Animals

Turns out people ain't the only thing hanging out on the shores of the beach in South Africa ... as evidenced by a giant squid that was discovered, measuring 7 feet!

A beachcomber, who goes by Ali Paulus on Instagram, posted about her finding of the extremely rare squid last week at Long Beach on the shore of South Africa.

Check it out for yourself ... the life-sized calamari reportedly measured over 7 ft long from head to tentacle tips!

A toddler was hospitalized after being viciously attacked by a coyote at the beach ... and it was all caught on camera.

The INSANE incident went down Thursday around 9:45 PM at Huntington Beach in the O.C. ... when a mom took her two kids to take a dip.

A surf cam was rolling and captured the moment the coyote lunged at the little girl.

Fair warning, it's pretty disturbing ... the coyote jumps up and attacks the little girl's face and has her on the ground for at least 15 seconds before she's able to scramble and adults finally notice.

The little girl was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Two coyotes were killed by officials later that night, and they're trying to determine if one of them was the one involved in the attack ... as they continue their search.

As for the girl, she is said to be about 2 or 3 years old. She was tested for rabies and will continue to be treated at the hospital.

Ever wonder what it'd be like to get eaten by a shark? Now you can see, and it ain't pretty.

Divers plopped a cam in the sand in the Indian Ocean ... with hopes of capturing footage for a documentary about shark conservation in the Maldives. They got way more than they bargained for.

The shark gobbles up the camera and the view is literally jaw-dropping!!!

The filmmaker, Zimy Da Kid, told CNN, "The shark just passed by, saw this shiny thing, was like, 'Oh, what is that?'"

In case you're wondering, the camera-eater is a tiger shark, which are super aggro.

Zimy says these sharks are up for eating anything, so it wasn't a huge surprise this one had its Kodak moment.

Alan Cumming is on the hunt for his missing chimpanzee former co-star, Tonka ... and, he's putting up $10K to anyone who might have any info.

Tonka was last seen in a cage at a chimp breeding facility in Missouri. The facility no longer exists, but it was a place where chimps were bred then sold to private owners or rented out for movies and parties.

In case you didn't know, Alan and his furry friend go way back ... starring in the 1997 comedy "Buddy" together, alongside Rene Russo.

In a statement, Alan said ... “During the months we filmed together, baby Tonka and I became good friends, playing and grooming each other and just generally larking about".

And, whoever might have any information on the missing chimp will be walking away with double the money ... cause PETA put up another $10K reward, making the total cash about $20K.

There are some really twisted people out there on the high seas ... because a dead dolphin washed up on a Florida beach, and it had been fatally stabbed in the head.

Beachgoers in Fort Myers stumbled upon the female bottlenose dolphin's dead body late last month ... and there was a gash above the marine mammal's right eye.

It's horrific ... the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a necropsy shows the dolphin was impaled in the head with a spear-like object while it was still alive.

Even worse, the NOAA says the dolphin appears to have been stabbed while in a begging position ... which is not a natural behavior for dolphins and is commonly associated with illegal feeding.

The dolphin was an adult lactating female ... and NOAA says violent acts towards dolphins are on the rise in the Gulf of Mexico. The feds say this is at least the 27th dolphin since 2002 to wash up on land with evidence of wounds from guns, arrows or sharp objects.

Mike Krzyzewski may not be coaching the Duke hoops team anymore ... but the team is making sure he keeps at it -- with this new puppy!

The adorable moment happened during the Blue Devils' annual banquet and award ceremony at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday to celebrate their Final Four run.

Jon Scheyer -- Coach K's replacement as head coach -- was at the podium with the basketball team, Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, when JS introduced their "new family member."

"We can't repay you for what you done for all of us but we're gonna try," Scheyer said.

"Since you have a lot more time now coach, we felt you needed something to train."

That's when a player handed Coach K an 8-week-old Silver Lab -- and he LOVED it!

Coach K even kissed his new pup and the sweet dog gave him one right back -- a true Kodak moment.

FYI ... Coach K planned on getting a puppy after the season following the death of his dog Blue. But, his team beat him to it.

Besides the furry gift, Krzyzewski thanked the team for an "unbelievable season" despite the loss to their rivals, the UNC Tarheels in the Final Four.

"You guys were winners," Coach K said at the event. "For me, you made my final season one of the happiest that I've ever had."

Ya knew Ezekiel Elliott wasn't scared of anything ... but did you know it went to THIS extent?!?!

The Dallas Cowboys superstar posted a video of him with his pet snake on Wednesday ... showing no fear whatsoever as the reptile crawled all over his beard and shirtless body.

Check out the footage ... it's absolutely hair-raising -- the snake wiggled across Elliott's 225-pound frame, all while sticking out its tongue repeatedly.

Zeke, though, seemed to love it -- filming the interaction with a steady hand on the camera the entire time.

Elliott -- an animal lover who's usually spending most of his time with his dogs -- has had the pet snake for several weeks now, and it's clear their bond is growing by the day.

Absolutely wild moment during the Clippers vs. Timberwolves game on Tuesday night -- a fan made her way down to the court and glued herself to the floor ... and everyone, including the players, was stunned by the sight.

The incident went down in the second quarter of the NBA game at the Target Center in Minnesota ... when a woman attempted to stick herself to the hardwood using some Elmer's.

The woman sprayed the adhesive just underneath one of the baskets as the teams were down on the other end of the court, and then she pressed her hand firmly into it.

When security arrived to get her off the floor -- she refused to get up, insisting her wrist was glued down.

Eventually, though, the woman complied with guards and was escorted off the floor.

In a statement released by animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, officials from the org. said the woman made the scene in an effort to protest Wolves owner Glen Taylor.

The officials accused Taylor and his employees of wrongly killing chickens on his factory egg farm in Iowa. They added that the protester's sweater during Tuesday's game read, "GLEN TAYLOR ROASTS ANIMALS ALIVE."

Wolves guard Patrick Beverley said after the game he did attempt to help the woman out during the protest ... and was praying that she was OK.

No word if the woman was arrested for the stunt ... but the Wolves said in a statement that they were "in touch with Target Center Security to address the incident."

Lady Gaga's dog walker is weighing in on the bungled release from jail of the man who allegedly tried to murder him.

Ryan Fischer called for the accused, James Howard Jackson, to turn himself in. As TMZ reported, he was released this week due to some sort of clerical error, and he's still on the loose.

Ryan says, "While I'm deeply concerned at the events that led to his release, I'm confident law enforcement will rectify the error. I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time."

The 19-year-old Jackson allegedly shot Ryan in the chest as he and others attempted to nab Lady Gaga's 3 French bulldogs as he was walking them in a residential area.

TMZ obtained the video which shows the brutal scene. Jackson allegedly took 2 of the dogs and left Ryan bleeding on the street.

The dogs were returned, but Ryan had a much tougher time. He suffered from a collapsed lung and is still enduring the physical and emotional aftereffects of the shooting.

The suspect who allegedly shot Lady Gaga's dog walker was accidentally released from jail ... and the L.A. Sheriff's Department is investigating how such a blunder could occur.

19-year-old James Howard Jackson was released Wednesday. Jail records simply say  "dismissed." The Sheriff's department says Jackson was the beneficiary of a clerical error.

Jackson had appeared in an L.A. courtroom Tuesday ... and somehow got released the following day.

The LASD Major Crimes Bureau is now trying to find Jackson .... they're asking anyone with info to contact the Sheriff's Dept.

As we reported, Jackson was in custody for attempted murder in connection with the shooting of Lady Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fisher, and the theft of two of the singer's French Bulldogs.

Ryan suffered a collapsed lung and serious mobility issues and is still enduring the physical and emotional aftereffects of the shooting.

"Hunger Games" actress Jena Malone acted fast to help an innocent dog who was being abused at the side of the road by his owner ... and other bystanders joined her cause, unleashing a brutal beatdown on the animal abuser.

The whole thing went down Tuesday near Sunset Blvd. in L.A. when Jena and others witnessed the attack. She told NBC LA she chased the man as he abused the dog, signaling for others to help.

Jena says 5 men joined in, and restrained the abuser, but not before kicking the crap out of him first.

Cops eventually showed up, taking the pup -- named Champ -- to an animal hospital ... he suffered from a fractured rib, broken bones in his hind legs and a fracture in the right paw.

Jena posted a series of tweets about the incident, saying while she wishes it didn't have to end in a "brawl," she is grateful Champ is ok.

Turns out the man abusing Champ wasn't his actual owner, and he has reunited with his actual family thanks to a microchip last week. The dog is still in the hospital and will be undergoing surgery.

Drew Barrymore, brace yourself, because a dude from down under may have validated what you saw years ago!!!

A guy named Alex Tan was strolling on an Australian beach when he came upon something weird ... something "you see when people claim that they found aliens."

Whatever it is ... it's dead.

Tan thought it might be a possum ... or an extraterrestrial. So far no one has stepped forward to crack the mystery. It really doesn't look like anything we've seen before, so who knows?

He posted his find, and people were quick to respond. Maybe the best comment, "Experts say it tastes like chicken."

One famous feline is helping other animals in need ... raising $10k for animal relief in Ukraine!

Stepan the cat, whose Instagram account Loveyoustepan has 1.2 million followers, started collecting money over PayPal last week, looking to donate to 5 different animal charities in Ukraine ... as of Monday, they've raised $10,035!

The five charities -- Happy Paw, UAnimals, Mykolaiv Zoo, XII Months and Plyushka -- will help in a variety of ways, providing aid to animals in Ukraine affected by the war.

Stepan and co. have been documenting their journey, leaving Kharkiv and fleeing to France. They were woken up at the end of February to explosions that shook their windows ... seeing neighboring houses burnt before their very eyes.

Their house remained untouched for an entire week, until a shell flew into their neighbor's balcony, affecting their building. After escaping to France, they started the fundraiser, asking those able to help to donate what they could.

FYI, this isn't an ordinary cat ... he's caught the eyes of millions, including Britney Spears, who even reposted the kitty on her social media.

Stepan was rescued when he was 1 month old and has lived in Ukraine his whole life. He went viral on TikTok in 2019, appearing with his famous glass of red wine with Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" playing in the background.

The so-called "gay" dog that was given up by its owners over perceived homosexual behavior now has a new home -- and that pad is very LGBTQ-friendly ... as is his new name!

North Carolina's Steve Nichols tells TMZ ... he and his longtime partner, John, adopted Fezco Tuesday after hearing the story about him getting abandoned by his former human parents ... all because they caught him humping another male pooch.

Nichols says they felt an immediate connection to Fezco, as he explains both he and John have faced discrimination in their own lives. So, they applied ... and were actually chosen.

Now, get this ... Nichols says they've actually gone ahead and rebranded Fezco with a new doggy tag, now calling him "Oscar" instead of his old moniker. We're told they chose that to honor the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde -- who was also gay.

It's probably for the best, because Nichols tells us his new pet was apparently not well taken care of by his previous owners ... saying the dog wasn't neutered, and had heart worms -- which he's taking care of now by sending Oscar straight to the vet, where he'll be for a bit.

Nichols says the application wanted to make sure that whoever would embrace Oscar would be committed to nursing him back to health, and both he and John certainly are. Word of Oscar's availability came courtesy of WCCB's Morgan Fogarty, who broke the news.

Looks like Oscar will have some company ... the couple already have a furry friend named Harry, who's a Terrier-Chihuahua mix. They expect their two boys will get along just fine.

A huge gator with only three feet invaded a Florida golf course this past weekend ... and somehow, the golfers who were near the mini-beast didn't even flinch!!

The Jurassic Park-like scene took place on a hole in Bonita Bay ... and video of the creature's trek across the grass, shot by a witness on the course, is surreal.

In the footage, you can see a gator who's missing its right front foot plodded along the turf while several golfers in the distance acted as if there was nothing going on.

People behind the camera, though, gawked at the gator as it slowly moved -- with multiple noting its missing foot.

Of course, gators on courses down in Florida are hardly new -- PGA Tour players have had to maneuver shots around them for years.

In fact, back in 2020, an absolute unit of a gator was spotted near a hole in Naples.

This is actually a really sad story so hold the chuckles ... a North Carolina dog was abandoned and sent to an animal shelter because its owner thought the pooch was gay.

Fezco is held up at the shelter in Stanly County after his owners caught him humping another male hound.

Of course, the owners' reaction is absurd ... dogs do this for dominance, and even if Fezco was gay, so what?

The shelter has posted Fezco's story on Facebook, assuring prospective owners he's a good boy and kind to people and his peers alike.

The 5-year-old doggie will almost certainly get a home ... and according to WCCB TV, applications are apparently flooding in.