Animal Attacks Archive
California Wildlife Management
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Wildlife Management on September 2, 2010
Wednesday early morning police (it took three of them) shot (multiple times) and killed a mountain lion found in a residential area of Berkeley, California.
A 90-pound mountain lion (also known as a cougar) is roughly the same size as a cheetah, although stronger. The cheetah is built for speed whereas the cougar is built [...]
The Crocodile Attack Alarm
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Politics on May 24, 2010
This weekend officials on Kenya’s coast warned of increasing crocodile attacks on local residents. Nonsense.
If the reports of increased lion and crocodile attacks in Kenya are true, why are they not true in neighboring Uganda and Tanzania? Do those animals not have visas?
Like the incorrectly reported increase in lion attacks made last week [...]
Lions going extinct? Or Maasai?
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Big Game, Community Based Tourism, Mara, Safari Lodges on May 21, 2010
Richard Leakey’s excellent wildlife consortium, Wildlife Direct, said today that “Kenya’s lions are on the brink of extinction.” Exaggeration or real warning?
Probably both.
The organization’s warning followed an incident in late April where three lions were poisoned in Lemek, a private wildlife conservancy north of Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara game reserve.
Wildlife officials arrested the alleged [...]
Is CITES a Rich Man’s Treaty?
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Poaching, Wildlife Management on April 29, 2010
The southern African countries are meeting today in Malawi to decide whether to withdraw from the CITES convention. They almost convinced me to support them, and then, they blew it.
The withdrawal from CITES (Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species) by part of the world where half the elephants live would throw the treaty [...]
Elephant Attack
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks, Planning Travel, Safety on January 7, 2010
Yesterday an American woman and her infant were killed by an elephant as they walked out of the Castle Forest Lodge near Mt. Kenya.
The name of the woman has not yet been released, but Kenyan authorities said she was the 39-year old wife of a teacher at Nairobi’s International School. The age of the [...]
Hyaena Attack
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks on December 14, 2009
We love animals to death. The reverse is also true.
I have a multitude of reasons why we as conservationists and animal lovers must put at the top of our priorities a constant vigilance against anthropomorphizing. If we start to think of the marvelous diversity of life as being just like us, then we [...]
Elephant Suit
Posted by jimheck in Animal Attacks on April 30, 2009
There is no question that it is becoming more dangerous for tourists interacting with elephants. But is the $850,000 award to an injured tourist in Kenya the right response?
Last November a Kenyan court awarded Wendy Martin, the wife of a British diplomat at the time serving in Kenya, 65 million Kenyan shillings in compensation [...]