Category Archives: Animals

To the moon and back with the eastern curlew

Posted on by

Ultra-endurance athlete, aerodynamic wonder … and facing extinction. Why the bird who flies 30,000km a year needs Australia’s mudflats

• Vote for your favourite in the 2019 bird of the year poll

The ascent is vertical. Up, up and into the jet stream. If the conditions are not right up there it will come back down and wait. But if there is a good tailwind in the right direction it will begin an epic journey that will take it around the curvature of the Earth; from the Arctic Circle to the southern hemisphere.

Using the sun and stars as a compass, and navigating by the Earth’s magnetic field, recognising landmarks, the far eastern curlew will fly nonstop to the Yellow Sea, where it fuels up on the mudflats of north-east China.

Continue reading...

Indiana woman found dead with 8ft python wrapped around her neck

Posted on by

Laura Hurst was found Wednesday evening in a house owned by a local sheriff that contained 140 snakes

An Indiana woman has died after she was found with an 8ft python wrapped around her neck in a house owned by a local sheriff that accommodates a collection of snakes.

Laura Hurst, 36, apparently kept some snakes in the house in Oxford, Indiana, Sgt Kim Riley, an Indiana state police spokesman, said, according to a report in the Lafayette Journal & Courier.

Continue reading...

Quarter of world’s pig population ‘to die of African swine fever’

Posted on by

World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisis

About a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of the African swine fever (ASF) epidemic, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Global pork prices are rising spurred by growing demand from China, where as many as 100 million pigs have died since ASF broke out there last year. In recent months, China has been granting export approval to foreign meat plants and signing deals around the world at a dizzying rate. US pork sales to China have doubled, while European pork prices have now reached a six-year high.

Continue reading...

Hundreds of koalas feared burned alive in out-of-control bushfire near Port Macquarie

Posted on by

Blaze around Lake Innes and Lake Cathie in northern NSW has destroyed more than 2,000 hectares and spread smoke haze to Sydney

Hundreds of koalas are feared to have died in an out-of-control bushfire in northern New South Wales which has raged unchecked for days in the heartland of their prime habitat.

The blaze, reportedly caused by a lightning strike near Port Macquarie, has burned more than 2,000 hectares, including an important koala breeding ground.

Continue reading...

Snorkelling grandmothers uncover large population of venomous sea snakes in Noumea

Posted on by

Women’s photography of greater sea snake, once believed to be an anomaly in the Baie des Citrons, help scientists understand the ecosystem

A group of snorkelling grandmothers who swim up to 3km five days a week have uncovered a large population of venomous sea snakes in a bay in Noumea where scientists once believed they were rare.

Claire Goiran from the University of New Caledonia and Professor Rick Shine from Australia’s Macquarie University were studying a small harmless species known as the turtle‐headed sea snake located in the Baie des Citrons, but would occasionally encounter the 1.5 metre-long venomous greater sea snake, also known as the olive-headed sea snake.

Continue reading...

Chinese cafe featuring dogs dyed to look like pandas facing backlash

Posted on by

‘I suggest dyeing cafe owner black and white,’ says one critic over stunt in Chengdu

A cafe in China featuring chow chow dogs painted as panda cubs has prompted widespread criticism over the treatment of the pets.

The Cute Pet Games cafe opened last month in Chengdu in the south-west Sichuan province, home to a large proportion of the endangered bear species, featuring six fluffy chow chows dyed white and black.

Continue reading...

Horse slaughter: irresponsibility and hypocrisy on all sides have brought us here

Posted on by

The public recoils, although sheep and cows are killed in identical fashion. But the racing industry has a serious case to answer too

The biggest trucks at any horse sale belong to the meat dealers. At the end of the day, once those awarded a second chance have been led away, the dealers open the remaining pens and run their unlucky purchases through the saleyard to the loading ramp.

Young, well-fed, well-muscled horses – such as thoroughbreds or standardbreds that have recently left the racing industries – are sent to export abattoirs in Peterborough, South Australia, or the Meramist abattoir in Caboolture, Queensland. The latter is currently being investigated for animal cruelty offences after footage aired on the ABC’s 7.30 program showed horses being shocked with electric prods, hit and kicked before slaughter.

Continue reading...

The ‘blob’: zoo showcases slime mold with 720 sexes that can heal itself in minutes

Posted on by

The unusual organism has no mouth but can detect and digest food, and no brain yet can learn

A Paris zoo has showcased a slime mold, dubbed the “blob”, a yellowish, unicellular, small living being which looks like a fungus but acts like an animal.

This newest exhibit of the Paris Zoological Park, which goes on display to the public on Saturday and is widely used in scientific experiments, has no mouth, no stomach, no eyes, yet it can detect food and digest it.

Continue reading...

Humpback whale found dead in Thames was hit by a ship

Posted on by

Investigators say it is unclear whether wound happened before or after its death

A humpback whale that died after swimming into the Thames was hit by a ship, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has said.

However, it is not clear whether the wound on the juvenile female was inflicted before or after its death.

Continue reading...

Eleven elephants die after falling into waterfall in Thailand – video

Posted on by

Wildlife officials in Thailand have discovered the carcasses of five more wild elephants downstream from a waterfall where the bodies of six other elephants were found on Saturday. 

The animals were originally thought to have died while trying to save each other after falling into a waterfall at Khao Yai national park, but a drone being used to investigate the deaths later identified five further carcasses, including that of a three-year-old calf.

Only two elephants in the herd are known to have survived the fall at the 200-metre-high Haew Narok waterfall in Thailand's mountainous north-east

Continue reading...

Six wild elephants die trying to save each other in Thai waterfall

Posted on by

Incident reportedly happened after baby elephant slipped over falls

Six wild elephants have died while trying to save each other after falling into a waterfall at the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.

Two others were saved during the incident on Saturday at the Haew Narok waterfall in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, officials said.

Continue reading...

Environment groups offer €30k reward to identify wolf’s killer

Posted on by

Naya, the first wolf sighted in Belgium for a century, believed to have been killed by hunters

Environmental groups are offering a €30,000 (£27,000) reward for information that helps identify who killed Naya, the first wolf sighted in Belgium for a century when she entered the country last year.

The wolf’s arrival completed the return of the predator to every mainland country in Europe, turning back decades of persecution.

Continue reading...

Fossilised partial skeleton of new winged dinosaur found in Queensland

Posted on by

The pterosaur, which had a four-metre wingspan, lived about 90 million years ago and was capable of crossing continents

In the heart of Queensland, palaeontologists have found the fossilised partial skeleton of a new winged dinosaur species capable of crossing continents.

The pterosaur, with a four-metre wingspan, may have lived about 90 million years ago.

Continue reading...

‘Big Tex’: largest captive alligator in US found after escaping in Imelda flooding

Posted on by

Alligator found near a pond on the Gator Country property. A number of his smaller friends, however, are still missing

Residents of Beaumont, Texas, who saw this summer’s alligator horror movie Crawl might have suffered more sleepless nights this week, after the largest gator ever captured in the US was reported missing amid flooding caused by Tropical Storm Imelda.

Related: Trump jumps shark with retweets attacking Fox News host

Continue reading...

‘We know they aren’t feeding’: fears for polar bears over shrinking Arctic ice

Posted on by

Expert Steven Amstrup says ‘the longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears’

The loss of Arctic ice from glaciers, polar land and sea is declining faster than many scientists expected, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on oceans and the cryosphere said this week.

That’s bad news for polar bear populations, a top expert involved in field studies on the endangered animals has told the Guardian.

Continue reading...

RSPCA accuses government of backflip on welfare for live exports from Australia

Posted on by

Heat stress guidelines would ‘prohibit or substantially reduce’ live export during northern summer says new policy document

The RSPCA has accused the federal government of making a “backflip on animal welfare safeguards” with the release of a policy document outlining options for the live export of sheep to the Middle East.

The discussion paper, released on Friday, outlines four possible options to govern the live sheep export trade from Australia to the Middle East from 2020 onwards.

Continue reading...

US and Canada have lost three billion birds since 1970

Posted on by

More than one in four birds have been lost across diverse groups and habitats, in what researchers describe as a ‘wake-up call’

The US and Canada have lost more than one in four birds – a total of three billion – since 1970, culminating in what scientists who published a new study are calling a “widespread ecological crisis”.

Researchers observed a 29% decline in bird populations across diverse groups and habitats – from songbirds such as meadowlarks to long-distance migratory birds such as swallows and backyard birds like sparrows.

Continue reading...

Outrage in China as giant panda on loan to Thailand zoo dies

Posted on by

Chuang Chuang reportedly collapsed after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai Zoo

The sudden death of a giant panda on loan to a zoo in Thailand has sparked outrage in China and calls for no more of the bears to be lent to the country.

Chuang Chuang, a 19-year-old male, reportedly collapsed on Monday afternoon after eating bamboo in Chiang Mai zoo in northern Thailand, according to Thai media.

Continue reading...

Half of tigers rescued from Thai temple have died, officials say

Posted on by

Inbreeding blamed as only 61 of 147 big cats survive after removal from tourist attraction

More than half of the 147 tigers confiscated from a Thai temple have died, park officials have said, blaming genetic problems linked to inbreeding at the once money-spinning tourist attraction.

For years, the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in the western province of Kanchanaburi attracted hordes of tourists who could be photographed – for a fee – next to scores of tigers.

Continue reading...

Cyclist dies after crashing while under attack by swooping magpie

Posted on by

Seventy-six-year-old suffered head injuries when he veered off a bike path and hit a fence post in Wollongong

A man has died of head injuries after he was startled by a magpie and crashed his bicycle in Wollongong.

The 76-year-old was riding a pushbike on an off-road path alongside Nicholson Park at Woonona on Sunday morning when he veered off to avoid a swooping magpie, witnesses reported.

Continue reading...