Category Archives: Animals

Rare birds at risk as narco-gangs move into forests to evade capture – report

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Cocaine traffickers have put two-thirds of Central America’s key habitats for threatened birds under threat, study finds

Cocaine consumption is threatening rare tropical birds as narco-traffickers move into some of the planet’s most remote forests to evade drug crackdowns, a study has warned.

Two-thirds of key forest habitats for birds in Central America are at risk of being destroyed by “narco-driven” deforestation, according to the paper, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Sustainability.

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Rare white grizzly bear and two cubs killed in Canada in separate car strikes

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Cubs killed by cars earlier in the day before spooked Nakoda ran on to highway, where another vehicle struck her

National park staff in Canada are mourning the “devastating” loss of a rare white grizzly bear and her cubs after all three were killed in separate vehicle collisions on the same day.

The bear formally referred to as GBF178 but named Nakoda by locals had in recent months been spotted with her two cubs foraging on spring dandelions along a stretch of highway between Lake Louise and Yoho national parks.

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Iceland grants country’s last whaling company licence to hunt 128 fin whales

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Conservationists criticise ‘disappointing’ and ‘dangerous’ move to allow harpooning of fin whales after curbs last year

Iceland has granted a licence to Europe’s last whaling company to kill more than 100 animals this year, despite hopes the practice might have been halted after concerns about cruelty led to a temporary suspension last year.

Animal rights groups described the news as “deeply disappointing” and “dangerous”.

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Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries

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Seven Przewalski’s horses, the only truly wild species of the animal in the world, flown to central Asian country from zoos in Europe

A group of the world’s last wild horses have returned to their native Kazakhstan after an absence of about 200 years. The seven horses, four mares from Berlin and a stallion and two other mares from Prague, were flown to the central Asian country on a Czech air force transport plane.

The wild horses, known as Przewalski’s horses, once roamed the vast steppe grasslands of central Asia, where horses are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,500 years ago.

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Party Bus the rodeo bull escapes Oregon arena and wounds three people

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Bull hopped fence and ran through concession area, lifting one person off the ground, before professionals secured it

A rodeo bull named Party Bus hopped a fence surrounding an Oregon arena and ran through a concession area into a parking lot, injuring at least three people before wranglers caught up with it, officials said.

The crowd at the 84th Sisters Rodeo in the city of Sisters was singing along with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA on Saturday night, most with their cellphone flashlights on, as the bull ran around the arena before what was to be the final bull ride of the night, when the bull hopped the fence, according to a video shot by a fan.

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Dog runs four miles to get help for owner who crashed car into Oregon ravine

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Brandon Garrett was driving solo with his four dogs near where his family was camping, when he failed to navigate a turn

A dog ran four miles to get help for his owner who crashed his car into a ravine in Oregon – and was ultimately rescued because of the animal’s heroics, according to authorities.

The case unfolded as Brandon Garrett was driving with his four dogs north on US Forest Service Road 39 in Baker county, near where his family was camping.

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Sharks attack three swimmers off two Florida beaches

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Woman, 45, sustains ‘significant trauma’ and has part of arm amputated, as two teens injured in second attack

Two separate shark attacks at Florida beaches wounded three swimmers, including two teenagers, prompting some popular vacation spots to temporarily close, according to authorities.

A shark bit a 45-year-old woman at about 1.20pm on Friday while she swam at Watersound beach, along the coast of Walton county, Florida, in the eastern part of the state.

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More intense, frequent tropical cyclones may devastate seabird colonies – study

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Up to 90% ‘lost in the blink of an eye’, say scientists studying Cyclone Ilsa’s effect on birds on Western Australian island

Increased tropical cyclones due to global heating could lead to dramatic declines in seabird populations, according to a new study.

Scientists found that after Cyclone Ilsa – a category-5 tropical cyclone – hit Bedout Island in Western Australia in April 2023, several seabird populations experienced a collapse of 80-90% due to the storm at the internationally important breeding site.

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Tiger shark regurgitates whole echidna, leaving Australian scientists ‘stunned’

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Mammal was likely swimming between Queensland islands when it ‘just got unlucky and got snapped’ – spikes and all – in apparent world-first

The last thing a group of scientists busy tagging marine animals along the coast of north Queensland expected to see was a shark regurgitate a fully intact echidna – but that is exactly what happened.

In what is believed to be a world-first, researchers from James Cook University, including former PhD student Dr Nicolas Lubitz, were tagging marine wildlife off the coast of Orpheus Island between Townsville and Lucinda in May 2022.

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$10m prize launched for team that can truly talk to the animals

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AI expected to help researchers unlock two-way communication, say team that includes Tel Aviv University

In the Dr Dolittle books and films, the ability to “talk to the animals” captured the imagination. Now scientists are being offered a $10m prize to create real conversations.

The Coller Dolittle Challenge for Interspecies Two-Way Communication has been launched by the Jeremy Coller Foundation and Tel Aviv University. While the use of AI is not obligatory, the team say the technology can boost almost all proposals.

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Beloved surfboard-stealing otter seen in California after disappearing for months

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Photos of otter 841, who gave birth to a pup last year, show her floating over holiday weekend in popular Santa Cruz surfing spot

Otter 841, who shot to international fame last year for her surfboard-stealing interactions with northern California surfers and kayakers, has been spotted recently after disappearing for several months. Over Memorial day weekend, photos of the now six-year-old otter posted to social media showed her floating on her back at Steamer Lane, a popular surfing spot in Santa Cruz. She was identified by her signature blue tag attached to one of her flippers.

Otter 841 began making waves last summer after Mark Woodward, a local photographer, began posting images and videos to social media of her biting and commandeering surfboards. People were captivated by her fearlessness when interacting with humans and quickly projected human motivations to her behavior.

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Lemur pups Nova and Evie born at Scottish safari park

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Female pair are third litter born at Blair Drummond under endangered species breeding programme

A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.

Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.

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Family infected with parasitic worms in US after eating bear meat, CDC says

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Six people who ate a meal in South Dakota in 2022 with black bear meat diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease

Six people who shared a meal involving black bear meat kebabs have been diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease.

In a new report released this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that in July 2022, a 29-year old hospitalized patient with suspected trichinellosis was reported to the Minnesota health department. His symptoms included fever, severe muscle aches, periorbital edema or eye swelling, and eosinophilia or the condition of elevated levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.

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‘They’re out of control’: flock of 100 feral chickens torments village

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Residents of Snettisham, Norfolk, say birds are destroying their gardens, while food left out for them is attracting rats

The clucking nuisance of about 100 feral chickens has left residents of a Norfolk village spitting feathers, with locals claiming the birds destroy their gardens and keep them awake.

Dwellers in Snettisham, Norfolk, have said their life is being made “hell” as the chickens swarm in from a nearby wood. It is unclear who owns the land the chickens live on, but villagers believe numbers have soared recently.

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‘Enormously exciting’ fossils found in NSW opal field suggest Australia had ‘age of monotremes’

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Discovery of ‘echidnapus’ and two more species show the furry egg-layers predated marsupials

Some time about 100m years ago in what is now an Australian opal field, a weird, furry, egg-laying, rabbit-sized mammal was gliding through a waterhole across a massive polar floodplain.

This mammal – Opalius splendens but which scientists have thankfully blessed with the nickname “echidnapus” – was among the ancient descendants of one of the planet’s most unique orders of animals, the monotremes.

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‘They couldn’t care less’: fears for dogs’ welfare as Greyhound Racing NSW axes one of two adoption centres

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Staff raise concerns as Wyee rehoming centre abruptly closed after steep drop in gambling revenue for governing body

Current and former staff have raised serious concerns about animal welfare and the culture at the agency that governs greyhound racing in New South Wales after it abruptly shut down one of just two adoption centres for ex-racing dogs this week.

Workers at the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP) in Wyee were fired on Monday, the same day the Greyhound Racing New South Wales (GRNSW) chief executive, Rob Macaulay, announced the agency would cut 30% from its budget in the next financial year after a 22.5% fall in gambling revenue.

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Kabosu, dog that inspired ‘Doge’ meme and became face of Dogecoin, dies

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Atsuko Sato announces death of her shiba inu, whose 2010 photo led her to be described as the ‘Mona Lisa of the internet’

The Japanese dog whose photo inspired a generation of oddball online jokes and the £18bn Dogecoin cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk has died, her owner said.

“She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her,” Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog on Friday, thanking the fans of her shiba inu called Kabosu – the face of the ‘Doge’ meme.

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CDC warns of more US bird flu cases after second human infected by cows

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Centers for Disease Control notes high levels of virus in raw milk amid outbreak among cows, after Michigan dairy worker infected

A Michigan dairy worker has been diagnosed with bird flu – the second human case associated with an outbreak in US dairy cows, after a case emerged in Texas earlier this spring.

The new patient had mild eye symptoms and has recovered, US and Michigan health officials said in announcing the case on Wednesday afternoon. The worker had been in contact with cows presumed to be infected, and the risk to the public remains low, officials said.

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Monkeys ‘falling out of trees like apples’ in Mexico amid brutal heatwave

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High temperatures in Mexico have been linked to dozens and perhaps hundreds of deaths of howler monkeys

It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.

At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.

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‘P-22’s spirit’: new mountain lion seen in LA over a year after celebrity cougar’s death

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Animal spotted in Griffith Park, where ‘Brad Pitt of mountain lions’ P-22 lived, bringing excitement at possibility of a new cat in area

It’s been more than a year since the death of P-22, a beloved Los Angeles cougar known as the “Brad Pitt of mountain lions” whose passing inspired murals, songs and celebrations across the city.

P-22, who was euthanized in December 2022 due to health issues, was the only known big cat living in the city’s famed Griffith Park. So when residents spied an unidentified mountain lion in the park last week, people were abuzz with excitement at the possibility of another cat, probably a young male, making a home in the area.

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