Tag: world news

Lion-bumping incident in South Africa ‘dealt with at highest level’

Social media footage showing a motorist nudging a lion with his front bumper in Kruger National Park prompted a quick investigation.

A motorist who bumped a lion with his vehicle over the weekend, seemingly to clear the animal from a road in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, has apparently been disciplined.

A day earlier, after viewing the accompanying footage, SanParks promised the incident would be “dealt with at the highest level.”

The agency, however, has not provided details about the individual or possible disciplinary measures.

The footage, shared by Lion Lovers, shows the seemingly impatient motorist rolling into the startled lion from behind.

Lion Lovers tagged SanParks in its post – the vehicle’s license plate is visible in the footage – and several in the comments thread demanded that the motorist be banned from the park.

“Disgusting behavior,” one follower complained.

“Hard to watch,” another stated.

The incident occurred during a traffic jam caused by lions lounging on a highway. Lion jams typically attract tourists eager to view and photograph the animals, but most do so respectfully.

Kruger National Park is billed as the “flagship of the South African National Parks” and tourists are allowed on its roads as long as they remain in their vehicles.

Animals always have the right of way and motorists are required to exercise extreme caution. Any action that alters an animal’s behavior – such as bumping it with a vehicle – can be considered illegal harassment.

Tiger shark chases turtle to beach in wild scene caught on video

A beachgoer in Western Australia this week captured extraordinary footage showing an 8-foot tiger shark nearly beaching itself while trying to catch a turtle.

A beachgoer in Western Australia this week captured extraordinary footage showing an 8-foot tiger shark nearly beaching itself while trying to catch a turtle.

The footage posted below, courtesy of Ruth Gaw, shows the shark swimming rapidly toward shore and the turtle scooting onto the sand in the nick of time.

“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw told FTW Outdoors. “A large stingray [also] got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

The shark nearly stranded before thrashing back into the water.

The pursuit occurred at Monkey Mia, a tourist destination famous for white-sand beaches and abundant marine life.

Gaw spotted the shark approaching as her husband Derek and son Arran were fishing for mackerel.

Tiger shark trying to get off the beach. Photo: Ruth Gaw

Her footage shows the shark swimming beneath fishing line, and line draped over the shark’s back as it reached the shore.

Not long before the shark encounter, the family had been swimming in waist-deep water.

Tiger sharks can measure nearly 15 feet and often prey on turtles. The apex predators are considered dangerous and have been implicated in several attacks on humans.

Chilling discovery as venomous snake crawls from ice dispenser

For a certain woman in Adelaide Hills, Australia, fetching ice from her refrigerator will from now on involve at least some trepidation.

For a certain woman in Adelaide Hills, Australia, fetching ice from her refrigerator will from now on involve at least some trepidation.

That’s because the woman this week discovered a large and potentially dangerous snake inside the ice dispenser as she approached to fill a glass.

The accompanying video shows an Adelaide Hills Snake Catcher employee coaxing the snake free of the compartment and into a canvass bag.

“You just never know where you’re going to catch them,” the company stated on Facebook.

9 News identified the reptile as a red-bellied black snake and began its report: “It was a shock discovery for an Adelaide mum when instead of a glass of ice she was greeted with a very slippery creature.”

Encounters with red-bellied black snakes are fairly common in parts of Australia. While the snakes are venomous and their bites can cause illness, they are not typically aggressive toward humans.

The refrigerator in question appears to be inside a garage or work shed, which might make such a bizarre discovery less surprising.

–Image was supplied to 9 News

Watch: Mysterious white whale thrills boaters off Thailand

The sighting of a white whale near the Phi Phi Islands was the first in the region and possibly in the country.

A white whale was spotted recently off Thailand in what might have been a first for the country.

The appearance of the whale alongside a tourism vessel was brief and the species was not confirmed, although there was speculation that it could have been a Bryde’s whale or Omura’s whale.

The sighting occurred in the Andaman Sea near the Phi Phi Islands.

In the footage, the whale swims swiftly alongside the boat before veering off and surfacing briefly as tourists marveled at the sight.

Yutthapong Damsrisuk, chief of Hat Nopparat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, told The Nation that it was the first known sighting of a white whale in the region and possibly the first off Thailand.

Damsrisuk did not provide the date of the sighting.

The whale was most likely leucistic. Leucism involves the partial loss of pigmentation, causing white or pale coloration.

Boaters in the area were informed of the whale’s presence and asked to exercise caution.

Watch: Dog walker encounters forest floor ‘moving like the sea’

A man walking his dog in Scotland has captured footage showing peculiar earth movements attributed to an unrelenting storm.

A dog-walker in Scotland has captured footage showing peculiar earth movements attributed to an unrelenting storm.

The footage, captured Friday by David Nugent-Malone, shows the saturated forest floor rising and dipping as high winds bend trees and challenge their root systems.

“The woods were moving like the sea this morning,” Nugent-Malone described in the first of two accompanying clips.

In the second clip, the curious dog is shown walking onto a top-layer of soil as it separates and resettles in a phenomenon described as the earth “breathing deeply this morning.”

Storm Babet slammed Scotland with torrential rains and high winds beginning Thursday, triggering red “danger to life” warnings.

At least three fatalities have been attributed to the storm.

Watch: ‘Compassionate’ elephant returns shoe dropped by child

Video has surfaced showing an elephant using its trunk to pick up a child’s shoe, which had fallen into its enclosure, and gently return the shoe to the child.

Video has surfaced showing an elephant using its trunk to pick up a child’s shoe, which had fallen into its enclosure, and gently return the shoe to the child.

“He is confined. But not his spirits & compassion,” Susanta Nanda described on X. “Returns the shoe of a child which accidentally fell in its enclosure.”

Nanda works for the Indian Forest Service, but the footage he obtained is from a facility in Weihai in Shandong Province, China.

Nanda added a hopeful sentiment in parenthesis: “Free wild [animals] from cages.”

Bear with head stuck in plastic drum quickly rescued in Spain

A brown bear that was found wandering through a Spanish town with its head stuck in a plastic drum has been rescued.

A brown bear that was found wandering through a Spanish town with its head stuck in a plastic drum has been rescued.

The bear was first spotted on the morning of Sept. 13 by residents of Anllares del Sil in León. Its entire head was inside the empty corn dispenser, rendering the bruin unable to see or feed.

A rescue effort coordinated by government biologists involved sedating the bear so the life-threatening device could be removed. The successful operation lasted barely more than an hour.

According to a news release issued by the Junta de Castilla y León, the bear was determined to be healthy. It’s now fitted with a GPS collar so biologists can track its movements.

The accompanying images are courtesy of the Teddy Bear Foundation.

Watch: Surfer in Australia rides wave with large shark on board

A surfer in New South Wales, Australia, was captured on video riding a wave with a seemingly dead shark on his board.

A surfer in New South Wales, Australia, was caught on video riding a wave with a seemingly dead shark on his board.

Kristin Grace, in her TikTok post, described the bizarre scene as an “Only in Australia” moment. Grace explained that the shark was dead but provided no other details.

9 News Australia shared the footage, stating, “Sadly the shark had died before the surfer found it.”

Surfer reported that sharks are common in Australia,”So, it’s no surprise to see ‘em; but this next clip is a little…different.”

The footage was captured at Yamba Main Beach and shows the surfer riding a paddleboard on his knees with the shark carcass pointing toward shore.

The shark species was not identified.

A sea creature encounter these beachgoers will never forget

Surreal footage showing a massive elephant seal hauling onto shore at a Mexican beach, startling beachgoers, is worth another look.

A news report on elephant seal bulls “surfing up onto the sand” for the molting season at a famous California rookery reminded me of an extraordinary event that occurred last July in Mexico.

The accompanying footage shows a massive elephant seal hauling out and frightening a family of beachgoers in Mulegé on the Sea of Cortez.

Mulegé is not an established rookery and this family probably had never experienced a close encounter with a creature so large and ominous-looking.

It turned out that the wayward mammal, which was spotted multiple times, was simply resting before returning to sea.

Northern elephant seals are the largest ‘true’ seals in the Northern Hemisphere and can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds. Their range includes the eastern and central North Pacific, from Alaska to Baja California.

They spend most of their time feeding at sea and typically come ashore at rookeries only to give birth, breed, and molt. Elephant seals can dive 2,500 feet in search of prey. They feed primarily on squid and fish, including sharks and rays.

The nearest significant elephant seal rookery to Mulegé is hundreds of miles away and around the Baja California peninsula, at Guadalupe Island west of Ensenada.

Watch: Selfie-seeking tourists run for lives from angry elephants

Footage has surfaced from India, showing three men fleeing from charging elephants after they had tried to capture selfies with the massive pachyderms.

In Yellowstone National Park, tourists often approach bison in the hope of capturing closeup images, and many have ended up in a hospital.

Apparently, in Indian forests, tourists have found an even larger animal with which to play this game of who can get closest for a selfie.

The accompanying footage, tweeted by Susanta Nanda of the Indian Forest Service, shows three men running for their lives from elephants that did not appreciate their company.

“For having a selfie, they not only do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm,” Nanda wrote.

In the footage, one of the tourists stumbles and falls, and looks back in terror before rising and continuing to flee.

ALSO: ‘Dominant’ brown bears brawl over fishing rights in Alaskan river

Asked by FTW Outdoors if any of the men were injured, Nanda joked: “It was pure bad luck for the elephants. All of [the men] escaped without any major injuries.”

As with bison, the largest land mammals in North America, Indian elephants are massive critters that appear docile most times, but are dangerously unpredictable.

Reads one of the comments beneath Nanda’s post: “Encroaching wildlife and their habitat is not only dangerous but also a crime. Where are the forest guards on duty?”