A shark killed a 66-year-old swimmer who was training in the sea off California with a group of triathletes, authorities said today.

A grizzly bear which appeared in a recent Will Ferrell film killed a 39-year-old trainer with a bite to his neck and had to be subdued with pepper spray.

A woman saved her husband’s life by clubbing a mountain lion that attacked him while the couple were hiking in a California state park.

A man has died after being attacked by a large deer in his back garden.

A woman has been killed in an apparent shark attack as she swam near a pier on the Californian coast, officials said today.