The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Dog bites shark and goes viral Posted: 20 Jul 2011 06:31 AM PDT  A video grab from footage shot June 1, 2011 shows a dog swimming with sharks before diving underwater, appearing to bite one of them, in the shallow waters in the west Australian town of Broome. Cameraman Russell Hood-Penn captured the moment on film and shouted "the dog's biting the shark" as the dog dived under the water towards the shark. – Reuters pic Video footage of a dog attacking a shark under water on the Australian coast has "gone viral", becoming a top Internet hit. The footage shows two dogs swimming in the ocean near the West Australian town of Broome, about 1,650km northeast of Perth. The dogs appear to be herding several sharks towards shore, when one suddenly ducks under the water and attacks a shark. "The dog is biting the shark," said Russell Hood-Penn in the voice-over as he video-taped the incident. "That is unbelievable. I've seen it all now." Hood-Penn placed the footage on video-sharing website YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HyIZh5BQZY), where it has been viewed more than 27 million times. When the camera pans out, a dead dugong (a large marine mammal similar to a manatee) can be seen beached on the shore and Hood-Penn speculates that is the reason the sharks are circling so close to shore. At the end of the video the dog emerges from the ocean and shakes the water from its fur. There was no word on the fate of the shark. – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Tracking predators to avoid becoming prey Posted: 19 Jul 2011 10:36 PM PDT  A crocodile rests inside its enclosure at the Singapore Zoo March 17, 2008. — Reuters pic According to the British daily, at least 23 people have been eaten by crocodiles over the past decade, owing to massive jungle clearing that have reduced the availability of the creature's traditional prey. "It is a very dangerous environment — the attack rate on humans is extremely high. The use of land for plantations here has considerably decreased the amounts of prey available for crocodiles. "This makes for a far more dangerous environment, and attack rates on humans near plantations are extremely high compared to those in forested areas," project leader Dr Benoit Goossens was quoted as saying. The Times said the project to track the crocodiles is being undertaken by a team of researchers from a research and training centre in Sabah, and jointly managed by Cardiff University and the Sabah Wildlife Department. "The project on Borneo's Kinabatangan River will benefit both the human population and the giant predators," The Times said. Already, researchers have begun trapping the giant reptiles, and one 12ft-long saltwater crocodile called "Girang" has already been fitted with the device — called the "snap nav" — which costs nearly RM6,800. "The reptiles are released back to the wild soon afterwards, where their movements can be tracked using a laptop computer — allowing people in the area to give them a wide berth," wrote the Times. "We are trying to understand the movements of these large predators by tagging large males, which are potentially man-eaters. We are hoping to reduce fatal attacks by using our results to give safety guidelines for plantation workers and local villagers. "Our results will also contribute to the protection of the species and benefit the local ecosystem, as well as tourism," Dr Goosens was quoted as saying. He added that the team hopes to tag at least ten crocodiles in the area over the next year. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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