Briefing: It was a grizzly family reunion

Rare gathering snapped

A Montana wildlife official spotted 13 grizzly bears together on a private ranch in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front southwest of Dupuyer. Bear management specialist Mike Madel tells the

Great Falls Tribune

that it seemed like a gathering of females and young who were related or familiar with each other. Madel was tracking radio-collared grizzly bears when he spotted and photographed the group. US Fish and Wildlife Services grizzly bear biologist Wayne Kasworm says he's never seen that many bears in one location in Montana. He echoed Madel's theory that the bears could have some relationship, possibly mothers and daughters and even grandmothers.

Row over BBC video
The BBC has been accused of racism after it posted a video online asking "Black people and fried chicken - is there any truth in it?" The broadcaster put the video on Newsbeat's Twitter feed, on the last day of Black History Month, to promote a documentary about racism faced by black people in today's Britain. A tagline, "Black people and fried chicken - is there any truth in it?", which accompanied the clip was later removed. The video was later reposted with a change in accompanying text, stating: "We're talking about being black and British, the stereotypes you might face, like this one?" The video drew criticism on Twitter, even after the headline was changed.

Poaching cost
Elephant poaching is costing African countries an estimated £20 million in lost tourism revenue each year, a study has found. It is the first time scientists have carried out a continent-wide assessment of the impact of elephant poaching on tourism. Lead author Dr Robin Naidoo, from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said: "Our research now shows that investing in elephant conservation is actually smart economic policy for many African countries." Each year poachers kill between 20,000 and 30,000 African elephants to satisfy the demand for ivory in China and other Asian countries. In just the last 10 years, Africa has lost a fifth of its elephants to the illegal trade.

'It's hell, and it never stops'
Residents of central Italy want to know when the aftershocks will end, with more than 1100 tremors recorded since a weekend earthquake. The entire region is struggling to cope after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck on Sunday, claiming no lives but wreaking massive damage at its epicentre, near the Umbrian town of Norcia. A powerful aftershock today recorded a magnitude of 4.8 according to Italian seismic institute INGV. "It's hell, and it never stops," said Mayor Marco Rinaldi, whose town, Ussita, was razed by Sunday's earthquake. He said the ongoing seismic activity has caused further buildings to collapse.

The toilet tally
A week before US election day, a New Hampshire farm stand owner has decided to tally customers' votes for president from an outhouse-turned-fake-voting booth. The winner: Hillary Clinton. Chris Owens, of Ashland, built the device with mannequins of Democrat Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, and toilets to cast ballots. New Hampshire Public Radio reports with 721 ballots cast in the last month or so, the results of the 2016 Outhouse Vote are 413 votes for Clinton and 165 for Trump. There were 101 votes combined for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, 40 write-in votes for Democrat Bernie Sanders, and 2 vote for Pinocchio. Regarding the Pinocchio votes, Owens said, "At least we know when they're lying."

- agencies