Woman endangers herself to rescue scorched koala from Australian bushfire

A woman rescued a badly burnt and wailing koala from an Australian bushfire on Tuesday.

The marsupial was spotted crossing a road amongst the flames near Long Flat in New South Wales (NSW).

A local woman, who told Australia's Nine News her name was Toni, rushed to the koala's aid, wrapping the animal in her shirt and a blanket and pouring water over it.

She said she would transport the injured koala to the nearby Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.

The country's koala populations have been a major victim of the flames, with more than 350 of the marsupials feared killed in a major habitat.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pig farmers pessimistic as China tries to talk down swine fever

BEIJING - Sun Dawu sighs sadly when asked about the death of thousands of his pigs, killed by the African swine fever outbreak that has been decimating hog herds across China.

"The pig farm was completely destroyed," he says quietly, fanning himself from the heat and flies on his large Hebei province farm outside Beijing.

"It's a painful process, it's painful to watch them die. We buried all the dead pigs five meters (16 feet) underground."

More than a year since swine fever began to spread across the country, China's pig farmers are wary of replenishing their stock -- and the disease could become a political and economic liability for the government.

Frustrated after a month of official stonewalling, Sun posted pictures of the dead pigs on social media platform Weibo -- quickly attracting tens of millions of views and forcing the local government to respond.

Pigs that were not killed by the fever were culled.

Eight months later, his restocked herd is healthy, but under government restrictions his pig farm is still sealed off. 

His livestock is quarantined and can't be sold for consumption until at least the second half of next year.

China's swine herd is down by about 40 percent, and the shortage has pushed prices of the country's meat staple up by at least half.

A Rabobank report warned China could lose 200 million pigs during the epidemic, and Sun said he believed the number of those affected is higher than official estimates.

"Some pig farmers dare not declare sick pigs, so they quietly sell off even dead pigs," he said.

TRADE WAR FALLOUT 

By the time swine fever broke out on his farm and killed his herd of 15,000, Sun says "all the pigs of the other farms were dead".

But only one case of swine fever has been officially reported in Hebei, according to the agriculture ministry -- Sun Dawu's farm.

The province was declared free of the disease in April.

The shortage is being exacerbated by stuttering imports from the US in a painful trade war.

And as it wears on, it is not just a problem for farmers, but also for the country's leaders -- afraid of social repercussions and spiraling economic costs.

"Historically, high food inflation has triggered bouts of urban protests," says Victor Shih, the Hi Ho Miu Lam chair professor at University of California San Diego.

Beijing has implemented several measures to boost the pig population, including subsidies of up to five million yuan ($700,000) for breeders.

They also announced in September that new large-scale breeding bases were being built in southwest Sichuan province with the capacity to produce two million pigs a year.

But farmers contacted by AFP -- reluctant to be identified -- were afraid to raise new herds despite government subsidies, fearing that any trade deal between Beijing and Washington would undercut Chinese producers or that their hogs would be taken away again.

"When the trade war between China and the US ends, the government will start to import large quantities of foreign pork and Chinese farmers will have no profit," a Hebei farmer surnamed Zhang told AFP.

'LOST TOO MUCH' 

In a bid to keep a grip on escalating prices, the government auctioned 30,000 tonnes of pork from its strategic meat reserves ahead of the National Day holiday. 

Officials insisted in September that there was sufficient supply and prices would now be stable.

But given the slowing economy and the trade war, "pork-driven inflation has further limited the government's options", says Shih.

The government also toyed with encouraging citizens to eat less meat -- efforts met with mockery.

"We should just eat the pig feed, it will be healthier," wrote one social media user after a front-page article in the state-run People's Daily extolled a vegetarian lifestyle.

Farmers also accuse governments of not doing enough to tackle the crisis, particularly local authorities that don't want to fork out compensation to farmers.

Sun started as a farmer three decades ago with 50 pigs, but now runs a large business that he says can absorb the shock of his losses -- hundreds of millions of yuan in total.

But others are not so lucky.

"Some pig farms just lost too much to rebuild," Sun said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dog, owner detained for election campaigning in India

MUMBAI, India - A pet pooch was detained for flouting India's election rules after it was spotted parading slogans supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside polling stations -- but "let off with a warning," authorities said Tuesday.

Police seized the dog and its owner in the western state of Maharashtra on Monday just as voting was under way on the fourth voting day of India's mammoth election that runs to May 19. 

"We detained the dog and its owner as it was a polling day and they were walking around promoting Modi and violating election campaigning rules," police official Ganpat Phil told AFP.

Campaigning is banned on voting days in areas that are casting ballots.

A complaint was filed under India's penal code against owner Eknath Chaudhary for the sticker and placards stating "Modi Lao, Desh Bachchao" ("Bring Modi back, save the country"), Phil said.

The dog and the owner were released in the town of Nandurbar on Monday evening and "let off with a warning," the official added.

Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party are favorites to retain power following the election, results of which are due May 23.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Shark attacks 65-year-old surfer in Australia

SYDNEY - A veteran surfer escaped with foot and arm injuries after a great white shark rammed his board and dragged him underwater off Australia's east coast on Thursday.

The 65-year-old managed to swim ashore and raise the alarm, before being airlifted to hospital in a stable condition.

"The surfer received puncture wounds to his foot and his arm," New South Wales state police said of the incident at Seven Mile Beach near Forster, 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Sydney.

The state's department of primary industries, which attended the scene, tweeted that "specialists have confirmed the shark involved in an incident off Booti Booti National Park this morning was a white shark".

The Newcastle Herald reported it measured up to 3.5 meters (11 feet), with pictures showing a large chunk bitten off the man's board, which split in half.

Westpac rescue helicopter crewman Graham Nickerson said the surfer told him he was with friends when the shark hit him from underneath.

"Apparently the shark came up under his board, snapped his board in two and then dragged him under by the leg rope," Nickerson told reporters.

"He's quite happy... considering what he's been through, but he's got pretty severe lacerations to his lower limbs, but he's in a stable condition."

The beach has been closed until further notice.

The attack is the latest off the New South Wales coast in recent months, with a surfer sustaining cuts to his leg just weeks ago while in the water near popular tourist spot Byron Bay.

Experts say shark attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and bait fish move closer to shore, but fatalities remain rare.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: Alligator wanders in golf course

An American alligator estimated to be 12 to 13 feet long was found walking onto the edge of the putting green on the seventh hole of Myakka Pines Golf Club in Englewood, Florida in this handout photo courtesy of Bill Susie and distributed by Reuters.

Golfers at the course were careful, days after the animal was seen and the photo went viral on Facebook.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Why sex with cows is dangerous to health

The case involving a 46-year-old man caught in the act of allegedly sexually abusing at least one cow in Silang, Cavite on Tuesday is not the first of its kind in the world.

Two men in the United States were arrested last year for having sex with a cow.

Surveillance footage from a closed-circuit television camera installed by a farmer in Herkimer County, New York found two men, Michael Jones and Reid Fontaine doing more than milking a cow, The Huffington Post reported.

The two suspects were arrested for misdemeanor sexual misconduct.

In Brazil, a 53-year-old man found himself behind bars after allegedly having sex with 400 cows.

Two men also made headlines in India in 2004 for allegedly raping and stabbing a cow.

And it's not just cows that some men seek pleasure with.

In 2009, an 18-year-old was arrested after he was caught in the act of having sex with a goat in Leon, Iloilo.

A word of warning.

Aside from violating Republic Acts 10631 and 8485, having sex with animals can lead to cancer of the penis, according to a 2011 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

soure: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hundreds of koalas killed in Australia

SYDNEY, Australia - Close to 700 koalas have been killed off by authorities in southeastern Australia because overpopulation led to the animals starving, a state minister confirmed Wednesday.

Victorian Environment Minister Lisa Neville said the koalas were euthanised in the Cape Otway area, near the scenic tourist drawcard the Great Ocean Road, in 2013 and 2014.

"The intervention was necessary to prevent suffering of koalas because they weren't able to find enough food," Neville said in a statement.

"Population densities were reaching up to 20 koalas per hectare at Cape Otway."

Neville said a total of 686 koalas were found to be in poor health and were humanely put down by veterinarians in consultation with koala experts and animal welfare personnel.

The minister said she was seeking expert advice on how to manage the issue and wanted to be open with the community on the process, but has not ruled out further culls.

"Experience suggests that moving these koalas does not work and that can in fact cause even greater suffering," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"(The number of animals) continues to increase and that's why we need to have a look at a koala management strategy to see whether we can reduce that population growth which continues at a very fast pace."

Despite the population in Cape Otway booming, the much-loved furry animal has been under increasing threat in recent decades elsewhere, with a plunge in population numbers from habitat loss, disease, dog attacks, bushfires and other factors.

Frank Fotinas, who runs the Bimbi Park Caravan Park at Cape Otway, said the koalas were euthanised rather than culled, with many sick or dying from starvation and natural causes.

"The whole of the cape smelled of dead koalas. It smelled like death," he told the ABC, adding that the animals had stripped the trees in the area bare in the hunt for food.

"You should come and look at the trees. There are hundreds of acres of dead trees."

Thought to number in excess of 10 million before British settlers arrived in 1788, the Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are now less than 100,000 in the wild.

The foundation said koala numbers at Cape Otway were the result of "gross mismanagement".

"The Australian government should hang its head in shame, for allowing a secret cull of koalas," it said in a statement on its website.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Rare white rhino dies in Kenya, only six remain

NAIROBI - A rare northern white rhino has died in Kenya, a wildlife conservancy said on Saturday, leaving just six of the animals left alive and bringing the famed African species one step closer to extinction.

While there are thousands of southern white rhinos still roaming the plains of sub-Saharan Africa, decades of rampant poaching have drastically cut northern white rhino numbers.

Suni, a 34-year-old who was the first northern white rhino to be born in captivity, was found dead on Friday by rangers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Nairobi.

The conservancy said Suni was not poached, but the cause of his death was unclear. It added that he was one of the last two breeding males in the world as no northern white rhinos are believed to have survived in the wild.

"Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race," the conservancy said in a statement.

The Kenya Wildlife Service vets will conduct a post mortem in the coming days, the conservancy added. Suni's father, Suit, died in 2006 of natural causes, also aged 34.

Born in the Dvur Kralove Zoo in Czech Republic, Suni was in 2009 one of the four northern white rhinos brought from that zoo to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy to take part in a breeding programme to try to prevent the extinction of the species.

Wildlife experts had hoped the 90,000-acre private wildlife conservancy, framed on the equator and nestled between the snow capped Mount Kenya and the Aberdare mountain range, would offer a more favourable climate for breeding.

"We will continue to do what we can to work with the remaining three animals on Ol Pejeta in the hope that our efforts will one day result in the successful birth of a northern white rhino calf," the conservancy added.

Wildlife conservationists have struggled to reverse a decline in numbers of several African species, undermined by ferocious poaching by gangs which mostly ship the ivory to Asia.

Last year, 59 rhinos were poached in Kenya, a country famous for its sprawling Maasai Mara game park and abundant wildlife.

Rhino horn sold on the streets of major Asian cities was last year more valuable than gold or platinum, with traders asking for about $65,000 per kg of rhino horn. (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How bats, cats became symbols of Halloween

MANILA, Philippines -- Bats and black cats are animals often associated with evil deeds and Halloween.

According to "Kuya" Kim Atienza in Sunday's episode of "Matanglawin," bats became associated with Halloween because of a ritual called Samhain.

This ritual, often practiced by the Celtics, involves setting up bonfires to drive away insects. Bats usually appear during the ritual, as insects are essential in their diet.

The Samhain is traditionally celebrated from sunset of October 31 to sunset on November 1.

As far cats, there are many superstitions associated with this animal, Atienza said.

In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred and worshipped. However, in the 17th century, cats began to be associated with witchcraft.

From being symbols of good luck, cats, especially black ones, became symbols of bad luck.

In some cultures, it was also believed that witches turn into black cats, adding to the stigma on these animals.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Dolphin freed from Long Beach Harbor construction site

Hours of work by rescuers at a Long Beach Harbor construction site paid off early Wednesday when a wayward dolphin managed to swim back to sea unharmed, authorities said.

The dolphin had been confined to a space about the size of a swimming pool by vertical walls from an old wharf, said Port of Long Beach spokesman Lee Peterson. Officials believe the animal — which was first spotted by a construction inspector Monday morning — followed some fish into the redevelopment site during high tide.

When the animal continued swimming in the harbor Tuesday, officials sent divers to cut away part of the metal walls, hoping it would make it easier for the dolphin to swim over the top during the night’s high tide.

That’s basically what happened sometime after midnight, said Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue in El Segundo. He said the dolphin probably swam through the “access” holes cut by the divers.

“The dolphin is gone,” Wallerstein said Wednesday morning. “The work that we did yesterday paid off.... He swam out himself.”

Wallerstein said “everything was perfect” with the dolphin, describing him as “young, strong and healthy.”

It’s the second disoriented dolphin spotted in Southern California in recent weeks. Marine experts and curious onlookers spent about two weeks monitoring a 7-foot common dolphin in the Bolsa Chica wetlands of Huntington Beach.

On Monday, NOAA biologists said they believed that dolphin had returned to sea. Wallerstein said the dolphins probably were chasing sardines.

“It’s not rare that dolphins come into harbors, but it is rare that they get stuck in these unique situations,” he said.

source: latimes.com

Dog tied to SUV causes outrage online; animal rights group tracks down car's owner

MANILA, Philippines - (UPDATE - 5:30 p.m.) A photograph of a dog in a sack and tied to the rear of an SUV spread virally on the Internet Monday, spurring an animal rights group to track down the owner of the vehicle.

Anna Cabrera, executive director of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, said they had arrived at 27 Dalahican St., Damar Village in Quezon City, the listed address of Apollo International Cagayan Trading, registered owner of the black 1988 Nissan Patrol Safari with license plate BDK 617.

However, Cabrera said the office address was in fact the residence of a certain "Atty. Jose Yap" who arrived from Baguio with his family yesterday.

Cabrera, with the help of some media people, was able to get information from the Land Transportation Office about the SUV.

Earlier, she said they were headed to the address of the car owner because "we want to talk to the driver and find out what happened to the dog."

At first, Cabrera said security guards of the subdivision refused to allow them from entering to serve a letter asking the owner of the SUV to explain the incident.

Soon after, the guards relented.

Based on InterAksyon’s research, Apollo International Cagayan Trading is engaged in the import of used vehicles.

In 2008, the company was involved in an alleged smuggling activity, which its officials have vehemently denied.

Cabrera said the photo was taken on Sunday by a person who saw it at around 4 p.m. It has since spread like wildfire through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. with reports from Lira Dalangin-Fernandez

source: interaksyon.com