Media mentions of Germany's famous Bruno the Bear--tragically shot back in 2006--seem to be increasing again, and we're thinking that Germany is starting a new angle on tourism: When beer is no longer enough to bring the tourists in, try bears instead.

The latest news is that a half-brother of Bruno has been sighted in Austria, near the German border. Unlike the late Bruno, this guy's not destroying sheep or strolling into villages to sit on the doorstep of the police station, but authorities are worried that locals and tourists will again freak out at the sight of him.

There's now a government-sponsored exhibition touring Bavaria on the subject of living with brown bears and authorities are hoping that this return of brown bears will become a peaceful coexistence. Or, we suspect, a great tourist-attracting money-spinner.

Related Stories:
· Bruno's Half-Brother Spotted Close to German Border [Spiegel]
· A 750 Mile Taxi Ride for a Beer [Jaunted]
· Bruno the Bear coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Stephen Dyrgas]]]> amandak 2008-10-10T09:30:42-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/28/112439/383

One of our Killer Beaches for two years running, New Smyrna Beach, Florida just counted its 18th shark victim of the year. The 26-year-old surfer was bitten twice on the left leg while sitting on his board, but escaped with "only" a dozen or so gashes that needed stitches.

Earlier this week, a shark nibbled on a swimmer off the coast of New Smyrna, though he too escaped with minor injuries. Still, the beach town is on track to match its annual record of 22 incidents, set in 2001--or what locals call "The Year of the Shark."

Four months to go!

Related Stories:
· Edgewater Surfer Bitten by Shark [Dayton Beach News-Journal]
· Dangerous Travel: Killer Beaches 2008 [Jaunted]
· Killer Beaches 2007 Map [Jaunted]
· Sharks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ruminatrix]]]> pbb 2008-08-28T11:30:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/12/163713/954

The Montauk Monster is so over! An eight-year veteran of a sheriff's department in Texas says he recently spotted a chupacabra on the run in DeWitt County:

I've been patrolling these back roads for a long time, and I've never run across anything like this.

The deputy even had the sense to tape the mystery animal with his dash camera as it ran down a dirt path. It would be the second chupacabra in as many years for the county--though one captured in 2007 actually just turned out to be a coyote. At least it wasn't a viral marketing gimmick!

Related Stories:
· Chupacabra Caught on Tape? [KENS]
· Raw Video: Is This a Chupacabra? [KHOU]
· Texas Deputies Add to Chupacabra Legend [KSAT]
· When Animals Attack coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-12T17:30:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/11/144444/967

The incidence of jellyfish events this past week has dropped ever so slightly, heightening our paranoia that the jellies are amassing before a final virulent strike in the last weeks of summer.

While there were no out-and-out invasions this week, two smaller incidents deserve note: A fisherman died of cardiac arrest after being stung in Barangay Tiling, Philippines while out swimming with his brother. And on Hilbre Island off the coast of England near Liverpool, a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old girl were rushed to the hospital after incidental stings when one of them went into anaphylactic shock.

But! Just weeks after suffering more than 60 jellyfish stings, a Canadian long-distance swimmer is back in the water to swim the distance from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick today. The seriously brave lady, Jen Alexander, is completing the 22-hour swim to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes, which she has had for 20 years--she'll even test her blood sugar en route. Go, Jen, go! Before they strike again!

Our Jellyfish Invasion Map helps you track this summer's trendiest menace.

Related Stories:
· Jellyfish stings girls near Hilbre Island [Wirral Globe]
· Fisherman Dies from Jellyfish Sting [Inquirer]
· Marathon swimmer makes second attempt [Metronews.ca]
· Jellyfish Panic Continues Worldwide! [Jaunted]
· Bikini Travel: Bar Refaeli Braves Killer Jellyfish in France [Jaunted]

[Photo: marialynn]]]> egw 2008-08-11T16:00:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/7/16533/68021

The super-scary, walks-on-land, razor-toothed snakehead fish--that's so frightening that even a dead one threw Lincolnshire, England into a panic in February--has once again washed up on American shores. And it's coming to get you, bedroom communities of Upstate New York!

In Wawayanda, just south of Catskill Park, officials have ordered that any snakeheads must be shot or otherwise killed on sight to keep them from infesting the Hudson downstream. (Once the ferocious fish invade an ecosystem, it's next to impossible to clear 'em out.) The state Department of Environmental Conservation is using designer pesticides to poison the baddies in local waters while residents are poaching them with .22s from golf carts. Seriously.

While the killing may seem like swatting flies with a cruise missile, you don't mess around with these terrors. To wit:

Gale A. Norton, United States secretary of the interior when snakeheads were discovered in Maryland in 2002, called them "something from a bad horror movie" before ordering a federal ban. Since then the fish have spawned not one but two bad horror movies, "Snakehead Terror" and "Frankenfish."

Related Stories:
· A Potion to Beat Back "Frankenfish" [NYT]
· Snakehead Fish Caught In Lincolnshire [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-07T16:07:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/4/133211/0962

Our fear of killer jellyfish has not abated since last week! The New York Times even got in on the trend with a Spanish scientist suggesting jellies are trying to send us the message "Look how badly you are treating me," making them sound like a M. Night Shyamalan menace.

After the jump, this week's updates on the insidious spread of what David Beard of the Boston Globe called "the cockroach of the ocean."]]> egw 2008-08-04T13:50:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/29/1397/20948

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, a new marine threat has surfaced to rival sharks as the most dangerous to waterborne humans: Beaches around the world have seen an uptick in jellyfish attacks, with swarms of the gelatinous creatures swamping swimmers from Tampa to Thailand.]]> egw 2008-07-29T15:15:25-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/