Woman in her 30s returned to the zoo to apologise after she was treated in hospital for her injuries
A jaguar has clawed an Arizona woman who climbed over a barrier to take a picture at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, officials said.
Mobile phone video of the incident showed at least one gash on the woman’s left forearm as she writhed on the ground in pain after the attack on Saturday.
Continue reading...Rare mud-dwelling fish, with sharp teeth and no eyes, is believed to be a worm goby, but is not dangerous
An Australian fisherman, who captured a rare, unsettling fish that resembled a creature from the sci-fi film Alien, says it was “not all that exciting” and he caught it with a beer in his hand.
Andrew Rose was fishing in the Northern Territory’s Kakadu national park when he snagged a 15cm-long worm goby – a rare, mud-dwelling fish with no eyes, a bony head and sharp teeth.
Continue reading...A team of volunteer firefighters were called to the scene of an unusual emergency in the western German town of Bensheim-Auerbach on Sunday after an oversized rat was found wedged halfway through a manhole cover
Continue reading...Overweight rodent found itself in trouble after it tried to squeeze through a small gap in a sewer cover
A multi-agency rescue operation has taken place in the town of Bensheim in Germany after a tubby rat became stuck in a manhole cover.
The rat, still plump with winterspeck – which translates literally as winter bacon and refers to extra pounds piled on in the colder months – became stuck after it tried to squeeze through a small gap in the sewer cover.
Continue reading...Scientists say it is likely no marine ecosystems are left that are not affected by pollution
The world’s deepest ocean trenches are becoming “the ultimate sink” for plastic waste, according to a study that reveals contamination of animals even in these dark, remote regions of the planet.
For the first time, scientists found microplastic ingestion by organisms in the Mariana trench and five other areas with a depth of more than 6,000 metres, prompting them to conclude “it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution”.
Continue reading...Holidaymaker shocked to see stowaway python in her slip-ons on return from Queensland
As souvenirs go, it is a unique one. A woman has returned to Scotland from a holiday in Australia to discover a stowaway snake hidden in one of her shoes.
In an incident that will confirm the worst fears of visitors to Australia, Moira Boxall unpacked her luggage after the more than 9,300-mile journey from Queensland to find the small and very much alive creature curled up in her slip-ons. It even shed its skin during its voyage in her footwear.
Continue reading...Visitors to Dartmoor zoo are being offered the opportunity to take part in its ‘human v beast’ challenge, with groups of people playing tug-of-war against a lion as it tries to wrestle meat attached to a rope.
The controversial attraction, which costs £15 per person, has sparked a backlash with more than 2,000 people signing a petition to stop the practice. The petition’s author, Sue Dally, described it as, ‘cruel and shows a total lack of respect for these beautiful majestic wild animals’
Continue reading...Pattern seems to confuse flies, researchers who dressed horses up as zebras find
The mystery of how the zebra got its stripes might have been solved: researchers say the pattern appears to confuse flies, discouraging them from touching down for a quick bite.
The study, published in the journal Plos One, involved horses, zebras, and horses dressed as zebras. The team said the research not only supported previous work suggesting stripes might act as an insect deterrent, but helped unpick why, revealing the patterns only produced an effect when the flies got close.
Continue reading...EU regulations outlaw killing of wolves unless people are in danger or there is ‘no satisfactory alternative’
More than a century ago, wolves were hunted to extinction in Germany. These days, they’re back – and their presence is a source of political strife.
Wolf attacks on livestock increased drastically in 2017, according to government statistics released at the weekend: they carried out 472 attacks, an increase of 66% over the previous year. The number of killed, injured or missing livestock – mostly sheep and goats – rose 55%, to 1,667.
Continue reading...Brian Kauffman has spoken publicly on his encounter with a mountain lion. The ordeal, which happened on the 4 February on a trail in the mountains west of Fort Collins, Colorado, left the cat dead and Kauffman with 28 stitches.
Continue reading...Residents of Churchill, Canada share their streets with the largest land carnivore in the world as their isolated town’s identity faces a reckoning: a revitalized port
Spend enough time in Churchill, and you will hear the stories.
Of hearing a noise outside, pulling open the drapes and seeing a polar bear looking in through the window.
Continue reading...Images were taken by British wildlife photographer, Will Burrard-Lucas, in Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya
The wild African black leopard has been the stuff of legend and campfire story for decades.
The animal – whose coat is sooty black as a result of melanism, the opposite of albinism – is extremely rare.
Continue reading...Experts deployed to remove dozens of hungry bears besieging Novaya Zemlya
Analysis: what the polar bears reveal about the climate crisis
Russian environmental authorities have deployed a team of specialists to a remote Arctic region to sedate and remove dozens of hungry polar bears that have besieged the people living there.
The move came after officials in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, with a population of about 3,000 people, appealed for help.
“There’s never been such a mass invasion of polar bears,” said Zhigansha Musin, the head of the local administration. “They have literally been chasing people.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review
The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.
More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
Continue reading...Breakout is second in recent weeks after runaway red panda found in a nearby garden
Chimpanzees have used a branch to escape from their enclosure at Belfast zoo in the second breach by animals in recent weeks.
They took advantage of damage caused by stormy weather to stage a breakout, which visitors caught on film.
Continue reading...Proposal law would protects any shark or ray in state waters and be first of its kind in US
Sharks could soon become more numerous in Hawaii waters – and advocates say that’s a good thing.
Lawmakers in Honolulu advanced a proposed ban on killing sharks in state waters on Wednesday, after receiving hundreds of calls and letters of support from around the country. The law, which would provide sweeping protection for any shark, rather than select species, could be the first of its kind in the United States.
Continue reading...Tigers were put together through breeding programme that hopes to save species from extinction
A Sumatran tiger kept at London zoo has been killed by its potential mate during their first meeting. Keepers had hoped the big cats would breed but have been left devastated after Asim, the male they brought in, attacked Melati.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) kept the two tigers in adjacent enclosures for 10 days to allow them to become accustomed to each other. After their keepers saw positive signs, they decided to make the “high-risk” introduction on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Colorado Parks and Wildlife says man fought off the cougar, hiked out of the area after attack and drove himself to hospital
Wildlife officials say a man who fought off a young mountain lion on a northern Colorado trail killed the animal by suffocating it.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the man was running alone near Fort Collins when the lion attacked him from behind after the movement apparently triggered its hunting instincts.
Continue reading...Peggy Gavan’s book sheds light on the lives of workers in storied institutions in the 1800s and 1900s – and their bonds with cats
New York was no place for a stray cat in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Thousands of feral cats were rounded up and gassed, ostensibly for “humanitarian reasons”. Poor children were paid one nickel per catch, which meant scores of healthy pets also met their ends.
Continue reading...Thousands gather on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to witness the celebrated rodent’s weather prediction
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