Animal Deaths

Burmese, familiar to millions as Queen Elizabeth II's favorite ceremonial horse, died after suffering a stroke, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday. The horse was 28. The jet black mare, ridden by the monarch in 18 Trooping the Color ceremonies, died Tuesday at Windsor Palace, 22 miles west of London, and will be buried in adjacent Windsor Home Park, the palace said. Burmese was given to the queen by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1969.

An additional 100 young terns washed up on the Long Beach shore Friday as wildlife experts and state officials tried to piece together why 300 were discovered dead two days earlier. The prevailing theory is that the birds were disturbed when the barge they were nesting on was moved.

Scientists announced Wednesday that they have identified the bacterium linked to a massive die-off of fish and birds at Salton Sea and warned that it can be harmful to humans. Frank Shipley, director of the Northwest Biological Science Center in Seattle, told reporters that the bacteria can cause rashes and infections in people. In people who are already sick, the consequences could be worse, he said.

The director of the National Zoo announced her resignation Wednesday, just hours after a National Academy of Sciences panel reported that lapses in care and management had contributed to widely publicized animal deaths at the institution and continued to endanger the animals and the people visiting them. Dr. Lucy Spelman told a news conference that she had become a "lightning rod for too much attention" focused on the zoo, which is a part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Orange County toll road officials are whistling while they drive, but not for amusement. They are hoping to warn away deer, a dozen of which have been killed by fast-moving traffic since the Eastern toll road opened seven months ago. So the Transportation Corridor Agencies purchased 100 Deer Alert whistles from a specialty shop at South Coast Plaza. Concerned staffers have taken about 60 whistles so far to install on their work vehicles and personal cars.

A man was riding his lawn mower when it exploded, killing him and his dog and hurling pieces of the mower over the roof of his house. James Larry McAnnally was killed instantly when the 11-horsepower mower exploded Monday. His age was not available. Investigators for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined an investigation of the death Tuesday. McAnnally had not started cutting his grass but had driven a short distance across his backyard when the lawn mower exploded.

As any old-timer will tell you, black bears are a common sight here in the woodsy foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. Just about every resident of Forest Falls and neighboring hamlets has a story about the bear who toppled the trash can or spooked the family dog.

A vineyard management company has agreed to pay $67,000 to settle a case that arose after 400 birds died from pesticide poisoning in the Alexander Valley last fall. Sonoma County prosecutors negotiated the settlement with Lodi-based Vino Farms Inc., which managed the vineyard. Under the settlement--filed Thursday in county Superior Court--Vino Farms will give $15,000 to the Santa Rosa Bird Rescue Center and will cover costs incurred by state and local water and wildlife officials.

It's difficult not to feed the ducks, said folks lazing Saturday beside a pond in Fountain Valley's Mile Square Regional Park. The reason many say they like to sit on the rocks is to toss bread, crackers and croutons, hoping to coax the ducks to shore for a closer look. No more. Because 150 ducks have died recently due to a combination of hot weather, bacteria and human food in the pond, newly posted signs and banners plead with visitors not to feed the waterfowl.

Morty, the moose that ambles through the opening credits of the TV show "Northern Exposure," has died of an illness linked to a mineral deficiency. The moose, brought from Alaska as an orphan yearling five years ago, was a subject of studies headed by Charles Robbins, a Washington State University professor of natural resource sciences. Researchers later found a cobalt and copper deficiency in the diet of the moose that led to its death, Robbins said.