mysterious animal deaths

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Off the Florida Keys, 'Emergency Response' Over Spinning Fish

NOAA has implemented an 'emergency response' to strange behaviors of dying smalltooth sawfish

(Newser) - Endangered smalltooth sawfish, marine creatures virtually unchanged for millions of years, are exhibiting erratic spinning behavior and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced what it calls an "emergency response" focused on the Florida Keys starting next week. A NOAA news release...

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants
Drought Kills
at Least 100
Elephants
Dec 19, 2023 12:00 PM CST

Drought Kills at Least 100 Elephants

El Nino blamed for lack of water killing pachyderms in recent weeks in Zimbabwe's largest national park

(Newser) - At least 100 elephants have died in Zimbabwe's largest national park in recent weeks because of drought, their carcasses a grisly sign of what wildlife authorities and conservation groups say is the impact of climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon. Authorities warn that more could die as...

After Horse Deaths, Trainer Suspended and Horses Scratched

Churchill Downs says it's looking into 'highly unusual' deaths, 2 of them unexplained

(Newser) - A horse trainer has been suspended indefinitely following the deaths of four horses ahead of the Kentucky Derby. Two of the horses that died after racing on the track at Churchill Downs were trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who's now been suspended, WLKY reports. Their causes of death have...

Bovine Mystery Stumps in Colorado: 'We're Scratching Our Heads'

State wildlife officials don't know why dozens of cows, calves near Meeker have died since October

(Newser) - Cattle are dying by the dozens in a tiny corner of Colorado, and it's left local wildlife authorities flummoxed. The Guardian reports that, over the past two months, about 40 cows and calves have expired near the northwest town of Meeker, with a rancher there first reporting the deaths...

More Dead Whales Are Turning Up on West Coast

At least 5 since mid-May, off of California and Canadian coasts

(Newser) - Scientists are probing the unexplained deaths of a fourth and fifth whale on the US and Canadian west coasts since mid-May. "Spike," a young female humpback first documented by scientists in 2018, was found washed ashore near Vancouver Island on Sunday, just a day after a male humpback...

Headless Geese in Idaho Baffle Wildlife Authorities
In Idaho, a 'Horrible
Display of Truly Unusual
Human Behavior'
in case you missed it
Jul 17, 2022 4:55 PM CDT

In Idaho, a 'Horrible Display of Truly Unusual Human Behavior'

Wildlife officials are trying to find out who hit a group of geese with their car, decapitated them

(Newser) - Wildlife officials in Idaho are scratching their heads over an "unusual case" involving a gaggle of dead geese. A release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is asking for the public's health in IDing the person or persons who, sometime over the Fourth of July weekend,...

Mystery Surrounds Sudden Deaths of Elephants

At least 356 carcasses found, many near watering holes in Botswana

(Newser) - Hundreds of elephants have been found dead of unknown cause in Botswana in what's being called a "conservation disaster." Some 169 carcasses were spotted in the Okavango Delta—home to 15,000 of the country's 135,000 elephants—during a single three-hour flight in early May,...

'Croydon Cat Killer' Is No Killer at All

400 cats weren't killed by human hand, police say

(Newser) - For three years, Southern England has been in search of the Croydon Cat Killer , the seemingly macabre culprit behind a series of animal killings, mostly in the form of beheadings. Now, after the deaths of some 400 cats, police say the case has been closed—and that the killer wasn'...

200K Antelopes Died Suddenly. Now Scientists Know Why

High heat and humidity altered bacteria in their bodies: study

(Newser) - Saiga antelopes have been roaming Central Asia since the time of the woolly mammoth, an achievement only a resilient species could pull off. But now, "total extinction" may be on the horizon. That's according to researchers studying the deaths of more than 200,000 endangered saigas in Kazakhstan...

Knoxville Zoo Suffers a 'Catastrophic' Animal Loss

Zoo can't explain why 33 reptiles were found dead

(Newser) - Thirty-three reptiles were found dead last week at a Tennessee zoo, and officials there say they have no clues yet about how it happened. Zoo Knoxville told local news outlets that nearly all of the dead animals were snakes. They were all found dead in the reptile area. Surviving animals...

It Wasn't Booze That Killed Famed Swimming Pigs

It was sand, apparently

(Newser) - When a spate of unexplained deaths among the famous swimming pigs of the Bahamas made headlines last week, one of the wilder theories was that tourists were getting them drunk on alcohol in fatal quantities. The real reason appears to be less sensational: sand. Veterinarians examining the bodies of some...

Country Horrified by Beating Death of Beloved Hippo

Gustavito was killed after brutal beating at El Salvador's national zoo

(Newser) - El Salvador's widespread violence reached an unexpected corner with the brutal and fatal beating of the national zoo's beloved hippopotamus Gustavito. Even among a population numbed by a staggering human death toll due to gang violence in recent years, the animal's death late Sunday stirred outrage. Salvadorans...

Dozens of 'False Killer Whales' Die in Florida Stranding
Up to 95 Dolphins
Die in Everglades
Jan 18, 2017 7:33 AM CST

Up to 95 Dolphins Die in Everglades

They became stuck in mangroves and on mudflats

(Newser) - At least 82 dolphins, including juveniles and calves, have died in a mysterious incident in a remote section of Florida's Everglades National Park. Officials say 95 dolphins—a particular species known as false killer whales, which typically swim at depths of 3,000 feet—were seen stranded in the...

Baby Whale Killers May Have Come From the Sky

It might be from 'gull harassment,' scientists say

(Newser) - Scientists have been scratching their heads over hundreds of baby whales that perished off the coast of Argentina between 2013 and 2014, but a new study points the finger at a possible cause, or at least a contributing factor: pesky seagulls, Live Science reports. The study published in PLoS One ...

Something Just Killed 120K Endangered Antelopes

A herd of 60K saigas in Kazakhstan died in only 4 days

(Newser) - An already critically endangered species has been driven even further to the brink after an insane population decline compounded by the fact that scientists are at a loss to explain it. Initially, scientists weren’t too perturbed to hear some saigas—a type of antelope that inhabits Kazakhstan, Russia, and...

Dozens of Whales Are Mysteriously Dying in Alaska

NOAA will investigate 30 deaths since May

(Newser) - Some 30 large whales have been found dead in the western Gulf of Alaska since May and the NOAA wants to know why. The agency says it is opening a scientific investigation into what is calls an "unusual mortality event," with the number of whale deaths at three...

Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms
 Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms 
Feb 3, 2014 1:50 PM CST

Starfish Ripping Off Own Arms

Reports of 'sea star wasting syndrome' get more disturbing

(Newser) - Scientists are still trying to figure out why starfish are dying in massive numbers, turning into what one taxonomist described as "goo piles." The latest news on the die-off is similarly disturbing: One biology professor studied sea stars suffering from what is being called "sea star wasting...

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant 'STD'
 Bee Die-Offs Tied to 
 Tobacco Plant 'STD' 
study says
Jan 22, 2014 8:13 AM CST

Bee Die-Offs Tied to Tobacco Plant 'STD'

Tobacco ringspot virus jumped from tobacco to soy to bees: study

(Newser) - Honeybees have been dying in huge numbers since 2006, and a new study finds that a virus may be one cause. The tobacco ringspot virus has mutated quickly and jumped from tobacco plants to soy plants to bees, researchers say, and the annual increase in honeybee deaths between autumn and...

Something Killed 100K Fish in Nevada Marina

Officials say cold snap could be partially to blame

(Newser) - State wildlife officials are trying to figure out why all the fish have died in a northern Nevada marina where the stocked fishery has flourished since the man-made lake was created nearly 15 years ago. An estimated 100,000 trout, bass, and catfish have died over the past month in...

Central America Hit By Mass Die-Off of Sea Turtles

Scientists aren't sure what's going on

(Newser) - Between late September and mid-October, 114 sea turtles washed up dead on El Salvador's beaches. All across Central America, the same thing is happening: In Guatemala, 115 have died this year; in Costa Rica, 280; late last year, 200 died in Panama. In Nicaragua, in addition to the turtle...

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