BUDAPEST — Authorities said a 35-year-old man was fatally bitten by a hog on Sunday in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. The hog, which the man had been raising, weighs 140-150 kg and belongs to a Hungarian breed called a mangalitsa, sometimes called as a curly-coated pig. According to the local wire service MTI, the hog broke out of its pen and as the man tried to force it back inside, it bit him on the thigh, severing a major artery. The victim, a father of three, bled to death before the ambulance chopper dispatched to help could reach him. He was also tried to be resuscitated for two hours but the effort failed. Veterinarian Laszlo Belso, the victim’s employer, said the man had always shown a high level of expertise when working with animals. Belso added that the hog had broken out of its pen several times in the past. Police are investigating the incident.

via Man Fatally Bitten by Hog in Hungary – Animal attack – ubAlert.

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Great site with very useful information about wild animals in California. Here’s an excerpt about Mountain Lions.

You may be attracting mountain lions to your property without knowing it!

More than half of California is mountain lion habitat. Mountain lions generally exist wherever deer are found. They are solitary and elusive, and their nature is to avoid humans.

Mountain lions prefer deer but, if allowed, they also eat pets and livestock. In extremely rare cases, even people have fallen prey to mountain lions.

Mountain lions that threaten people are immediately killed. Those that prey on pets or livestock can be killed by a property owner after the required depredation permit is secured. Moving problem mountain lions is not an option. It causes deadly conflicts with other mountain lions already there. Or the relocated mountain lion returns.

Help prevent deadly conflicts with these beautiful wild animals.

Living in Mountain Lion Country

• Don’t feed deer; it is illegal in California and it will attract mountain lions.
• Deer-proof your landscaping by avoiding plants that deer like to eat. For tips, request A Gardener’s Guide to Preventing Deer Damage from DFG offices.
• Trim brush to reduce hiding places for mountain lions.
• Don’t leave small children or pets outside unattended.
• Install motion-sensitive lighting around the house.
• Provide sturdy, covered shelters for sheep, goats, and other vulnerable animals.
• Don’t allow pets outside when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night.
• Bring pet food inside to avoid attracting raccoons, opossums and other potential mountain lion prey.

Identifying Mountain Lion Tracks The mountain lion track on the left can be distinguished from the dog track on the right by the absence of toenail prints and by the “M” shaped pad

Staying Safe in Mountain Lion Country

Mountain lions are quiet, solitary and elusive, and typically avoid people.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare. However, conflicts are increasing as California’s human population expands into mountain lion habitat.

• Do not hike, bike, or jog alone.
• Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night.
• Keep a close watch on small children.
• Do not approach a mountain lion.
• If you encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms; throw rocks or other objects. Pick up small children.
• If attacked, fight back.
• If a mountain lion attacks a person, 
  immediately call 911.

click to enlarge 
 Mountain lions can be found wherever deer, their primary prey, are found. They are a Specially Protected Mammal in California and cannot be hunted.

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Woman Attacked by Wild Pig

Posted By: Gary Detman 

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Cassandra Frank says she hadn’t even had a chance to have her morning cup of coffee on Monday.

She says the father of her 6 and 7-year-old children told her there was a pig in the backyard of their home on 23rd Avenue North.

A pig in the neighborhood is definitely odd, since they live within the city limits. You can see Interstate 275 through the fence that runs along the side of their home. Cassandra says, “I used to have a pig growing up, so I thought it was, you know, not that big.”

The pig was behind a wooden shed in the back yard. It appeared to have been digging a hole there. Cassandra went to take a closer look.

“Well, when I saw the back end of it, I didn’t think it would be that big. But when it came charging at me and I really got a look at it… I mean, it scared me.” 

It was that fear she says that sent her running back to the front of the house. The hog, weighing nearly 200 pounds, was moving fast too, and came straight at her. “So when I looked at my leg and I saw that it did, you know, nick me.”

Frank was left with a scratch and a bruise from the wild hog’s tusk.

Nine emergency workers responded from the St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue department, St. Petersburg Police Department and Pinellas County Animal Control Department.

Lt. Dan Robinson says, “We were all trying to capture the pig.”

Lt. Robinson, a 15 year veteran of the St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue department, says he had to jump over a six foot wooden fence to get out of the wild hog’s way. “She stopped about 10 feet short of me and looked at me. I looked at her and tried to scare her back to the pack, and at that time then she charged me.”

Robinson was able to get out of the way in the nick of time and wasn’t hurt.

Bill Warzybok, the animal control officer, finally captured the hog. He says the attacks could have been life threatening.

“The last thing you want to do is get gored by a 170 pound hog. It’s definitely not going to be good.”

Warzybok says it’s fortunate that the hog’s tusks were ground down and not three to four inches long. “It could hit a femoral artery and you could literally bleed to death.” 

The hog injured its leg during the attack and had to put to sleep. It’s now being tested for rabies.

Meanwhile, Cassandra plans to head back to her job Tuesday at a local fast food restaurant. She’s also studying to become a medical assistant.

No one is sure where the animal came from, but the case is under investigation.

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Hog wild: stampeding sow on the attack

> Posted by Barbara Hijek on April 21, 2009 07:50 AM

It was a hog, it was angry, and Cassandra Frank, 26, hadn’t even had her morning coffee yet, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

The 200-pound sow came charging at her. Frank tried to get out of the way, but the hog barreled into her.

Its white tusks pierced the skin on her left calf, and its weight pushed her against a tree.

The wild hog stampeded on. Someone called 911.

The hog bolted up the street, cut across a grassy lot, went through some more back yards and doubled back on the dead-end street.

Nine men — Robinson, other rescue officials and animal control officers —cornered the hog.

She charged again.

St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Dan Robinson had hunted wild hogs in north Florida as a boy.

But this 15-year veteran jumped over a six-foot wooden fence to get out of the way — cutting his forearm in the process.

Finally a pole with a lasso was used to capture the hog, which was later euthanized.

After the ordeal, Frank had a tetanus shot — and her coffee.

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Follow the link to see video footage of the coverage.

Woman gives up pork after being attacked by pig in her own yard

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (NBC NEWS) – Cassandra Frank was at home Monday morning when her boyfriend told her he thought he saw a pig on the lawn.

When Frank went outside she was stunned. An enormous sow was staring her down.

“This one was pretty large,” Frank said. “I guess it wanted to be in charge of somebody.”

The 200-pound pig charged her. Frank ran across the yard, but the sow caught up with her.

The animal used its tusks, striking her in the back of the leg. After awhile, the pig ran off.

Frank, who got a cut and bruises during the attack, called 911, worried that the animal would attack children in her neighborhood.

St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Lt. Dan Robinson along with Pinellas County Animal Control officers, found the pig in a nearby yard.

It was still ornery as the officers approached.

“At one point during the capture, the hog had me running for cover up a six-foot wooden fence,” Robinson said. “They’ll shred you up if you’re not careful.”

Robinson said this was the first time in his 15-year career that he’s responded to a wild pig call.

Frank said her friends gave her a some grief today for running from the pig and seeing authorities and reporters at her home.

“What was going through my mind was ‘get the hell away from it’,” she said. “I’ve never seen a pig that big.”

Animal control officers were able to lasso the sow, which suffered a broken leg during its capture. It was later euthanized.

Frank said she was saddened when she learned of the sow’s death, although she expects to have a phobia of pigs from now on.

“I don’t want to be anywhere around pork,” she said.

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Wild boar attacks woman in Gothenburg cemetery

A wild boar attacked a woman out walking her dog in a graveyard in Gothenburg on Tuesday morning.

The woman was out walking her dog in the woods at Västra Kykogården cemetery at 7am this morning when she came face to face with a large wild boar, according to local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten. 

“I have never run as fast in all my life,” the woman told the newspaper.

A hunter employed by the Church of Sweden was later able to confirm that in fact two wild boars had been out in the graveyard.

The animals may now be hunted and shot subject to a decision from the council.

Wild boars are not uncommon in Sweden and have in recent months been spotted in several residential areas around Gothenburg.

Sightings have been made in the built up areas of Billdal, Lindome and Mölndal.

Wild boars are normally very shy and fear humans. It is very rare that one would go on the attack and normally only when protecting its young.

While wild boars mate several times per year it is not thought that the animal in question was with offspring.

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This attack certainly seems unprovoked.

Control of Hong Kong boar population urged after man savaged

Hong Kong – A 77-year-old Hong Kong man was savaged by a wild boar that pinned him to the ground and bit his groin, police said Wednesday.

The 70-kilogram animal went on a rampage, knocking the man down and sinking its teeth into him, after it strayed into a village in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

Witnesses said the boar attacked Tuesday after it jumped a fence and charged at the man who was playing cards with friends outside.

The animal then ran off. The man was taken to hospital bleeding and was in stable condition Wednesday.

The attack is the latest in a series involving wild boars, which have lead to calls on the government to control the population, which is believed to have grown in recent years in Hong Kong’s rural areas, which cover more than 70 per cent of the territory’s 1,078 square kilometres.

Wild boars are common in rural parts of Hong Kong near its border with mainland China but are rarely seen in built-up urban parts of the city. But in February, police shot dead a wild boar when it strayed into a high-rise housing estate in the city’s built-up Tuen Mun district.

In September, a 120-kilogram boar was also shot dead by police after it fought with pet dogs and bit two residents in a rural village near the Hong Kong-China border. (dpa)