Traveller stopped by customs as he sought to slip out of Hong Kong into the border city of Shenzhen
A man has been caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by cramming them into his trousers, according to the country’s customs authority.
The unnamed traveller was stopped by customs officers as he sought to slip out of semi-autonomous Hong Kong and into the border city of Shenzhen, China Customs said in a statement on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Conservationists say it’s a ‘slap in the face’ to those who are trying to save the threatened species
The Canadian province of Alberta has quietly reversed a two-decade ban on hunting grizzly bears, in what conservations described as a “slap in the face” amid continuing debate over the future of the threatened species.
Alberta first banned the hunting of grizzly bears in 2006 after the population of the species, which once reached as many as 9,0000 bears, collapsed due to generations of overhunting, agriculture development and urbanization.
Continue reading...Teen’s injuries weren’t considered life-threatening in shark attack, which are rare incidents, though Florida is US and world leader
A shark bit a Florida teen on the leg during a lifeguard training camp on Monday morning, officials said.
The attack on the 14-year-old boy in question occurred near the Ponce Inlet lifeguard tower shortly before noon, Volusia county beach safety officials said. The lifeguard trainee had been practicing water entries when he landed on a shark.
Continue reading...Officials say 43-year-old man left his vehicle to take pictures of a breeding herd at Pilanesberg national park
A Spanish tourist has been trampled to death by elephants in a South African national park after apparently trying to take pictures of a breeding herd that included three calves.
The 43-year-old man was killed on Sunday morning at Pilanesberg national park about 130 miles (210km) north-west of Johannesburg.
Continue reading...Newly recovered DNA shows the predators share little genetic ancestry with domestic dogs and are descended from ancient animals from China
Scientists have for the first time recovered DNA from the remains of dingoes between 400 and 2,700 years old to find the predator’s population was well established across the Australian continent thousands of years ago.
According to the researchers, modern dingoes share little genetic ancestry with domestic dogs introduced into Australia from Europe but are instead descended from ancient dogs and wolves from China and the Tibetan plateau. Dingoes were closely related to modern New Guinea singing dogs, the research confirmed, with both sharing a common ancestor.
Continue reading...Greyhound Racing NSW allegedly breached licence that stipulates it must immediately disclose anything that brings industry into disrepute
The New South Wales minister responsible for greyhound racing has threatened to sack the industry’s governing board over its alleged failure to properly manage a series of complaints over how it operates and other matters.
Guardian Australia understands the racing minister, David Harris, issued a show cause notice to the Greyhound Racing NSW board on the grounds it had breached the terms of its operating licence, as the sector faces criticism over rising dog injuries and its adoption programs.
Continue reading...About 2.5 metres long, creature was an apex predator 280m years ago, before age of dinosaurs, say scientists
A giant 280m-year-old salamander-like creature that was an apex predator before the age of the dinosaurs has been discovered by fossil hunters in Namibia.
The creature, Gaiasia jennyae, was about 2.5 metres long, had an enormous toilet seat-shaped head and fearsome interlocking fangs. It lurked in cold swampy waters and lakes with its mouth wide open, preparing to clamp down its powerful jaws on any prey unwise enough to swim past.
Continue reading...Federal review sparks fresh warnings that biodiversity scheme is increasing risk of animals going extinct
A review of some of the areas chosen for nature restoration as part of Australia’s biodiversity offset system has found a third are in worse condition than before, prompting fresh warnings that the scheme is increasing the risk of animals going extinct.
In one instance, the majority of a site that should have provided grey-headed flying fox and koala habitat was found to be “cleared paddock with negligible foraging value”.
Continue reading...Contest condemned by animal rights groups sees children and adults hunt cats, which threaten native wildlife
A controversial competition that allows children to hunt feral cats in rural New Zealand for cash prizes has produced its biggest haul yet, with roughly 340 animals killed – about 100 more than last year’s event.
The annual North Canterbury fundraising event, which wrapped up this weekend, is open to children and adult participants and targets deer, pigs, ducks, possums and rabbits.
Continue reading...Park staff say they have not been able to locate calf, who fulfilled Lakota prophecy and is named Wakan Gli
A rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone national park has not been seen since its birth on 4 June, according to park officials.
In a statement released on Friday, the National Park Service (NPS) confirmed that a white buffalo calf was born in Lamar Valley earlier this month, adding that the park’s buffalo management team had received numerous reports of the calf on 4 June from park visitors, professional wildlife watchers, commercial guides and researchers.
Continue reading...Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water
More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.
A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.
Continue reading...Swimmer off Fernandina beach was rescued by Nassau county marine unit after distress call from boat on Friday
A shark attack off Florida’s Atlantic coast left a man with a “severe bite to his right arm” on Friday, authorities say, leaving him in critical condition from blood loss.
The Nassau county sheriff’s office marine unit, which was patrolling off the coast of Fernandina beach near the Florida-Georgia border, said it had received a distress call from a boat on Friday and had applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Continue reading...Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species
Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.
Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.
Continue reading...The actor, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was a lifeguard and professional surfer, described as a ‘legendary waterman’
Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry has died following a shark attack in Hawaii.
Perry, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was surfing at Malaekahana beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when he died on Sunday afternoon.
Continue reading...Eight dogs vied for the title in the Sonoma-Marin Fair’s disagreeable-looking dog competition
The World’s Ugliest Dog annual contest may not render the most flattering title to its victor, but don’t tell that to Wild Thang.
The eight-year-old pekingese won this year’s competition on Friday.
Continue reading...California family lets Diesel ‘live his best life’ with his new herd after he got loose on a camping trip
A donkey spotted apparently living with a herd of wild elk in a video that went viral on the internet has been identified as Diesel, a once beloved pet who had apparently run away five years ago.
The video was taken earlier this year, when Max Fennell, a hunter in northern California, filmed a group of wild elk apparently hanging out with a donkey who appeared to be a member of their herd.
Continue reading...Home secretary demands ‘urgent explanation’ over ‘heavy-handed’ attempt to capture wandering animal
The home secretary has asked Surrey police to provide a “full, urgent explanation” after footage showed officers using a car to ram an escaped cow.
James Cleverly made the comments after footage posted online showed officers ramming the cow twice with their police car, while an onlooker is heard shouting: “What are you doing that for?”
Continue reading...Agency principal deputy director wants more testing of farm workers who work in proximity to affected animals
There is not enough testing for bird flu among people and animals in the US, says Dr Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – but he is wary of pushing the issue and damaging fragile trust among farm workers and owners.
“We would like to be doing more tests,” Shah said. “We’d like to be testing particularly not just symptomatic workers, but anyone on a farm who is exposed.”
Continue reading...Black bear apparently opened the vehicle by lifting door handle with its mouth, after breaking into same car last year
After a string of vehicle break-ins in a north Canadian town, local residents have identified the culprit: a black bear with a taste for upholstery foam.
Awoken by a noise near midnight on 11 June, Kayla Seward, who lives in the Ontario township of Larder Lake, went outside to investigate – and found the sleepy black bear locked inside her car.
Continue reading...The birth, not yet confirmed by park officials, holds special significance to tribe as ‘both a blessing and warning’
A rare white buffalo has been born in Yellowstone national park, with the arrival prompting local Lakota Sioux leaders to plan a special celebration, with the calf representing a sign of hope and the need to look after the planet.
The white calf was reportedly spotted shortly after its birth, on Tuesday last week, by park visitor Erin Braaten, a photographer. She took several shots of the wobbly baby after spotting it amongst a herd of buffalo in the north-eastern corner of the large park, located in Wyoming and a small slice of Montana.
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