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Wild Things: Audiences captivated by animal instincts in Canada

FILE - The first known case of infanticide among orca whales happened off the shores of B.C. Jared Towers

It was a wild week for animals in Canada, and Global News audiences were intrigued by the innate instincts of killer whales and elks, literally in their own backyard.

First-ever observed case of orca infanticide documented

As reported by @jesseferreras and @laylesworthtv: A male killer whale killed a baby killer whale in B.C. waters because it wanted to mate with its mother, scientists say.

It’s what is believed to be the first case of infanticide among the species, according to new research.

Grisly…

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Click to play video: 'Researchers observe first-ever case of ‘orca infanticide’'
Researchers observe first-ever case of ‘orca infanticide’

WATCH ABOVE: Researchers believe they’ve recorded the first-ever observed case of orca infanticide, where an adult male and its mother killed the newborn of an unrelated female. Linda Aylesworth explains what they think led to the shocking death.

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Nearly 3,000 whale watchers reacted to, commented on or shared the tale. Here’s what one said about the savage act:

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Oh deer!

So this clip kind of looks like an opening scene from the Lion King, but it’s actually a lucky sighting of an elk migration that a Kelowna, B.C. couple captured on video from their backyard — a very exciting first sign of spring in Canada!

Click to play video: 'Kelowna family witness elk migration from backyard'
Kelowna family witness elk migration from backyard

WATCH ABOVE: A Kelowna family filmed hundreds of elk migrating on the eastern edge of the Okanagan city near residential neighbourhoods Tuesday morning.

Tower Ranch resident Kyla Irmen said her daughter spotted the migration, and says at first the four-year-old thought they were deer.

“She was yelling to my husband, Tyson, and I, ‘Deer! Deer! Look at all the deer!,’” Irmen said. “We all ran outside and I luckily got the video while we all watched.”

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The rare video was shared with Global News and the subsequent story netted more than 3,000 interactions on our social media handles, with many in our audience celebrating this sight on the first day of spring.

“We are very lucky to have seen this,” Irmen told Global News. “It is an amazing sight of nature at its finest!”

Free Willy’s cousin!

On the other side of the country, a pod of dolphins trapped by pack ice in a Newfoundland harbour are now free thanks to the human instincts of a fire chief from that area. A video of the heroic rescue, using an excavator to clear a channel for the stranded animals, was captured on video and shared with Global News.

That video posted to Facebook was viewed nearly 33,000 times. I think we can all share the sentiment from Ainsley Boudreau, who posted this to Facebook:

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