Category Archives: Animals

Kosovo zoo rescue lion and bears come out to play in winter snow

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Sanctuary sets up heaters to take chill off rescue animals that have lost habit of entering full hibernation

Workers at a bear sanctuary in Pristina are working hard to look after a lion that wants to play in the snow and bears who were removed from their natural habitat when they were cubs and also enjoy the snowy conditions because they do not hibernate any more.

As the winter’s first snowfall covered Bear Sanctuary Prishtina in the Kosovan capital, visitors enjoyed the sight of a lion playing before quickly taking shelter indoors where a heater was installed to fend off temperatures which fell below freezing.

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Bone cows bred in Australia provide base material for dental grafts

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Use of cattle from country free of mad cow disease means product is safe, experts say, and patients can still donate blood

Bone cows, specially bred in mad cow-free Australia, are being used instead of human donors for dental and medical bone grafts.

While bovine grafts have been tested for spinal fusion, foot reconstructions and to fix skull traumas, the Australian versions are predominantly used in dental work to strengthen degraded jaws before tooth implants.

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‘We have to work urgently’: Mexican ecologists start campaign to save axolotl

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Pollution has tamped population density by 99.5%, but scientists think cultural icon could aid in tissue repair and cancer recovery

Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous University on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, a native, endangered fish-like type of salamander.

The campaign, called Adoptaxolotl, asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny “water monsters”. Virtual adoption comes with live updates on your axolotl’s health. For less money, donors can buy a virtual dinner for one of the creatures, which are relatively popular pets in the US.

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Owner of two dogs shot dead by police given suspended sentence

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Louie Turnbull pleads guilty to owning dangerously out of control animals after they attacked woman’s dog by east London canal

A man whose two dogs were shot dead by police in front of him has been given a suspended sentence for owning dangerously out of control animals.

Viral footage circulated on social media of Metropolitan police officers killing Louie Turnbull’s canines beside an east London canal in May this year.

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Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’

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RSPB says figures distorted by failure to examine raptors caught in avian flu outbreak for signs of shooting or poisoning

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.

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‘Alive with rats’: north Queensland town of Karumba overrun by plague of swimming rodents

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A sea of rats has been washing up dead on the beach, with others scurrying across boat ramps into garden sheds and homes

The north Queensland town of Karumba is home to saltwater crocs, brolgas and black swans – and, more recently – hundreds of swimming rats.

A sea of rodents has been washing up dead on the beach in recent days, with others scurrying across the boat ramps into garden sheds and homes.

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‘Extremely venomous’ green mamba on the loose in Netherlands

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Police in southern city of Tilburg tell residents to stay indoors after owner reported missing snake

An “extremely venomous” 2-metre green mamba snake is on the loose in the Netherlands, police have said, warning residents to stay indoors and under no circumstances attempt to ensnare the serpent.

Police in the southern city of Tilburg said they were alerted by the mamba’s owner on Monday evening that “he was missing a snake”.

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Orphaned mountain lion sisters find new home at California zoo

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Willow and Maple, whose mother was hit by car on highway, were dehydrated and underweight when they were found in backyard

The two sisters are tiny – only five and a half pounds, and about two months old. They have giant eyes and mottled patches on their fur. Found in a backyard five days after their mother was hit on Highway 280 in northern California, the mountain lions headed to a new home at the Oakland zoo last week.

The sisters, now named Willow and Maple, were hungry and tired after not eating for five days. The cubs were visibly dehydrated, and underweight, and were checked for parasites and viruses by veterinarians, zoo officials said.

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Zimbabwean ranger brings unloved painted dogs back from brink

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Jealous Mpofu wins Tusk’s ranger of the year award for his work with a maligned and misunderstood species

When Jealous Mpofu was a boy, he overheard his father’s bosses talking negatively about painted dogs, wild African canines with distinct marble coats that are among the world’s most endangered species.

“They said they didn’t kill an animal, they grabbed the flesh. They said they were rough animals,” Mpofu said.

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Two airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after dog attack in north Wales

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Two others injured in Pwllheli attack, involving dog that was destroyed and whose breed not yet established

Two people have been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after a dog attack in Pwllheli, north Wales.

Officers attended an address in the Rhoshirwaun area just before 11.30am on Friday, and two other people suffered minor injuries, North Wales police said.

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Moldovan president’s dog bites hand of Austrian president

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Incident happened in Moldovan presidential residence when Alexander Van der Bellen tried to pet Maia Sandu’s rescue dog

The dog of the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has overturned protocol by biting the visiting Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen, on the hand.

The incident occurred on Thursday when the two leaders were strolling in the courtyard of the Moldovan presidential residence in the capital, Chișinău, and Van der Bellen tried to pet the dog, Moldovan media reported.

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‘Miracle dog’ returned to family after staying with owner who died hiking

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Finney the jack russell terrier had survived after spending more than 10 weeks by her owner when he died on a mountain hike

A faithful dog who survived after spending more than 10 weeks by her owner when he died on a mountain hike is safely back with the rest of her human loved ones – and back on the trails – the family has said.

Rich Moore, 71, of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, died of hypothermia while hiking in the San Juan mountains in the south of the state in August.

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More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds

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Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability

More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.

Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.

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‘Puking’ pūteketeke crowned New Zealand bird of the century after John Oliver campaign

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Annual competition inundated with a record number of votes after comedian took the Australasian crested grebe under his wing

New Zealand has crowned a bird that grunts, pukes and has a highly unusual repertoire of mating rituals as its bird of the century.

The threatened Australasian crested grebe, or pūteketeke, was thrown into the global spotlight by a powerful backer, British-American comedian and talkshow host John Oliver.

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Neil the 600kg seal stops Tasmanian woman going to work after taking nap in front of her car

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Amber Harris woke to the sound of what she thought was somebody breaking into her car but found a tired southern elephant seal

A 600kg seal took a nap in front of a Tasmanian woman’s car, stopping her from going to work on Tuesday.

Amber Harris woke up at 6.20am to the sound of what she thought was “somebody breaking into my car”, she told ABC Hobart.

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Animals to be recognised as sentient beings under proposed Victorian cruelty laws

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New draft of animal care and protection act may make Victoria first state to explicitly recognise animal sentience

The Victorian government will follow the ACT and could become the first Australian state to recognise that animals are sentient beings, under a draft overhaul of cruelty laws to be released in the coming weeks.

Guardian Australia understands a long-awaited draft of the new animal care and protection act will be released for public consultation next month, before a final bill is tabled in parliament in 2024.

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Premature death of 80m chickens raises concerns over UK’s fast-growing breeds

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Animal welfare groups urge retailers to switch to slow-growing birds in face of record deaths last year

More than 80 million chickens died before reaching slaughter weight in the UK last year, with mortality rates the highest for at least a decade, reveal official figures.

Animal welfare organisations say the fast-growing chicken breeds that dominate production have higher mortality rates, lameness and muscle disease than slower-growing breeds. They are calling on retailers to switch to slower-growing breeds and provide more space for the birds.

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Species of mammal named after David Attenborough believed extinct rediscovered

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Long-beaked echidna with spines of a hedgehog and snout of an anteater photographed on last day of expedition

Scientists have rediscovered a long-lost species of mammal described as having the spines of a hedgehog, the snout of an anteater and the feet of a mole, in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains more than 60 years after it was last recorded.

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, named after British naturalist David Attenborough, was photographed for the first timesince 1961 by a trail camera on the last day of a four-week expedition led by Oxford University scientists in June and July.

Having descended from the mountains at the end of the trip, biologist James Kempton found the images of the small creature walking through the forest undergrowth on the last memory card retrieved from more than 80 remote cameras.

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Sámi call to protect reindeer in Sweden after 10,000 road deaths in five years

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Indigenous people’s parliament says action required including lower speed limits and more fences

Sweden’s Sámi parliament is calling for more protection for reindeer after more than 10,000 were killed by motorists in the last five years, turning roadsides into “animal graveyards”.

According to police, between October 2018 and October 2023 there were more than 10,000 road accidents in northern Sweden involving at least one reindeer, meaning the number killed is likely to be far higher.

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South Korea launches campaign to squash bedbugs after outbreak takes hold

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Bedbugs were almost eradicated via nationwide campaign in 1960s but thanks to lifting of travel restrictions after Covid-19 pandemic they’re back

South Korea’s government has declared war on bedbugs, amid reports that an infestation is causing panic in a country that had practically rid itself of the nocturnal bloodsuckers.

Starting next week, authorities will carry out inspections of “vulnerable” locations – including public bathhouses and lodging facilities – and immediately disinfect places where the bugs are found.

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