Tag: wildlife

Florida alligator spotted with ‘body in his mouth’

A 13-foot alligator was killed by Florida officials after it was reportedly seen carrying human remains on Friday.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to an area near 134th Avenue North and 121st Street in Ridgecrest, Florida, on Friday after getting reports of a body in the waterway, according to FOX 13.

With help of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the alligator was “humanely killed.” Blood could be seen near the alligator.

A witness told Spectrum Bay News 9 that he could see a body in the alligator’s mouth.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to an area near 134th Avenue North and 121st Street in Ridgecrest, Florida, on Friday after getting reports of a body in the waterway, according to FOX 13. (FOX 13)

“I could tell there was a body in his mouth, so I started recording,” JaMarcus Bullard said. “I came down to the fire department and reported it to them.”

“I could tell there was a body in his mouth…”

Terri Williams, who was visiting the area when the incident happened, said she was shocked to see an alligator.

The sheriff’s office didn’t release additional information about the incident. (FOX 13)

“I would’ve never dreamt that an alligator would be in this area,” Williams said. “Of course, I know there’s a lake across the street, and I know about the lake in Taylor Park, but not in this neighborhood. No, I would have never thought that.”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-alligator-spotted-body-mouth

3,115 Leopards ‘Spotted’ in Uttarakhand, Population Grew by 29% in 8 Years: Forest Department Data

In recent weeks, leopard conflict incidents have been reported from Almora, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh, and Tehri districts. (Representational image/News18)

The number of leopards has grown in Uttarakhand since 2015, reveals the population estimates of the felines released on Friday. This comes a week after tiger numbers were shared for Uttarakhand and other states. The data released by the forest department suggests leopard population estimates stand at 3,115 in Uttarakhand.

The last estimates for 2015 counted 2,335 leopards in the Himalayan state. In mathematical terms, the growth has been around 29% in the past eight years. The figures are critical since Uttarakhand is one of the states that witnesses frequent man-leopard conflicts.

Data collected by the forest department underlines that between January 2000 and June 2023, a total of 508 people were killed in leopard attacks and more than 1,800 were injured. However, a total of 1,658 leopard deaths were also reported from June 2001 to date, many due to accidents or mutual fights, among other reasons.

Chief wildlife warden Samir Sinha expressed concern about the growing incidents of conflict. “The leopard population estimates will help us understand the problem areas and we will try to mitigate the situation,” he told News18.

Elaborating on the methodology, Sinha said the estimation was conducted jointly by the Wildlife Institute of India and the forest department. The team used trap cameras and kept a record of the physical sightings.

Of late, on the growing man-leopard conflict, the experts have been divided on whether the urban population is venturing close to forest areas or the growing number of leopards is forcing them to move close to human habitations for food.

Anup Sah, an expert on the big cats and member of the state wildlife board, feels it is urbanisation that has to be blamed for conflicts. “Saving human lives is a concern, at the same time, and much more challenging, as far as saving leopards and tigers are concerned,” he said.

 

Source: https://www.news18.com/india/3115-leopards-spotted-in-uttarakhand-population-grew-by-29-in-8-years-forest-department-data-8506657.html

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