DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An escaped water buffalo was located Wednesday, days after it was shot and wounded during a weekend attempt to return it to its owner's suburban property, officials said.
The animal was found in a wooded area in Des Moines, officials told local broadcast station KCCI-TV. Police were initially called Saturday after the animal wandered away from its pen and became aggressive in the Pleasant Hill suburb.
That proved to be the case when police and animal rescue and control groups began trying to contain the water buffalo and return it to the owner’s property. Those efforts “led the animal to show its aggressiveness toward Pleasant Hill officers which resulted in one round being fired from a shotgun, injuring the animal,” police said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary, a rescue in eastern Iowa, wrote Wednesday on Facebook that the water buffalo had been shot in the chest and is now headed to the Iowa State Large Animal Hospital for treatment. They added that the water buffalo was surrendered by its owner and would be joining their farm after treatment.
Water buffaloes can weigh up to 2,650 pounds (1,200 kilograms), according to the website for National Geographic, though the Iowa animal appears smaller in photos. Often domesticated, the water buffalo is the largest member of the Bovini tribe, which includes yak, bison, African buffalo, various species of wild cattle, and others, the website said.
An escaped water buffalo on the lam from police looks on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in the Des Moines suburb of Pleasant Hill, Iowa. (Madison Pottebaum via AP)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday.
Loke said Cabinet ministers gave the nod at their meeting last week for Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity to continue the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the ocean.
“The proposed new search area, identified by Ocean Infinity, is based on the latest information and data analyses conducted by experts and researchers. The company’s proposal is credible,” he said in a statement.
The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane deviated from its flight path to head over the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.
An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.
Loke said the government will not be required to pay Ocean Infinity unless the plane's wreckage is discovered, under the same “no find, no fee” deal. He said his ministry hopes to finalize negotiations for terms and conditions of the agreement with Ocean Infinity in early 2025.
“This decision reflects the government’s commitment to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of MH370 passengers,” he added.
Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett earlier this year reportedly said the the company had improved its technology since 2018. He has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and narrow the search area to the most likely site.
FILE - Flight officer Rayan Gharazeddine scans the water in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia from a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, March 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
