Police shot and killed a wild black bear with a plastic jar stuck on its head. The bear had led police on a six-day chase through Minnesota forests. Officials had hoped to capture the bear but decided to shoot it after the bear wandered into a festival in the city of Frazee. “When it got into town, our main concern was public safety,” said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources’ wildlife supervisor.
The bear was likely foraging for food when its head got head stuck in a clear, plastic container, most likely for bulk candy or popcorn. Although the bear could breathe, it couldn’t eat or drink and was likely suffering from dehydration and hunger. “I’m sure there was high anxiety and frustration with its predicament,” Naplin said. “It is (a sad story).”
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American Idol host Ryan Seacrest was swimming in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico on Sunday when he was bitten by a sand shark, he said on his radio show Monday. Seacrest was "about eight feet out" when he felt something swim by his legs. "I thought it was a stick," he said. "I wasn’t sure what had happened." Then "I saw it swim! He took a bite, and he left."
The shark left a parting gift with Seacrest to remember the encounter: the shark’s tooth was embedded in Seacrest’s toe. "It wasn’t a great thing to find. It was like finding a splinter!" Although he was in pain, Seacrest wasn’t hurt too badly and only "needed to take an Advil."
When he was asked by his radio co-host if anyone else on the beach was bitten, Seacrest replied, "No, just me, of course! There were like 1,000 people in the ocean, and I get bit by the shark!"
A 23-year-old Georgia Tech student died skydiving Saturday and happened to videotape his own fatal plunge. Olen Reid Ashe III was an experienced skydiver, and this was his 299th jump.
The case is under investigation, but it appeared Ashe deployed his main parachute at 3,000 feet, but it failed to open. Ashe should have activated his emergency chute at 1,500 feet, but for some reason he didn’t deploy it until he was at 500 feet, which was too late.
Authorities believe that although Ashe was an expert skydiver, he may have lost "altitude awareness" in the emergency and failed to react quickly enough. Police are reviewing the videotape that Ashe made of his fatal fall to search for more clues.
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A female skydiver was killed when she walked into a spinning aircraft propeller at an airfield in Estonia, a country in northern Europe. The accident occurred as a group of skydivers began to board the turbo-prop airplane in the town of Rapla. Police say the 29-year-old victim died instantly when she was hit by one of the twin-engine aircraft’s propellers, and the incident is under investigation. The woman’s parachuting club, Skydive Estonia, said the woman was an experienced skydiver who had made over 200 jumps.
A theme park ride collapsed in western Sweden, injuring 18 people, two seriously. The Rainbow ride swings passengers about 30 feet into the air at high speed. A mechanical fault caused the ride to collapse while it was swinging. The ride was full with 36 passengers at the time, many of them children. Around 25 ambulances were sent to the scene.
The manager on duty believes the accident was caused by a malfunctioning ball bearing. The attraction was thoroughly inspected in the spring, and no problems were found.
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Goldilocks had it easy. Three bears at a Ukrainian zoo tore a man "limb from limb" after he fell into their enclosure. The 22-year-old man was drunk when he tried to photograph the Siberian Brown bears up close. He lost his footing and fell into the cage. The three bears charged the man immediately and ripped him apart as he tried to escape. The man was dead by the time handlers were able to separate him from the bears. The brown bear is very territorial and one of the world’s largest land carnivores.
Over 60 party-goers (or "ravers") were blinded after their retinas were burned by a giant laser light show near Moscow, Russia.
The ravers were attending the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival. Heavy rain forced organizers to erect massive tents and hold the all-night party inside. Giant lasers that normally shoot far into the sky instead were refracted into the ravers’ eyes.
A few days later, ravers began visiting hospitals in droves, complaining of sore eyes and poor vision. One raver described the injury as "a spot like when you stare into the sun."
One of the ophthalmologists told reporters, "’They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 per cent, and regaining it is already impossible."
One expert said the blindings were an accident due to "illiteracy on the part of technicians. It was partly the rain, but also partly the size of the laser. Somebody set up an extremely powerful laser for such a small space."
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The annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain has claimed 18 victims in the first two days including a California man. Marcus Wolf, 22, suffered a 5-inch gash in his right buttock when a bull gored him.
"I am not hurt that bad," Wolf said after surgery. "I was running and I got caught up with the people. I fell down and the bull climbed up over me. I felt the horn instantly. It was my first and final run, but I will definitely come back to Pamplona," he said. "I love it."
The bulls run at 8 a.m. daily and are the highlight of a centuries-old festival that became world famous with Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." Professional matadors fight and kill the bulls each afternoon at the festival. Fourteen runners have died in the running of the bulls since 1924.
One of Toyota’s top car engineers literally worked himself to death. A Japanese labor office determined the 45-year-old Tokyo man died from working too many hours. The ruling will allow the man’s family to collect benefits from his work insurance.
His widow’s lawyer said the man had been under significant pressure as lead engineer to develop a hybrid version of the Toyota Camry. In the months leading to his death, the engineer averaged more than 80 hours overtime per month. Though if you think about it, doesn’t that work out to just about 60 hours work per week? That’s alot, but certainly not a fatal level.
Japan has been struggling to reduce deaths from overwork, known as “karoshi.” These deaths have increased steadily since the Japanese Health Ministry recognized the phenomenon in 1987. In 2006, 147 Japanese died from overwork, most from strokes or heart attacks.
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In spite of all our differences, the one thing that binds all living creatures is that we each have an expiration date. This finality to our existence is what makes life special, something to be cherished and protected. But occasionally things can go terribly wrong…
