Turkish man seeks new lover on TV show after killing two others

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A man who appeared on a Turkish television dating show in search of a new partner shocked the audience by revealing he had murdered his former wife and a former lover.

Sefer Calinak, 62, told Flash TV's "Luck of the Draw" he had served prison sentences for each of the murders and had been released under an amnesty programme.

"I'm an honest person looking for a new wife," he told the show, saying he killed his first wife because he was "irritated" by her behavior and murdered a subsequent partner because he thought she was after his money.

Calinak was asked to leave the show by the host, prompting applause from the studio audience, in an episode which made headlines in Turkish newspapers.

(Reporting by Seda Sezer; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Andrew Roche)

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Cameras capture eagle killing deer in Russia

LONDON (AP) — The eagle, red-handed.

Remote cameras intended to monitor Siberian tigers in Russia instead caught a golden eagle's fatal attack on a deer, snapping three photos as the massive bird dug its talons into the distressed animal's back.

London's Zoological Society, which distributed the pictures to journalists, said the sequence showed a rare but not unheard of attack by a golden eagle. The society's Linda Kerley said she first realized something was up when she approached the wildlife-monitoring device — also called a camera trap — and found a mangled deer carcass nearby.

"Something felt wrong about it," she said in a statement accompanying the photographs. "There were no large carnivore tracks in the snow, and it looked like the deer had been running and then just stopped and died.

"It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced everything together," she said. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Golden eagles are large birds. Their wingspan tops more than 2 meters (6 ½ feet) and, while they typically eat small birds, mammals, or snakes, they've been known to target larger animals as well.

It's rare for a camera to catch such an attack in progress, and the photos have been an online sensation.

The zoological society said the photos were shot in the Lazovsky State Nature Reserve in the Primorye region of Russia's Far East on Dec. 8, 2011. The pictures were released only after the publication of a scholarly article by Kerley and co-author Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Ohio-based Journal of Raptor Research earlier this month.

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Online:

Raptor Research Foundation: http://www.raptorresearchfoundation.org/

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Idaho man sentenced to seven years for killing zoo monkey

By Laura Zuckerman

(Reuters) - An Idaho man who admitted to breaking into a Boise zoo last year and killing a monkey was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday, court records show.

Michael Watkins, 22, of Weiser, Idaho, in March pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft, a felony, and misdemeanor animal cruelty stemming from the break-in and beating death of the monkey at Zoo Boise in November.

The primate was one of the zoo's two Patas monkeys, ground-dwelling animals from Africa that stand more than 2 feet tall and weigh about 35 pounds. They are rare in zoos but not endangered in the wild.

The case shook officials at the zoo and triggered an outpouring of sympathy and donations from animal lovers worldwide.

Watkins scaled the security fence at Zoo Boise in the pre-dawn hours of November 17 and attempted to steal the monkey, which bit him, police said. Watkins then kicked and hit the animal, severely wounding it, according to police. The monkey later died of blunt force trauma, zoo officials said.

Zoo Boise Director Steve Burns said on Thursday the sentencing of Watkins closed a particularly devastating chapter for the facility.

"We're moving on," he said. "The court has done its job and we're continuing to do our job."

In the days after the death, zoo staff sought to boost the spirits of the companion-less Patas monkey and considered shipping it to another zoo with primates since they are exceedingly social, Burns said.

Instead, Zoo Boise in December gained two female Patas monkeys donated by the Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

News about the monkey's death brought donations from across the United States and overseas, allowing the zoo to begin construction on Monday of a $250,000 exhibit for the three Patas monkeys, Burns said.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Bill Trott)

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California probes killing of intern by lion in enclosure

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A 24-year-old intern who was killed by a lion at a California wildlife sanctuary apparently liked to get close to big cats, and state officials on Thursday said they are investigating why she was inside an enclosure with the predator and what caused the attack.

The Cat Haven sanctuary east of Fresno remained closed the day after Dianna Hanson was killed. Authorities said a 350-pound male Barbary lion named Cous Cous attacked her inside a pen.

Sheriff's deputies shot and killed the lion so they could tend to Hanson, who died at the scene, the Fresno County Sheriff's Department said.

Dianna Hanson's Facebook page showed pictures of her standing or sitting next to big cats, apparently in enclosures, and she had worked on a wild feline reserve in Africa.

Her father, an attorney in Washington state, told Seattle television station KING 5 that his daughter, originally from the Seattle area, had given him a tour of Cat Haven, the sanctuary, about 40 miles east of Fresno.

"I've always had a premonition this would happen," Paul Hanson told the station. "She really loved getting up close and personal with the animals."

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health sent two inspectors with questions such as whether the sanctuary allowed the woman to enter the enclosure, said agency spokesman Peter Melton.

"We'll find out exactly what she was doing and what her job duties we're and whether she was following the procedures as they were supposed to be done," Melton said.

Authorities said Cat Haven, a 100-acre (16-hectare) sanctuary in Dunlap run by the group Project Survival, would remain closed until further notice.

PASSION FOR CATS

Hanson, who graduated in 2011 from Western Washington University with a degree in biology, had previously worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor at a pool in the city of Shoreline, in the Seattle area.

She spent six months in Kenya last year working on a wild feline reserve and "her passion for big cats was evident," a statement from the city of Shoreline said.

In 2011 and 2012, Hanson also volunteered in Seattle for the Snow Leopard Trust, which seeks ways to protect the endangered species, the organization said.

The 4-year-old Barbary lion that killed Hanson was of a species that is extinct in the wild, said Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which oversaw the permit that allows the sanctuary to operate.

The lion had been handled by humans since it was weeks old, and was one of two Barbary lions at the facility, Mackey said.

Several years ago, when it was a cub, "Cous Cous" also made an appearance on the talk show "Ellen," Mackey said.

On Thursday, a necropsy was performed on the lion to determine if it suffered from any health problems that could have led to the attack, Mackey said.

Cat Haven was founded in 1993 "to exhibit a variety of wild cats and engage public support for their conservation in the wild via specific projects," according to the park's website.

A representative for Cat Haven could not be reached for comment.

Aimee Zundell of Las Vegas visited Cat Haven last summer with her husband and their two young daughters, and she saw "Cous Cous."

"I never forgot him. He was just so ... gorgeous," she said. "He was sitting by this big bathtub, and his chin was on the bathtub. He was absolutely stunning."

"My impression was that nobody goes into the enclosure by themselves," she said. "I was told they always worked in teams, especially if the cat needed medical attention."

(Additional reporting by Laura L. Myers in Seattle, Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and David Gregorio)

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