Khama and the Cat Claw

Botswana.

This rather well written news snippet caught my attention earlier. Botswana is one of our northern neighbours:

Peaceful, prosperous and lightly populated Botswana rarely makes the international news—unless its president gets clawed in the face by a cheetah. Officials in the African nation say Ian Khama needed two stitches to his nose after the “overexcited” animal kept at an army barracks jumped up and clawed him when he was just outside the animal’s enclosure. It was “a freak accident, not an attack,” a spokesman for the president tells the AP, adding that it all happened very fast.

This is Africa.

I see some overseas news agencies are calling the incident a ‘mauling’. Hardly. More like the Lieutenant General getting the cat claw!

Still ouch I’m sure!

And just for the record here, cheetahs are generally the most tolerant of humans out of all the large cats species… and of course, the fastest… very fast…

 

15,000 Crocodiles Escape Farm

And residents are urged to remain indoors, here in South Africa:

A crocodile farm in South Africa has reported that around 15,000 crocodiles escaped after heavy rains forced the farm to open its flood  gates.

Local reports indicate that heavier than normal rains forced the owners of  the Rakwena Crocodile Farm to open the permeable crocodile gates so as to  prevent the pens from being damaged in the rising flood waters. When the gates  were opened it allowed the farm’s 15,000 crocodiles to leave their pens and  enter the Limpopo River.

Workers at the farm have since been scrambling to recover the reptiles, and  have been able to recover about half the animals,  but still have several thousand more loose with no idea about how long it will  be before they can recover them all or if at all.

“There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River. Now there are a  lot. We’ve been recapturing them as and when the local farmers phone us to tell  us that there are crocodiles on their property,” Zane Langman, son-in-law of the  farm’s owner Johan Boshoff, told South Africa’s Beeld newspaper.

“We’ve been recapturing them as, and when, the local farmers phone us to tell  us that there are crocodiles on their property,” Langman added.

The Limpopo Province is experiencing heavier than normal rainfall that has  produced several floods in the region resulting in at least 10 deaths. In  neighboring Mozambique flood waters have displaced tens of thousands of people.

The reptiles that escaped were Nile Crocodiles which can reach lengths of up  to 15 feet. They are also able to reach speeds of 22 mph in the water and up to  10 mph while on land. Residents have been cautioned to remain inside and call  professional reptile handlers if one is spotted on their property.

There has been an increase in commercial crocodile farms which breed the  reptiles for their skin and in some cases their meat. Crocodile skins are sold  to manufacturers that produce belts, shoes, handbags and coats, among other  accessories.

 

Dog Turns Up to Dead Owner’s Church Every Day

Two months after his owner died, a dog in Italy keeps turning up each day at the church she used to attend.

The Telegraph has the story of the faithful doggy:

Ciccio, a 12-year-old German shepherd, waits in vain in front of the altar of the Santa Maria Assunta church in the village of San Donaci in the southern region of Puglia.

He heads to the church as soon as the bells begin to ring each afternoon, just as he did for years when his owner was alive.

The woman, who was known in local dialect as “Maria tu lu campu” – “Maria of the fields” – died suddenly in November.

Ciccio attended the funeral, following his mistress’s coffin as it was carried into the church.

The dog’s devotion has so impressed villagers that they have adopted him as their own, giving him food and water and letting him sleep in a covered area outside the church.

The local priest, Donato Panna, allows him to sit in front of the altar during Masses, baptisms and other services.

He is now hoping to find a new home for the faithful hound.

 

Dog Flip

 

British Army Dog Joins List of Animal War Heroes

The Associated Press:

British soldiers and military dogs gathered at a London army barracks Thursday to honor a fallen hero with selfless courage, nerves of steel — and four legs.

Theo, a bomb-sniffing springer spaniel who died in Afghanistan on the day his soldier partner was killed, was posthumously honored with the Dickin Medal, Britain’s highest award for bravery by animals.

Theo worked alongside Lance Cpl. Liam Tasker, searching for roadside bombs in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

Tasker, 26, died in a firefight with insurgents in March 2011, and Theo suffered a fatal seizure hours later. Tasker’s mother, Jane Duffy, says the pair were inseparable. She’s convinced Theo died of a broken heart.

“They’ll be watching us, and they’ll be so proud,” she said. “I just wish they were here to get it themselves.”

More here.

 

 

Great White Sharks Hunting Off the Coast of Cape Town

And to think that we go and swim in these waters too!

The rest of the awesome photos can be seen here.

 

Peta Accuses New York Times of Necrophilia

The Creative Minority Report has more:

PETA, the animal rights organization that’s starting their own porn site, is accusing the New York Times of necrophilia for running this picture.

The Atlantic Wire has the quote:

When I saw it I just couldn’t believe that an editor of The New York Times would find it acceptable,” PETA’s founder and president Ingrid Newkirk told The Atlantic Wire. “It’s downright offensive, not just to people who care about animals but almost to everyone. It’s a plucked, beheaded, young chicken in a young pose,” she said….It’s necrophilia. It’s not amusing. It’s just ghastly and sickly. It’s not fitting for The New York Times.”

These crazies regularly advance their cause with naked celebrities and are starting their own porn site that will mix human porn and grisly pictures of dead animals. These folks mixing sex and death are accusing others of necrophilia?

 

‘Payback is Hell’

Sick, especially in light of yesterday’s local shark attack:

They are well known for their shocking adverts with some of the world’s most famous people posing naked to help boost their animal rights message.

But this time PETA may have gone too far with its latest campaign, which suggests those who swim or fish in waters containing sharks are attacked or killed as ‘payback’.

The new poster shows a shark eating a severed human leg and the blood-stained slogan ‘Payback is Hell’, which aims to shock people into turning vegan.

PETA say that in particular they hope it will make people rethink fishing, suggesting if people inflict pain on sealife they deserve it themselves.

This could be considered particularly offensive as a British man was yesterday left fighting for his life after he was attacked by a great white shark while swimming in the sea near Cape Town, South Africa. He has been named as Michael Cohen, who had lived in the country for a long time and had a number of his family members living nearby…

More here.

Why don’t they go out and convince sharks to go vegan?

 

Fish Hoek Shark Attack

Hey, I swim there from time to time! IOL:

A man is in a critical condition after being attacked by a shark at Clovelly Corner, Fish Hoek, on Wednesday, the City of Cape Town said.

A great white struck just after midday when the man was swimming, severing his lower right leg, spokesman Gregg Oelofse said in a statement.

He was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

Earlier in the day, shark spotters raised the alert that a shark was in the vicinity and the beach was closed. When the man went swimming, the white shark-alert flag was still displayed and the beach was still closed, Oelofse said.

Shark spotters saw the man enter the water, and frantically ran to alert him, but did not reach him in time.

“The shark spotter stationed on the beach was warned by a spotter on the mountain that someone had entered the water. The shark spotter then ran to Clovelly Corner to try and get the swimmer out of the water, but the attack took place before he could reach him,” the city said

The victim of the shark attack was the only person in the water at the time.

Fish Hoek beach as well as Glencairn, St James and Muizenberg beaches were closed as a precaution until further notice.

The shark was still in Fish Hoek bay in the afternoon and being monitored by the spotters. -

Look at this monster:

The TV news this evening is reporting that the man ignored warnings. A fatal mistake.

The Telegraph also has the news above here.

The 42-year-old is understood to be an expat who had lived in Cape Town for  several years.

He reportedly lost most of his right leg and part of his left foot after being repeatedly bitten by the Great White.

Several beaches along the city’s False Bay coastline this afternoon remained closed after officials warned it was likely the deadly beast remained in the area.

Craig Lambinon, a spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute, said the victim was this afternoon in a serious condition in a private hospital in the city.

“This man was swimming around 50 metres from the beach when the shark attacked him at around 12.20pm,” he said…

Glow in the Dark Cats

Fox News reports:

Cats that can glow in the dark from a new genetic  engineering technique are helping scientists study molecules that could stop AIDS,  researchers announced Sept. 11.

So far, the researchers have created three  genetically engineered kittens that can glow green and pass this gene onto their  offspring. They explained that cats are much better models for AIDS viruses than  are mice and other animals.

In addition to opening a window into the virus in  humans, the cat research may end up helping the felines themselves, the  researchers said…

Read more here.

Also, I see that glow in the dark dogs exist as well!