When Animals Resist

Donkeys Maul Pensioner To Death

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:39:01 -0700

May 20, 2013 (Yahoo News UK)

Two donkeys are to be put down after they dragged a pensioner from his mobility scooter and mauled him to death.

Sandor Horvath, 65, was chased and pulled from the scooter at a farm in Hungary, where he was visiting his farmer friend.

He was bitten and trampled on, and when his mutilated remains were found it was believed he had been attacked by wolves.

However, a post-mortem examination revealed the bites and markings had come from the donkeys.

A vet told local media: “Donkeys aren’t usually aggressive towards humans.

“They probably reacted like this as they thought the victim was intruding upon their territory.”

A police spokesman said: “If these were dogs then they would also be put to sleep.

“We can’t allow animals to go around killing people. Putting them to sleep is the best thing for everyone.”

The farmer’s daughter, Csikos Darda, said: “I had noticed that the donkeys were becoming increasingly aggressive and I’d asked my father to do something about it, but he’d said they were fine.”

Elephant Tramples Poacher to Death

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:53:39 -0700

May 12, 2013 (The Telegraph, UK)

The bloodied remains of Solomon Manjoro were found by rangers after what was thought to be a botched poaching trip at the protected Charara safari area inside a national park.

Zimbabwe’s Sunday Mail reported that the local man was charged by the elephant after he entered the game reserve for an illegal hunting trip with a friend.

The dead man’s alleged accomplice Noluck Tafuruka, 29, was later arrested inside the park and charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

The state-controlled Sunday Mail reported: “The poacher was recently trampled to death by an elephant after he failed to gun down the jumbo during a hunting expedition.”

It is believed Manjoro and Tafuruka encountered the elephant after entering the huge game reserve at the end of April.

Police believe the pair, who were allegedly carrying unlicensed weapons, faced up to the beast and attempted to shoot it.

However Manjoro was killed when the animal failed to fall and instead charged towards him.

Tafuruka was later arrested by local police inside the Charara reserve, which lies near Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba in the north west of the country.

A third man, Godfrey Shonge, 52, from capital Harare, has also been arrested over the incident.

The pair appeared last week in court to face charges of illegal possession of firearms and of contravention of local wildlife laws.

The magistrate was told Manjoro and Tafuruka had entered the National Park between April 19 and 26 with the sole intention of poaching.

Incidents of elephant poaching have been on the rise in recent years, driven by increased demand for ivory.

The valuable substance is sold on the black market and often smuggled to Asian countries including China, where it is used for ornaments and jewellery.

Beaver Bites Fisherman to Death

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:07 -0700

April 11, 2013 (The Telegraph)

An angler in Belarus has died after he was attacked by a beaver which bit him twice on the thigh, severing an artery.

The 60-year-old former serviceman, who has not been publicly identified, bled to death before an ambulance could reach him near Minkovichi in Brest region.

Eurasian beavers are common throughout much of Eastern Europe but attacks are rare and fatal cases are almost unheard of, experts said.

Sergei Shtyk, the deputy head of the region’s wildlife inspectorate, told The Daily Telegraph the victim had tried to approach the aquatic rodent after he and two friends encountered it as they headed out on a fishing trip.

“It was early morning and already light when they saw a beaver by the road, which was unusual because beavers are nocturnal,” said Mr Shtyk.

“One of them went up to be photographed with it, and the animal attacked him and bit him twice, cutting an artery in his thigh, before running away.

“The man’s friends tried to bandage him and find a doctor in a nearby village but he died from blood loss before help arrived.”

Sergei Shilinchuk, deputy head of Brest’s environmental protection committee, said he had never heard of a fatal attack before. “People have lost fingers – that’s the worst I’ve come across,” he said. “The beaver is not normally aggressive, but it does have big teeth and immensely powerful jaws; it can cut down a tree three feet wide.” Mr Shilinchuk said there was a chance that the animal was rabid, or that it was a young beaver seeking new territory after being forced out by its parents. It was also possible that it had lost its home as waterways rose with the onset of spring.

Belarus’s beaver population has grown rapidly, doubling in the last five years in Brest region. There are thought to be up to 80,000 of the animals in the country as a whole. Demand for their fur has dropped off sharply since its Soviet heyday, and current levels of shooting and trapping are not enough to keep the population in check.

“We’re making efforts to stimulate commercial use of beaver meat but that hasn’t taken off yet,” said Mr Shilinchuk. As a result, beavers have become an increasingly common sight, even in populated areas, he added.

Mr Shtyk said the fishermen were partly to blame for the tragedy, because they had approached the creature. “A beaver is a wild animal, after all,” he said. A local doctor said the victim might have survived if a tourniquet had been applied to his leg.

Earlier this week, a man in Russia’s Tver region posted a video online of a beaver attacking him. He was knocked down but escaped without injuries. “Those who’ve seen a beaver’s teeth will understand,” he wrote.

Man Walks Away From Bison Attack Unharmed

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:54:00 -0700

March 27, 2013 (KSL TV, Utah)

ANTELOPE ISLAND — If you’ve heard the phrase, “You mess with the bull, you get the horns,” it also apparently applies to bison.

A man learned that lesson the hard way on Antelope Island Saturday.

Witnesses said it appeared the man provoked the beast, and it promptly rammed him into a fence.

“This person is very, very, very lucky that he wasn’t killed,” said assistant park manager John Sullivan.

Sullivan said the man seemed uninjured immediately after the ordeal, and “other than being a little dusty … embarrassed and shell-shocked,” he was “none the worse for wear.”

Witnesses told rangers the man rattled a fence separating him from the bison, appearing to try to get its attention as he was taking pictures. Some also said he may have chucked a couple of rocks at the beast.

“The [bison] had gone through the gate section that’s located real close to where he got hit and looked like he was going to run off the field,” Wayne Ebenroth of Boise, Idaho, said during an interview Wednesday on KSL NewsRadio. “He had to have done something to catch the [bison’s] attention, because that’s when he turned around and decided to pay him a visit.”

Ebenroth was there to cheer on and take pictures of his wife in the Antelope Island Buffalo Run. He started taking photos when he saw a few people in close proximity to the bison. He kept photographing the interaction until the man was pinned against the fence.

“[The bison] just was not comfortable with how close he was hanging out with him,” Ebenroth said.

Sullivan said the man, who for now remains nameless, was not cited — rangers figured it would be “adding insult to injury” for the well-documented mishap. He said the man insisted to rangers that he did not antagonize the animal, but merely raised an arm.

Antelope Island Buffalo Run organizer Jim Skaggs said in the eight years he has run races on the island, he has never witnessed another negative encounter with the bison. Runners, he said, regularly cross paths or at least come into somewhat close proximity with the beasts during the races, which last up to 100 miles.

“Most of the time, the bison will just move and get out of the way,” he said.

Bison have been on Antelope Island since as early as the 1880s, when ranchers brought them there. The land was eventually sold to the state, and officials try to maintain the island population at around 550. The others are sold.

The beasts are regularly mistaken in America for buffaloes, but scientists say there are a few physical differences and buffaloes are native to parts of Africa and Asia.

Sullivan said the fact that the man was too close to the bison may have minimized the number of warning signs given, but he said bison do give off warning signs before charging.

“They’ll huff, they’ll lower their heads, they’ll paw at the dirt,” Sullivan explained. “Their tails usually go rigid and come up. Any one of those things is an indication that you’re either too close or they’re getting aggravated.”

Rangers said they didn’t advise getting any closer than 35 to 40 yards to the creatures. KSL witnessed several sight-seers Wednesday taking photos from that distance.

Any closer, Sullivan said, and people can’t outrun the bison.

“I think there’s a misconception of what they really are,” he said, “because ‘they’re big, slow-moving, shaggy cows’ — as people may interpret them to be.”

3 Commando Dolphins Go AWOL in Crimea

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:41:07 -0700

March 12, 2013 (USA Today)

Three Ukrainian commando dolphins trained to search for mines, attack divers and plant explosives have escaped from their handler in the Crimea, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

The news agency, citing the Ukrainian media, said only two of five military-trained “killer” dolphins returned to their base in the port city of Sevastopol after recent exercises.

RIA Novosti said the Ukrainian defense ministry denied the reports of killer dolphins going AWOL, but also even refused to confirm the existence of such a program.

Dolphins were trained for commando missions at Sevastopol for the Soviet navy as far back as 1973, but Ukraine took over the unit after the Soviet breakup and the splitting of the Black Sea fleet into the Ukrainian and Russian fleets.

To keep the unit intact, the dolphins were trained for civilian tasks such as working with disabled children.

A military source in Sevastopol told RIA Novosti last year, however, that the Ukrainian navy had restarted training dolphins for commando operations, such as attacking enemy combat swimmers using special knives or pistols fixed to their heads.

They were also being trained to plant explosives, carried on their heads, on enemy ships, the unidentified source is quoted as saying.

Even in the past, training could go awry at certain times of the year, a former Soviet naval trainer told the news agency, and may account for the latest defections.

“If a male dolphin saw a female dolphin during the mating season, then he would immediately set off after her, Yury Plyachenko, a former Soviet naval anti-sabotage officer told RIA Novosti.”But they came back in a week or so.”

CBS Seattle reports that other militaries, including the U.S. Navy, also usedolphins, but that the U.S. trains them not for attack but for intelligence gathering. CBS reports dolphins were used in the Iraq War.

Hooked Marlin Sinks Fishing Boat

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:09:15 -0800

January 30, 2013 (Grind TV)

A fisherman off Panama was battling a huge black marlin when the battle took a turn for the worse. The fish sank the boat.

Or as Marlin Magazine put it on its Facebook post, “Marlin Wins!”

Not all the details are in, but apparently the captain began backing down on the huge fish, a common practice in big-game fishing when a fish is taking line. He puts the boat in reverse to chase the fish.

One commenter on Marlin Magazine’s Facebook post who apparently had some knowledge of the incident said that the captain fell as he was backing down on the fish at full throttle. The boat took on too much water and, finally, there was no correcting the situation. So, indirectly, the fish sank the boat.

Marlin Magazine reported that the boat went to the bottom of the sea and everybody on board was rescued by the photo boat. And, of course, the fish got away.

More photos as the boat sinks and the fish continues to jump:

Cow Escapes Slaughterhouse by Diving Into Icy Pool

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:48:40 -0800

December 14, 2012 (Care 2 News)

This past Saturday morning on a farm in western Germany, a cow who was being sent to the slaughterhouse ran away. The year-and-a-half old, 500 kilogram cow jumped and galloped over two barbed wire fences to the town of Sangerhof, two kilometers away. She next leaped over a hedge — and ended up in an ice-filled swimming pool.

The pool’s owner quickly alerted firemen. It took six people to help get her out; they first had to pump out some of the water so the very chilly creature would not drown. Gerhard Steinhauer, the farmer who owns the cow, then pulled her out with his tractor.

The “Kuhl im Pool” attracted plenty of media attention, with many animal protection organizations emailing Steinhauer not to send the cow to the slaughterhouse. The fire department’s phone was also ringing off the hook, says the newspaper General Anzeiger.

As of Thursday, December 13, Steinhauer said that he will spare the cow from the slaughterhouse and that he has been speaking to Gut Aiderbichl, an animal sanctuary. Steinhauer is only waiting to receive a health certificate from the district’s veterinary office.

He had been in part swayed after speaking to Michael Aufhauser, the director of Gut Aiderbichl. Aufhauser had noted that, since the cow had been able to survive such an ordeal, she certainly had the right to live — “which I agree with,” said Steinhauer.

Gut Aiderbichl is the same animal sanctuary that purchased Yvonne, the cow who broke through an electric fence on the farm where she was being fattened up for the abattoir. Evading all human efforts to find her, Yvonne roamed for three months in the Bavarian woods. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that there are plans for a Hollywood animated film about Yvonne’s escape and adventures. It is to be entitled “Cow on the Run.”

Zebra and Pony Escape and Run Loose Through Staten Island

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:09:10 -0800

November 28, 2012 (Daily Mail, UK)

A zebra and a pony have been captured after spending five hours on the run on Staten Island, New York on Wednesday.

Footage of the escapee animals were caught on camera phone by local shop owner Zachary Osher, who spotted the runaways trotting through a shopping center parking lot shortly after 9:00 a.m.

Minutes after Osher took the footage, two men in dark suits carrying lassoes chased after the animals.

‘I was sitting at my desk at about 9:20 when I saw a zebra and pony run back and forth across the street, almost getting hit by a car, he told The Staten Island Advance.

While filming, Osher can be heard making a kissing sound in an effort to get the animals to slow down as they headed toward the street.

Undeterred, the animals keep going and as they make it onto Victory Boulevard they are greeted by a motorist honking their horn.

Fortunately the animals survived the ordeal although it took until 2:00 p.m. for them to be captured after a joint effort involving the Parks Department, NYPD and FDNY.

The animals - a 4-month old zebra colt called Razzi and a 15-year-old Shetland pony that goes by the name Casper have been returned to a local petting zoo owned by the Schirripa family at 3633 Victory Boulevard.

Video

Circus Camel Escapes, Takes Detour Through Southern California City

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:38:00 -0800

November 24, 2012 (Fox News)

It wasn’t a typical jam up that slowed traffic Southern California’s Glendale — it was a runaway circus camel.

KCAL-TV reports that a camel escaped from Ramos Brothers Circus Friday and began galloping down Glendale Boulevard with handlers in hot pursuit.

The circus says that “Atula” was about to be taken into the circus ring for an exercise but for some reason decided to break free.

Handlers eventually caught up with the rambunctious animal and led her back to the big top, but not before the sight of the exotic beast brought traffic to a stop.

The station reports that the camel’s trainers say she has never run away before.

December 2, 2012 Dolphin bites girl at Seaworld Orlando

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:57:40 -0800

December 2, 2012

Dolphin bites girl at Seaworld Orlando

Deer Attacks Hunter After Being Shot

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:15:57 -0800

December 2, 2012 (CBS Boston)

A 54-year-old New Hampshire deer hunter is recovering after an eight-point buck gored him with an antler after being shot.

Everett Gray of Cornish shot the deer near his home Thursday afternoon and then moved in to finish the kill with a knife.

He said that’s when the white-tail lunged at him, piercing his abdomen with an antler point and lifting him off the ground.

Gray told WBZ-TV the deer rammed its head into his stomach and pushed him down a slope before he managed dislodge the antler point from his side.

While Gray was treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, his brother and a few friends went into the woods and dragged the buck back to his house and hung it in his garage.

The hunter told WBZ his hunting days are most likely over.

Montana Cow Escapes Slaughterhouse, Charges People, Shot in Heart

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:22:35 -0800

August 22, 2012 (Billings Gazette)

After trying to corral a runaway cow on Billings’ South Side on Tuesday, Morgan Logan said it didn’t take him long to realize the Billings police were dealing with one mad cow.

“I’ve been around livestock my whole life, so at first sight I thought it was pretty funny seeing cops chase a cow down the street,” Logan said Wednesday afternoon. “But she was like a bull at a rodeo.”

Logan, 52, of Acton, was released from St. Vincent Healthcare on Wednesday afternoon with sore ribs and broken tibia and fibula bones after being pummeled by the cow a day earlier at his construction work site at 10th Avenue South and South Broadway.

Logan was driving a gravel truck when he saw the police trying to contain the cow and decided to try to help them.

“I couldn’t believe how fast she came out from under the tree,” Logan said. “I guess I saw her too late because the next thing I knew I was in the air. I had no fence to climb — she caught me right in the open.”

The 1,200-pound black Angus escaped from the Public Auction Yards shortly before 3 p.m. during unloading and led law enforcement on a chase through downtown and the South Side.

Nearly two hours later, the cow was shot by the Billings Police Department.

Auction yard manager Bob Cook said the cow was ‘on the fight’ to begin with when she came off the truck.

On her downtown trek, the cow had tipped over a bicyclist and made many charging attempts toward pedestrians and had nearly jumped over one of the police vehicles, Lt. Iffland said

“It’s not like we are out in the pasture,” Lt. Kevin Iffland said Wednesday. “This was a totally different scenario of asphalt and a lot of traffic. We are not equipped to wrangle large animals in a city environment.”

The initial call came in just before 3 p.m., when Billings police requested the assistance of Montana Fish and Wildlife Parks as well as the Public Auction Yard where the cow had escaped from.

Bob Gibson, communication and education program manager for Fish and Wildlife Parks, said they were unable to respond to the incident because the agency wouldn’t have been able to act fast enough.

“It’s not like we just go to the cupboard and pull out a dart gun and shoot,” Gibson said. “There are different drugs, concentrations and quantities that are all considerations when darting animals. Wardens do a lot of studying and environmental assessment ahead of time when tranquilizing an animal.

“And we don’t handle livestock. In fact, it’s fairly rare that we dart anything.”

Billings police requested assistance from auction yard employees, Iffland said, but by that time the cow had already charged several pedestrians and bicyclists on sidewalks and yards.

An on-duty detective, who is also a police marksman, was called in to shoot the cow. He used a .308-caliber rifle and fired one round through the cow’s heart at 4:41 p.m.

“There were a lot of factors that were considered that went into this as well — backgrounds and angles,” Lt. Iffland said, “and whether to shoot in the head or heart. We were certainly concerned with the most humane way and the safest way.”

Bob Cook, auction yard manager, said the cow was taken to the city landfill.

At this time, he is not certain if the cow was covered under the auction yard’s insurance at the point of consignment transfer.

“We will take the appropriate measures to respond once we find out what that is,” Cook said.

Escaped Cow Offered New Home

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:11:00 -0800

July 13, 2012 (UPI)

A cow that escaped from a French slaughter house has been offered a new home by Brigitte Bardot’s animal welfare foundation.

The cow escaped while being herded into an Alpine slaughter house July 2, The Local.fr reported.

Police unsuccessfully searched the area surrounding the slaughterhouse.

Now, many people have rallied online, calling for the cow’s life to be spared, the daily Le Parisien reports.

“I think this cow is a symbol. She shows that animals have emotions, a conscience. She fled because she knew she was going to die. Today we should fight for her, to save her,” a Web-user named Stephanie wrote.

“There would be no point in killing her anyway. Her meat can no longer be sold because she has escaped the traditional farming processes,” added Sebastien, another online user.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which fights for animal rights, has responded to the calls of the online activists, saying its facility in Normandy will welcome the cow if it is found.

September 9, 2012At Yellowstone, a taunted bison charges family...

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 01:06:03 -0800

September 9, 2012

At Yellowstone, a taunted bison charges family after the father encourages his child to approach him.

Oregon Man Gets Devoured by Hogs

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 15:06:00 -0800

October 1, 2012 (Gawker)

Every pig has its day — and in this case, that means reversing the food chain.

A 70-year-old man in Oregon was almost entirely devoured by his hogs. Terry Vance Garner was attempting to feed the animals, which technically he did.

Family members report last seeing Garner intact when he left the house around 7:30 a.m. to feed the hogs.

A few hours later, a family member went to check on Garner. When he entered the hog enclosure, he found Garner’s dentures on the ground. On further examination, the family member then found pieces of Garner’s body, but most of the body was gone, apparently eaten by the animals.

The discarded dentures really complete this gruesome tableau.

Now the mystery is finding out how exactly Garner died. Or as Coos County district attorney Paul Frasier put it, figuring out “how Mr. Garner ended up in a position where the hogs were able to consume him.”

Given the state of Garner’s remains, a medical examiner was unable to determine the cause of death. It’s possible that Garner suffered a heart attack and was eaten by the hogs after he died — but it’s just as possible one of the 700-pound beasts pushed him down.

The Sheriff’s Office is also looking into foul play, which would mean another human was involved. It’s almost comforting to think that someone non-porcine killed Garner, however awful that might sound. Outside of the natural causes scenario, the alternative is that those pigs acted maliciously.

The concept of a farm animal revolt is just fine as an allegory, but a real-life Napoleon the pig is too horrible to be imagined.

Wild Animals Help Kangaroos Escape Wildlife Park

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:43:00 -0800

August 15, 2012 (VegNewsDaily)

A fox and wild boar were accomplices to three kangaroos who hopped nine miles to freedom from a German wildlife park.

Three kangaroos at Rheinböllen Wildlife Park in Germany managed a great escape over the weekend with the help of a fox and a wild boar. The fox dug underneath a fence, while the boar broke a barricade, allowing marsupials Jack, Mick, and Skippy to hop nine miles to freedom until spotted by an onlooker. “They’re not aggressive at all. We were worried they might get run over,” said the zoo’s Deputy Manager Michael Hoffmann, who further speculated that the break-out likely had to do with the fact that young foxes in the area are searching out food. “And wild boars try to get in here too because they can dig around our meadows and don’t have to worry about getting shot,” added Hoffmann. The kangaroo trio have since been apprehended by officials.

Giraffe Escapes Circus, Causes Chaos in Italian Town

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:23:00 -0800

September 21, 2012 (BBC News)

A giraffe has escaped from an Italian circus in the northern town of Imola, spending several hours on the run.

The five-metre high animal, weighing almost 900kg (2,000lb), caused damage to some vehicles along the roads by catching them with its hooves.

It shocked residents as it made its way down the town’s main street.

Eventually, after four hours, it was shot with a tranquiliser by police. It died shortly afterwards, apparently of a cardiac arrest.

The animal, part of the Rinaldo Orfei circus, was on the run for around four hours and video footage showed it moving at speed across a forecourt as people looked on, amazed.

At one point the giraffe was pictured in a full gallop, with a police squad car in pursuit.

Another image, however, shows the giraffe examining some flowers as an elderly lady tends her garden, completely unaware of the giraffe’s presence metres above her head.

Runaway Bull Causes Pandemonium at Edinburgh Zoo

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:56:48 -0700

September 4, 2012 (Metro, UK)

The adult male Heck cattle bull was on the loose for about 40 minutes while a team of keepers and vets chased it with stun guns.

Visitors to the zoo in Scotland were forced to take refuge in a chimpanzee enclosure before the animal was eventually tranquillised by staff.

One shocked zoo visitor tweeted: “Can’t believe we were stuck in the chimp enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo after a bull got out.”

A spokeswoman for the zoo played down the incident, also apologising for any inconvenience caused.

“It stayed within the locality of the enclosure,” she said.

“Edinburgh Zoo visitors were immediately escorted to indoor areas in the zoo. Edinburgh Zoo’s trained team of expert keepers and veterinarians safely and effectively darted the animal.” She added: “Staff are establishing the circumstances of the escape, and have secured the area. We regret any inconvenience this caused and our visitor services staff will respond to any queries related to this incident.”

Alaska Grizzly Bear Kills and Eats Man in Park

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:02:45 -0700

August 26, 2012 (Washington Post)

A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park’s history, officials said Saturday.

Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack, Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson said.

The hiker was identified late Saturday as Richard White, 49, of San Diego. He was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile of separation required by park rules, officials said.

“They show the bear grazing in the willows, not acting aggressive in any form or manner during that period of time,” Anderson said of the photos.

Officials learned of the attack after hikers stumbled upon an abandoned backpack along the river about three miles from a rest area on Friday afternoon. The hikers also spotted torn clothing and blood. They immediately hiked back and alerted staff park.

Rangers in a helicopter spotted a large male grizzly bear sitting on the hiker’s remains, which they called a “food cache” in the underbrush about 100 to 150 yards from the site of the attack on Friday.

A state trooper shot and killed the male bear on Saturday. Investigators examined the bear’s stomach contents, looked at White’s photos and used other tests Saturday evening to confirm that it was the animal that killed White, park officials said in a statement Saturday night.

White’s remains were recovered Saturday evening and were being sent to the medical examiner in Anchorage.

There’s no indication that the man’s death was the result of anything other than a bear attack, investigators said, adding that it’s the first known fatal mauling in the park’s nearly century-long history.

“Over the years, and especially since the 1970s, the park has worked very diligently to minimize the conflict between humans and wildlife in the park,” Anderson said. “We have some of the most stringent human-wildlife conflict regulations in the National Park system, and I think those are largely responsible for the fact that there hasn’t been a fatal attack.”

White had been in the Denali backcountry for three nights and may have recently hiked in other areas of Alaska, park officials said. It was unknown if he had previous backcountry experience in Denali.

Park officials said they don’t believe other registered backpackers are in the immediate area. That portion of the park is closed but other wilderness areas remain open, officials said.

Prior to receiving a permit to hike in the area, all backpackers in the park receive mandatory bear awareness training that teaches them to stay at least a quarter-mile away from bears, and to slowly back away if they find themselves any closer. Investigators confirmed that the hiker had received that training.

Denali is located 240 miles north of Anchorage. It spans more than 6 million acres and is home to numerous wild animals, including bears, wolves, caribou and moose.

Chimps Maul Man, But Will Not Be Killed

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:37:16 -0700

July 4, 2012 (BBC News)

Two chimpanzees which mauled an American student in South Africa will not be put down, a government investigator says. They were defending their territory and there was no evidence of negligence by their keepers, said Dries Pienaar.

Andrew Oberle was studying at a sanctuary in north-eastern South Africa when he was attacked last Thursday. The chimps tore off some of his fingers, a testicle and mauled his head.

Mr Pienaar, a conservationist who is leading the investigation into the attack said the animals were defending their territory. He said Mr Oberle, a Masters student in anthropology and primatology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, should not have crossed a fence that marked a “no-go zone”. “The only thing that happened is Andrew stepped over the small barrier fence and went right up to the electric fence,” Mr Pienaar told the Associated Press. “We all know that they are tame chimps, but he shouldn’t have done that… I’m not having the chimps put down. I don’t think there’s reason for that,” he said.

Mr Oberle is in a stable condition, under a medically induced coma in hospital. His family have flown from the United States to South Africa to join him.

Mr Oberle was showing tourists around the Chimp Eden sanctuary when he was attacked. He wanted to remove a stone that the chimps could throw at passers-by. As Mr Oberle went to climb back over the fence, the chimps grabbed his foot, pulled him down and dragged him 30 metres away.

Eugene Cousins, a manager at Chimp Eden, said that he fired warning shots to scare off the animals but then one of the chimps attacked his vehicle, smashing the bonnet and windshield. He fired another shot through the windscreen, wounding the chimpanzee, he told AFP news agency.

Chimp Eden was founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall in 2006 to house chimpanzees rescued from central Africa.