Argentina in spotlight over hantavirus as authorities retrace footsteps of ship’s passengers

Thirty years after first person-to-person transmission was documented in Patagonia, scientists say global heating could increase world’s exposure

An outbreak in rural communities 30 years ago in the Patagonia area of Argentina led scientists, for the first time, to document person-to-person transmission of hantavirus, which until then had been known only to spread through contact with rodents.

Nearly a decade ago another outbreak, also in Patagonia, provided detailed evidence of inter-human transmission when an infected 68-year-old rural worker attended a birthday party in a small village. The infection spread and resulted in 11 deaths.

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Water flows to parched NSW wetlands could be turned back on within weeks as drought fears loom

Water minister Rose Jackson calls drying in Gwydir region ‘devastating’ as bill passes upper house

Water flows to parched New South Wales wetlands where an urgent rescue mission to save dying wildlife unfolded are a step closer to resuming after legislation passed the state parliament’s upper house.

The water minister, Rose Jackson, told the parliament on Thursday night the impact of a halt to environmental flows in the internationally significant Gwydir region had been “devastating” as she introduced legislative amendments she said would allow flows to resume.

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Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary

Julie, once a circus elephant, and Kariba, from a Belgian zoo, are to be moved to a former ranch in Portugal

Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary, which is opening to offer a more natural environment for some of the 600 animals still held in captivity across the continent, is to receive its first arrivals.

Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, will be moved next month to the animal charity Pangea’s multimillion pound sanctuary in the Alentejo, 200km (124 miles) east of Lisbon, close to the border with Spain.

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Coyote swam 2 miles to Alcatraz Island, going farther than scientists expected

Biologists had guessed coyote paddled a shorter distance to former prison in the San Francisco Bay earlier this year

A lone coyote stunned biologists and others when earlier this year it paddled its way to the remote Alcatraz Island, a former federal prison in the San Francisco Bay surrounded by swift, choppy waters notorious for thwarting prisoners’ escapes.

At the time, biologists guessed the coyote swam from San Francisco, which is a little over 1 mile (1.6km) from the fortress. But it turns out the male coyote actually made an even longer swim from nearby Angel Island, 2 miles away.

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Hundreds of animals rescued from ‘appalling’ conditions at California sanctuary

San Diego Humane Society finds more than 400 animals at Julian facility, with malnutrition and injuries amid bankruptcy dispute

Authorities in California have rescued more than 400 animals, including horses, cats, dogs and goats, from a now shuttered sanctuary in San Diego county.

The San Diego Humane Society conducted the massive operation last week at Villa Chardonnay, a sprawling facility in Julian that had operated since 2003.

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Rescue of Timmy the whale ‘an all-round catastrophe’ after tracker failure

Marine experts criticise €1.5m privately funded operation as humpback’s fate remains unknown after release into Baltic

Marine biologists and whale experts have stepped up their criticism of a privately funded operation to release a humpback whale that was stranded for weeks off Germany’s Baltic coast after it emerged that a tracker fitted to the whale was not working.

The whereabouts and health of the young male whale – nicknamed Timmy after one of the sandbanks it was stranded on – remain unknown three days after it was transported in a water-holding barge pulled by a tugboat to waters off the coast of Denmark.

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‘They know they’re safe’: beagles saved from US research facility after protests

Big Dog Ranch Rescue made deal to buy 1,500 dogs from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin breeding and research facility

The first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility that was the site of recent protests seemed to know right away that they were safe.

“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, the president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said on Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”

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‘Don’t fall!’: foil boarders describe hair-raising shark chase caught on video off California coast

Foil boarders were pursued by shark – likely a great white – off Santa Barbara before it lost interest and swam away

Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise were a few miles off the coast of Santa Barbara when they noticed the large mass trailing behind them.

“Tavis, is it a dolphin?” asked Takeda as he stood on his foil board, a specialized form of surfing, propelling himself through the waves. Boise, who was filming their run, recognized the question as an ominous sign – the veteran surfers are familiar enough with dolphins that Takeda should have recognized one immediately.

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Indian billionaire’s son offers to house Pablo Escobar’s hippos at his private zoo

Anant Ambani revives offer to transport 80 animals, all descendants of Colombian drug kingpin’s pets, to India

It remains one of the strangest conundrums in modern zoological history – what to do with the descendants of Pablo Escobar’s hippos?

The animals – herbivores native to sub-Saharan Africa – were originally imported into Colombia by the drug kingpin for his own entertainment. But the beasts and their offspring were left to roam free after his death in 1993.

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Stranded whale Timmy swims on to barge in German rescue attempt

Rescuers hope to move young male humpback from Baltic to North Sea after being stranded for a month near Lübeck

Rescuers trying to save a stranded humpback whale off Germany’s Baltic coast have coaxed the mammal on to a barge in the hope the vessel can take it to safety in deeper waters.

Amid intense media attention, the high-stakes rescue mission, funded by two multi-millionaires, is being watched by hundreds of onlookers, many of whom are camped nearby to monitor the spectacle.

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German tourist dies after being bitten at snake show on family holiday in Egypt

Man, 57, was watching snake-charming show when reptile crawled into his trousers, say German police

A German tourist has died after a snake crawled into his trousers and bit him as he watched a show in Egypt on a family holiday, police in Germany have said.

The 57-year-old man was watching the snake-charming show at a hotel in Hurghada, a popular beach holiday destination on the Red Sea, in early April.

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Record bear sightings in Japan cause alarm as hibernation ends

Woman’s body found in Iwate prefecture last week, soon after a police officer was injured in bear attack nearby

Rested but famished bears emerging from hibernation in Japan are already coming into contact with humans, with the pace of sightings outstripping that seen in 2025, a record year for bear attacks.

According to media reports, the animals have been spotted with surprising frequency in urban areas in the country’s north-east, with authorities urging caution among people planning to spend the coming Golden Week public holidays in the countryside.

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Florida officials investigate planned ‘Sloth World’ attraction after 31 sloths die in warehouse

Languorous tree dwellers from Guyana and Peru died from ‘cold stun’ in warehouse with no power or running water

Wildlife officials in Florida said in a newly released report that dozens of sloths taken from South American rainforests for display at a controversial new tourist attraction in Orlando died in the care of their new owners.

An incident report from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) said that 31 of the mammals procured from Peru and Guyana by the owners of a forthcoming attraction called Sloth World perished in a storage warehouse more than a year ago, between December 2024 and February 2025.

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Dippy the injured axolotl rescued from Welsh river

Family found creature under a bridge and are documenting its recovery in a fish tank on TikTok

An injured axolotl is on the road to recovery after being rescued from a river in Wales. “Dippy” was found under Dipping Bridge on the River Ogmore near Bridgend, south Wales, by a family who had stopped for a break while travelling on holiday last week.

Evie Hill, 10, told the BBC she lifted up a discarded mat in the shallows of the river, and nestled in the rocks was a 9in (22cm) axolotl, an aquatic salamander native to Mexico. It was pale in colour, with speckles, and had injuries to its tail and stomach believed to have been caused by a predator.

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Mouse plague hits WA grain farmers as numbers surge in SA: ‘You literally can’t get away from them’

CSIRO researcher says there are reports of up to 4,000 mouse burrows per hectare in parts of Western Australia

Grain growers are on high alert as mouse numbers in Western Australia reach plague proportions and numbers surge in South Australia.

Steve Henry, who researches mice and their impact on the grain industry at CSIRO, says more than 800 mice per hectare is considered a plague.

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Two US army soldiers injured by brown bear during training exercise in Alaska

Soldiers were participating in ‘land navigation training’ when bear injured them in a ‘defensive attack’

Two US army soldiers have been injured after encountering a brown bear in a mountainous training area in Anchorage, Alaska, the military said on Friday.

The incident happened on Thursday as the soldiers were participating in a “land navigation training event” in Arctic valley, part of the joint base Elmendorf-Richardson’s training area.

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Ant smuggler sentenced to a year in jail by Kenyan court

More than 2,200 ants were found in Zhang Kequn’s luggage at Nairobi airport, with baggage destined for China

A Chinese national has been sentenced to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya, a lucrative trade in east Africa that was exposed last year.

The insects are mostly destined for China, the US and Europe, where they become pets and can be worth about $100 each.

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Colombia to cull up to 80 hippos descended from Pablo Escobar zoo

Dozens of feral pachyderms linked to drug kingpin to be killed because of threat to native species and villagers

Colombian officials have authorized a plan to cull dozens of hippos descended from animals brought to the country in the 1980s by Pablo Escobar, after the feral beasts displaced native species and threatened local villagers.

The environment minister, Irene Vélez, said the decision was reached because other methods to control their population had been expensive and unsuccessful, including neutering some of the animals or moving them to zoos. Vélez said that up to 80 hippos would be affected by the measure. She did not say when the hunting would begin.

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Woman, 19, killed in Essex dog attack named as Jamie-Lea Biscoe

Police arrest man, 37, on suspicion of being in charge of dog dangerously out of control and causing injury resulting in death

A 19-year-old woman who died after a dog attack in Essex has been named by police as Jamie-Lea Biscoe.

Police said the victim was found with serious injuries by emergency services after they were called to a property in Long Hide, in the village of Leaden Roding, at 10.45pm on Friday. Biscoe was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 37-year-old man from Dunmow, who was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury resulting in death, has been bailed until July while inquiries continue, Essex police said on Sunday.

The canine, which was a family pet and believed to be a lurcher cross, was seized and tests are under way to formally establish the dog’s breed, the force added.

Assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said: “Our thoughts remain with all those who knew and loved Jamie-Lea. Her young life has been so tragically cut short.

“Our detectives are continuing to work around the clock to establish exactly what happened and specialist officers are continuing to support Jamie-Lea’s family.

“This is unimaginable for her loved ones and friends and, as such, I would ask people to respect their grief and privacy at this extremely difficult time.

“Our officers remain at the scene and anyone with concerns or information can speak with them there or contact us in the usual way.”

A post-mortem examination is due to take place on Sunday, police said.

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation has been asked to contact Essex police through their website or anonymously through independent charity Crimestoppers.

On Thursday, a three-month-old baby died in a suspected dog attack at a property in Redcar, North Yorkshire.

The baby girl is believed to have died as a result of a dog bite in the Dormanstown area and a woman, aged 31, was treated in hospital for an injury to her arm from a bite, police said.

Armed officers destroyed one dog that had gone on to the street and a second recovered by police has since been destroyed.

A man, aged 45, was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death and was released on conditional bail.

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Golden eagles could be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years

Study identified eight areas that can sustain a population and government has given £1m for recovery programme

“The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.” So wrote Shakespeare in Richard III, in a line of social commentary that feels ever more relevant with age.

A note of good news then, in a world of so much bad, that the eagles the Bard was probably referring to could finally be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years.

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