Category Archives: Animals

Alligator rescued in New York City park has bathtub stopper stuck in body

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The object cannot be removed from the reptile, named ‘Godzilla’, due to her weakened state, said the Wildlife Conservation Society

The alligator discovered in a New York City park reportedly has a bathtub stopper stuck in her body, and her caretakers have been unable to remove it because of her poor state of health.

The 4ft-long female reptile, rescued from a lake in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on 19 February, was named “Godzilla” because of her size. However, her health was in a dire state when she was recovered, and she was “extremely emaciated”, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement on Wednesday.

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WHO says avian flu cases in humans ‘worrying’ after girl’s death in Cambodia

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Child died and father tested positive for H5N1, prompting fears of possible person-to-person transmission

The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low.

On Thursday, Cambodian authorities reported an 11-year-old girl from Prey Veng province had died from H5N1, with subsequent testing of 12 of her contacts revealing that her father also had the virus.

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Moonpig to stop selling cards with pugs over animal welfare concerns

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Firm responds to calls from vets who say pictures fuel demand for flat-faced breeds, which often have serious health complaints

Moonpig is to stop selling cards featuring pictures of pugs and French bulldogs after criticism from vets and campaigners who fear the images fuel demand for the breeds, which often have serious health complaints.

Last year, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) wrote to the Greeting Card Association and card retailers, including Moonpig, Paperchase and WH Smith, urging them to stop using pugs and other flat-faced dogs on cards.

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Canadian minister calls for emergency order to save country’s last spotted owls

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Steven Guilbeault wants to block logging of critical old-growth forest to prevent owls from going extinct in British Columbia

Canada’s environment minister plans to use a rare emergency order to protect the last of an endangered owl species in an area where critical old-growth forest is slated for further clearcutting.

Steven Guilbeault advised the environmental groups Ecojustice and the Wilderness Committee that he believed the spotted owl was facing “imminent threats to its survival” and he would use the powers to block further destruction of its habitat in British Columbia, the groups announced on Thursday afternoon.

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Bird flu: 11-year-old girl in Cambodia dies after being infected

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Case is the country’s first known human infection with H5N1 strain since 2014, health minister says

An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died after being infected by a strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, the government says.

It was the first known human infection with the H5N1 strain in the country since 2014, the health minister, Mam Bunheng, said in a statement on Thursday.

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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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