Australian Dog Named Bear Finds 100 Koalas Stranded by Bushfires

Lawsuits Over Covid-19 Handling in Nursing Homes Raise Questions About Standard of Care

TORONTO—As the deadly toll of COVID−19 on Canada’s nursing homes gives rise to a growing number of proposed class−action lawsuits, some legal experts say the cases will turn on what’s considered reasonable care during a pandemic. The ongoing global health crisis that has disproportionately affected the elderly poses a unique and unprecedented backdrop for such civil actions, which have emerged in Ontario and Quebec in recent weeks, experts say. While nursing homes can’t be blamed for the pandemic, they can be held accountable for unnecessary and preventable deaths, said Michael Smitiuch, a Toronto−based lawyer who previously led a successful negligence lawsuit against a Brampton, Ont. facility for seniors. “A crisis like this does not give nursing homes a free pass to neglect the elderly. So I think what will happen is…we’re going to look back at this…

A five-year-old Australian koolie dog along with a team of experts has saved more than 100 koalas in bushfire-ravaged parts of Australia since November last year.

Bear is a rescue dog who not only has a social media following but also a documentary called “Bear – Koala Hero” about his work. He has been detecting koalas in areas impacted by the fires since last summer.

Bear is part of the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs for Conservation team which has been working with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Despite bushfire season ending in March, the search for sick, dehydrated, or starving animals is ongoing.

“If we find them, wildlife carers can plump them up. Their goal is to release them when and where they have a better chance of having food available to them,” USC Detection Dogs for Conservation researcher Romane Cristescu told AAP.

While the world focus turns to the COVID-19 pandemic, for koalas it’s not over. Badly burnt land hasn’t recovered and vegetation has not grown back.

“Some places have burnt so much for such a wide area, some species may take decades to recover,” Cristescu said.

A recent koala population report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that 6,382 koalas are estimated to have died from the bushfires in New South Wales alone.

Australia is no stranger to bushfires, but last summer the country faced the most apocalyptic bush fire season in history. Out of control fires began earlier than normal in September 2019 and ravaged thousands of hectares of land until February, fueled by hot temperatures, drought, and high winds.

The bushfires shocked Team Bear, who has been training Bear and four of his mates since 2015. Members of the team described working with Bear as “healing.”

International Fund for Wildlife campaigner Josey Sharrad said Bear brought the team optimism during the devastation.

“He found koalas despite all those harrowing conditions. That brought us hope,” Sharrad said.

This article is from the Internet:Australian Dog Named Bear Finds 100 Koalas Stranded by Bushfires

Trump Says He’s ‘Glad to See’ Kim Jong Un ‘Back’

The adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in told news outlets that Kim had been staying in the Wonsan area since mid-April and noted that “no suspicious movements have so far been detected.” Questions arose about Kim’s health after he missed the celebration of his grandfather, North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung—an event that he always attended since he took power in 2011. At the same time, during the speculation about his death, North Korean state media did not respond. The impoverished, communist country still has not publicly responded to the reports about his health, which is considered a matter of state security. North Korea tightly controls all information about its leader, who is the subject of an extensive cult of personality. Meanwhile, a power vacuum at the top could lead…