Animals

A group of students and teachers on a leisurely stroll through a Canadian forest crossed paths with a grizzly bear ... and an afternoon out enjoying nature quickly turned into a bloodbath, according to media reports.

The ferocious encounter occurred Thursday afternoon along a trail in Bella Coola on British Columbia’s Central Coast, where the group was enjoying their hike ... until they bumped into the bear, which went bananas on them, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports. Teachers reportedly tried to defend the kids and fight off the bear.

Four people were severely injured in the savage attack ... those victims were rushed to a hospital, with two listed in critical condition and two in serious condition ... while seven others were treated at the scene, the CBC reports.

"Tiger King" star Joe Exotic has retained a lawyer with ties to President Donald Trump ... and now he is hopeful for a pardon, TMZ has learned.

As you know ... Joe is currently locked up in federal prison in Texas, serving a 21-year prison sentence for a murder-for-hire plot to kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin, and for wildlife violations.

His new attorney, Peter Ticktin, went to military school with POTUS back in the day, and Joe and Peter seem confident they'll be able to work something out.

I peck your pardon?! A man is staring down 20 years in the slammer after a suspiciously huge bulge in his pants -- which he claimed was his mighty man-meat -- turned out to be ... TWO. ACTUAL. BIRDS. Yes, this is real life!

Jesse Agus Martinez, 35, got stopped by CBP at the Mexico-U.S. border on October 23 after guards clocked a very questionable bulge in his trousers ... and when they checked it out, they found two little brown bags stuffed in his underwear -- each holding a rare orange-fronted parakeet.

The parakeets -- which are critically endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature -- were breathing but heavily sedated, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Southern California.

One brave little kid came face-to-fur with a black bear inside a Pennsylvania Family Dollar and yep, he lived to tell the tale ... and it’s a proper nightmare fuel story!

Speaking to CBS Pittsburgh, 11-year-old Cole Frazee said he was just strolling into the Markleysburg store over the weekend when he realized there was a bear behind him -- and it literally chased him into the store while he screamed, closing in to about a foot and a half away from him.

Cole said he legit thought the bear was about to eat him, but instinct kicked in ... he juked left, the bear kept going straight, and he bolted up and down the aisles with his heart pounding out of his chest.

Jimmy Kimmel's honoring his late pal Cleto Escobedo by raising some money for worth causes ... setting up a pair of fundraisers in his honor.

The talk show host revealed the plan on Instagram Friday ... telling fans the late musician was always eager to help others -- and, to mourn his loss, they've started two fundraisers to follow up his good works.

The first cause, Kimmel says, is the UCLA Medical Center where Cleto received a ton of amazing care need the end of his life ... while the other is The Animal Foundation in Las Vegas -- Cleto's hometown -- in recognition of his love of animals.

Guests at the Indianapolis Zoo got a bit more than they bargained for on Friday morning ... because a chimpanzee escaped its enclosure.

The Indianapolis Zoo's senior vice president of external relations, Jake Oakman, told WTHR-TV a female chimpanzee was seen outside of the International Chimpanzee Complex at around 10 in the morning.

He said the zoo locked down and guests were escorted to safe locations.

The errant chimpanzee didn't make it off zoo property ... it was located and sedated returned to the complex.

No guests were injured, and the zoo reopened at noon.

Oakman said staff and security had been prepped for similar situations, and he said they "responded in a textbook and professional manner."

Jeff Goldblum's role as The Wizard of Oz not only changed his legacy, it changed his diet ... the Hollywood legend stopped eating meat and poultry after filming.

The 73-year-old Oscar-nominated actor revealed the news Monday on the British daytime show "This Morning."

Citing the character's cruelty to animals in the film, he said he made the decision to make a conscientious switch IRL. Goldblum told the hosts ... "I'm happy. We need the world to work for everybody on Earth and every creature, too."

Sometimes you flip the bird, sometimes the bird flips you -- almost -- as a German cop found out while rescuing an angry swan from a busy road recently.

According to local media outlet Sudwestrundfunk, the bird-brained subject was reported to be darting in and out of traffic, making the road extremely dangerous for drivers ... and itself.

In a viral video, the policewoman can be seen stepping in to save the swan from the precarious situation, but the waterfowl wasn't having it. Still, the hissing and menacing posturing didn't deter the officer from her swan song.

The single mother who fatally shot one of the escaped monkeys in her Mississippi back yard did nothing wrong despite the primate showing no signs of aggression, according to Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson.

Sheriff Johnson tells TMZ ...  he does not believe the woman who pulled the trigger -- Jessica Bond Ferguson -- broke any laws even though the primate was just minding its own business while hanging out in her backyard.

Video shows the monkey falling to the ground from its perch after getting hit with a single gunshot fired by Ferguson.

Dave Portnoy is calling out Tom Brady … after the NFL legend revealed his new dog, Junie, is actually a clone of his late pooch, Lua.

ICYMI … on Tuesday, Brady said he partnered with Colossal Biosciences -- a biotech company he invests in -- to clone Lua through a blood sample collected before she passed.

Brady originally shared Lua with his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen ... and nearly two years after Lua’s death, Junie entered the picture -- looking similar to the OG pooch.

11/5 12:03 PM PT -- Tika’s owner Thomas Shapiro tells TMZ ... "Tika had just wrapped what would be her final Fashion Week and PetCon appearances, and the family had planned to retire her so she could enjoy her relaxed final year at home.  Even though they had consulted with some of the best medicical professionals in the country, it was her time to go."

Tika the Iggy, an Italian greyhound with a fashion sense and a huge internet following, is dead.

Tika's owner, Thomas Shapiro, announced her death Tuesday in a heartbreaking social media post.

Shapiro says Tika had two tumors in her liver and they had surgery to remove them -- on the advice of veterinarians -- and things seemed like they were going well.

If you’re a fan of monkeys, proceed with caution ... there's now video showing the moment an escaped monkey in Mississippi was shot at in a private backyard Sunday.

Check out the clip ... you can see the moment a monkey falls from its perch under an eave of a house after a woman -- fearing for her children -- gunned it down after discovering it in her backyard. Video shows authorities then carrying its body away by the tail.

We've been covering the story ... a truck carrying 21 Rhesus macaques overturned last Tuesday ... 13 were gathered up by authorities after the incident, while 5 were shot and killed by a deputy on the scene ... after he was mistakenly informed the monkeys were infected with COVID, herpes and hepatitis C. Three escaped.

Jessica Bond Ferguson -- the mom who shot and killed an escaped monkey Sunday to protect her kids -- wishes the whole thing never happened ... she told TMZ.

The mother of 5 told us, "I wish it didn't have to happen that way. I just wish they took better measures in taking care of it and trying to find them."

As you know ... a truck carrying Rhesus monkeys from a research center overturned in rural Mississippi last week -- 21 monkeys onboard nearly escaped the vehicle.

A "tight-knit" community in Wales was left heartbroken by tragedy Sunday when a 9-month-old baby was reportedly attacked and killed by a dog.

BBC News reports the child was killed in the village of Rogiet in southeast Wales Sunday around 6 PM local time. The dog was seized and removed from the property ... Gwent Police did not immediately release the breed of the dog. No arrests have been made.

According to the outlet, the "quiet community" is standing together through the profound sense of loss over the shocking tragedy. A local cafe called Rogiet Community Junction has become a much-needed source of comfort for those who need it.

One of the escaped monkeys in Mississippi was shot and killed Sunday morning by a mom who told the Associated Press she feared for the safety of her children.

The AP reports Jessica Bond Ferguson -- a mother-of-five living in Heidelberg, Mississippi -- was alerted to a monkey running in the yard outside their home by her 16-year-old son this morning ... and, when she looked, she says the monkey was just 60 feet from her home.

Ferguson told the outlet she fired her gun ... “I did what any other mother would do to protect her children. I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that's when he fell.”

In what authorities reportedly called a 2-part attack, wild elephants broke a man's legs in Malaysia ... then later came back and trampled him to death.

According to local news outlet, The Vibes, Saidi Jahari, 43, was working at a logging site in the Gua Musang district of the country at the time of the incident. The news outlet reports elephants attacked the logging site, injuring Saidi while the five other loggers were able to escape into the woods.

Following the attack, Saidi's coworkers brought him inside their communal house for protection as he nursed his two broken legs.