States and Australia, said the University of Florida’s international shark attack file, a renowned resource that published its annual data on Monday.

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Flaco the owl flees New York Central Park zoo after enclosure vandalized

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Eurasian eagle owl spotted in midtown since escape as zoo staff try to lure Flaco back by leaving food out for him

A Eurasian eagle owl named Flaco escaped New York’s Central Park zoo on Thursday night after his enclosure was vandalized and is still on the loose in Manhattan.

Flaco was spotted at different times since fleeing by various onlookers, once on a sidewalk on Fifth Avenue, across from the Plaza Hotel, and perched on trees around Central Park.

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Bull shark likely behind fatal bite on 16-year-old Stella Berry in Perth’s Swan River

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Experts urge swimmers to be cautious as more sharks are in the local estuaries at this time of year

Marine experts have warned more sharks will be swimming in estuaries at this time of year after a 16-year-old girl was killed in an attack in Perth’s Swan River.

The girl, identified as Stella Berry, was pulled from the water on Saturday afternoon with critical injuries, understood to have been to her legs, but despite the efforts of paramedics she died at the scene.

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Teenage girl killed in suspected shark attack in Perth’s Swan River

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Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby

A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.

The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.

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Portuguese pooch crowned world’s oldest dog

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Thirty-year-old Bobi snatched title from US pup in upset; longevity credited to human food and ‘calm, peaceful environment’

It’s a dog’s life for one small US pup this weekend after a European rival essentially stole his bone.

Two weeks ago, Spike, an Ohio-based chihuahua mix rescue dog, was crowned the world’s oldest dog. But two days ago Bobi, a dog that guards livestock in Portugal, grabbed the title faster than a string of sausages, CNN reported.

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Bear-clawed cavern discovered in Spain ‘opens new door on prehistory’

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Researchers hail ‘world-class discovery’ that suggests cave bears may have lived farther south than thought

Researchers exploring a cave system in south-east Spain have discovered a huge cavern, sealed off for millennia, hung with huge stalactites and gouged by the claws of long-extinct cave bears, which, they claim, “opens a new door on prehistory”.

The find was made at the Cueva del Arco, a collection of caves in the Almadenes gorge near the Murcian town of Cieza. Although the site had already yielded evidence of settlements stretching back 50,000 years – making it one of the few places in the eastern Iberian peninsula where the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans can be documented – experts digging there suspected it harboured further discoveries.

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Somerset estate offers rare peek into life of beavers with launch of online tour

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National Trust project shows family home of ‘nature’s engineers’ and how they have improved the environment for other wildlife

They can be seen chugging around their watery domain like small furry tugboats, gnawing away at saplings or nuzzling up to each other. The sound of babbling water and birdsong provides a pleasing soundtrack.

A new online tour is being launched on Thursday of an enclosure on the Holnicote estate in Somerset that is home to a family of five beavers. In what is billed as the first of its kind, the tour allows viewers to navigate through the 2.7-acre Exmoor enclosure where two adult beavers and their three offspring live and work.

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Child released from hospital after mountain lion attack in California

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State department of fish and wildlife is investigating Tuesday’s incident in San Mateo county

A five-year-old boy who was attacked by a mountain lion while hiking in rural northern California with his mother and grandfather has been released from a hospital, authorities said Wednesday.

The boy had raced ahead of the adults on a trail in San Mateo county, south of San Francisco, on Tuesday when the big cat pounced on him and pinned him to the ground, said Capt Patrick Foy, a spokesperson with the California department of fish and wildlife.

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Mexico zoo chief accused of ordering pygmy goats to be killed and cooked for party

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Authorities claim animals in the zoo in city of Chilpancingo were sold, traded or eaten under orders of former director

The former director of a zoo in southern Mexico killed four of the zoo’s pygmy goats and served them up at a Christmas-season party, authorities have alleged.

“These four animals [were] slaughtered and cooked on the zoo’s premises, and were served as food at the year-end party,” said Fernando Ruiz Gutierrez, the state environment department’s director of wildlife, blaming the zoo’s director at the time, José Rubén Nava. “This put the health of the people who ate them at risk, because these animals were not fit for human consumption.”

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Mystery of the missing monkeys adds to litany of unexplained Dallas zoo attacks

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Monkeys were reported missing Monday after a vulture died, a clouded leopard escaped and a monkey cage was damaged

A mystery is unfolding at the Dallas zoo as two emperor tamarin monkeys were reported missing on Monday in what is now the fourth recent incident involving animals at the popular attraction in Texas.

Previously a vulture was apparently killed and a clouded leopard escaped after its cage was cut open. Before that another monkey cage was deliberately damaged.

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Farmers will be key to plan to restore England’s green spaces and wildlife

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Environmental improvement plan includes many ambitious pledges but hard-pressed agricultural sector will need effective support

It has taken years of campaigns and mass trespasses for the government to put access to green space in England at the top of its agenda, as it has today in the environmental improvement plan.

During the pandemic, the importance of nature for our physical and mental wellbeing became ever more apparent – as did the inequality in access, with the poorest in society less able to access green space.

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Bear goes selfie-crazy by snapping 400 pictures on Colorado wildlife camera

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A motion-activated camera near Boulder contained a surprise for officials monitoring wildlife activity

Selfie mania in wild beauty spots is definitely a thing – but this camera hog had no real idea what she was doing.

When a curious bear stumbled upon a wildlife motion-activated camera near Boulder, Colorado, she ended up triggering hundreds of “selfies”, officials have said.

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Birdsong boosts mental wellbeing for 90% of people, UK poll finds

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RSPB shares results as Britons encouraged to spend an hour counting birds in annual Big Garden Birdwatch

Watching birds and hearing birdsong have a positive impact on wellbeing for more than nine in 10 people, according to a survey to mark the largest garden wildlife count in the world.

People are being urged to boost their mental health and help scientists by spending an hour this weekend counting the birds in their garden or local park for the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.

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