Woman sneaks into Berlin Zoo seal pool for swim

August 5, 2014 10:13 AM

BERLIN (Reuters) - A woman sneaked into the seal pool of Berlin Zoo on Monday night, risking serious injury to take a swim with the animals after closing time, zoo authorities said.

A witness told German daily Bild: "I watched as the woman stripped to her bikini and then lowered herself into the seal pool. Further back was a man taking photos."

Zoo staff failed to catch the woman, said Ragnar Kuehne, a zoo manager, but would have called the police if they had.

"The woman could have been seriously injured if the seals had bitten her," he said.

The woman took her swim at 8:30 p.m. EDT (1930 CET), half an hour after visitors had been ushered out.

"People need to respect animal welfare in both the wild but also in captivity," said Doerte von der Reith, spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "To intrude into their compound is absolutely irresponsible."

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Woman scales barrier to feed cookies to lions in Tennessee zoo

By Tim Ghianni

(Reuters) - A woman climbed over a railing at the Memphis Zoo, breached a barrier of thorn bushes and tried to feed lions cookies through a piano wire fence as she sang to them, a zoo spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The woman, who the zoo did not identify, has been banned for life after the incident on Monday, zoo spokeswoman Laura Doty said.

"She was trying to stick (the cookies) through the piano wire," Doty said, adding that the three lions in the enclosure backed away from her.

Doty said the woman was singing a song she had apparently made up. Zoo officials did not know what kind of cookies she tried to feed to the lions. It was the second incident in two weeks involving the same woman, she said.

Witnesses who called zoo security told authorities the woman appeared to drop her cell phone over the railing and retrieved it before going back over a second time, Doty said.

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This guy had a really bad day

Tuesday 11 Mar 2014 10:54 am

Here’s why you should never attempt to snog a turtle, especially a clingy one. 

A hapless animal lover got a shock when he decided kissing the reptile goodbye before releasing it was definitely a good idea.

Misinterpreting the signals, the ungrateful animal latched on to his lips, leaving the recipient of its affection in hospital in Dongguan, southern China.

The creature was eventually prized away from the man’s lips, but the unsavoury incident almost certainly spoiled their final goodbye.

A friend of the unfortunate victim apparently posted the above picture online, according to reports in China.

The animal is believed to be an alligator snapping turtle, commonly found in the south-eastern United States.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/11/alligator-snapping-turtle-china-man-hospitalised-by-goodbye-kiss-4526191/

Jackass style shark stunt nearly turns deadly for adrenalin junky

SHARK ATTACK NEAR MISS0:19

Play video

Gold Coast adrenalin junkie Shaun Harrington almost turned into lunch while filming a video stunt for clothing label The Mad Hueys. Courtesy: The Mad Hueys

Man yells in terror after 2.4m Tiger shark lunges at him

Jack-ass style stunt was to get 'up close and personal' with man-eater

Flimsy cage used for protection

IT was a Jackass-style stunt that nearly turned around and bit Gold Coast adrenalin junkie Shaun Harrington - or rather mauled him.

Harrington, 27, and fellow forever-clowning twin brother Dean decided to go 'cage diving' with sharks off the Coast last weekend for an extreme video shoot for their surfing and fishing clothing label, fittingly called The Mad Hueys.

But the cage wasn't the jaws-proof reinforced steel type typically used by shark divers - it was a flimsy $50 bird cage Shaun planned to plonk on his head.

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Pictured: Boy, 2, mauled to death at zoo after falling into African wild dog pit

• Maddox Derkosh fell over railing about 12pm on Sunday at Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium
• Dogs developed 'pack mentality' and could not be stopped by zookeepers who fired darts at them
• Police officer opened fire and killed one dog that would not stop mauling boy
• Both parents are currently being medicated to deal with shock 

This is the tragic two-year-old boy who was mauled to death by a pack of ravenous African wild dogs after he fell off a zoo railing his mother put him on to get a better view of the animals on Sunday.


Maddox Derkosh had 'no chance' of surviving after falling 11 feet into the dog pit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium while his horrified parents Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh looked on helpless.


Desperate rescue attempts by zookeepers and armed police officers could not deter the 11 aggressive beasts as they savagely attacked the two-year-old, from Pleasant Hills, on Sunday morning.


A medical examiner concluded today that the toddler was killed by the animals, not by the fall.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227757/Pittsburgh-zoo-death-Maddox-Derkosh-mauled-death-African-wild-dogs-mother-dangles-railings.html#ixzz2BY9L7XdC

Man Dies After Winning Roach-Eating Contest

The winner of a cockroach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms.

About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night's contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.

Edward Archbold, 32, became ill shortly after the competition ended and collapsed in front of the shop, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office statement released on Monday.

He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities are waiting for results of a post-mortem to determine a cause of death.

"Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat," said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California.

"Some people do have allergies to roaches but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects."

None of the other contestants became ill, the sheriff's office said.

Continued:  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/man-dies-winning-roach-eating-contest-001751492.html

Joshua Shelton Killed 70,000 Chickens While Drunk, Police Say

Police say a Maryland man managed to kill 70,000 chickens in one drunken night, and now he's facing charges for it.

Joshua D. Shelton, 21, is accused of drinking so heavily at a Delmar farm that he couldn't tell the difference between a light switch and the circuit breakers connected to three chicken houses, The Daily Times reports.

Shelton allegedly cut the breakers on Friday night, and deprived the chickens of food, water and cooling fans.

"Without power, the chickens will begin to die within 15 minutes," according to charging documents obtained by the paper.

Farmer Mark Shockley found all but 100 chickens dead the next morning.

Shelton was found lying in the houses' power control shed, wearing only a T-shirt and boxers and smelling of alcohol, cops told the Associated Press. He had reportedly been at the home for a small party that Shockley's daughter was holding, and passed out in the control room.

The chickens were worth about $20,000, though cleanup costs will add to the damages.

Shelton was charged with burglary, malicious destruction of property and trespassing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/joshua-shelton-killed-700_n_1835848.html