endangered species

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To Save Owls, Gov't Wants to ... Kill Owls

Barred owls are a rival to the threatened spotted owl

(Newser) - The Obama administration is trying to save the spotted owl, but bailing out the endangered critter might just involve the premeditated demise of someone sitting on the family tree: The larger barred owl is a rival to the spotted owl, and is often cited as one of the major threats...

Scientists Find Monkeys Thought to Be Extinct

And they weren't even looking for them

(Newser) - Scientists have stumbled upon a monkey many thought no longer existed. Seeking leopards and orangutans, the researchers placed camera traps in an Indonesian forest. When they checked the pictures, they were astonished to see images of large gray monkeys none had ever seen before, the AP reports. Photographs of the...

Hawaii's Endangered Seals Being Killed

At least three monk seals have been killed in two months

(Newser) - Three, possibly four, critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals have been deliberately killed in Hawaii in the past two months. No one knows who is killing the seals or why. But the deaths are coming as the federal government steps up its efforts to protect the seals, leading to simmering resentment...

2011: Deadly Year for Elephants
 2011: Deadly Year for Elephants 
Dec 29, 2011 8:39 AM CST

2011: Deadly Year for Elephants

Ivory seizures represent at least 2.5K dead

(Newser) - This year will ring out as one of the deadliest for elephants since ivory sales were banned more than two decades ago. Officials seized tusks from a record 2,500 elephants, and while some of those could be from long-dead animals, the news still isn't good. "As most...

Amid Mass Die-Offs, Pockets of Brown Bats Survive

Bats appear to be resistant to devastating white nose syndrome

(Newser) - White nose syndrome has killed millions of bats over the past five years, decimating the little brown bat population by more than 90% in some areas, but scientists have found reason to hope: In Vermont and Pennsylvania, there are surviving colonies of the threatened species. “I’m cautiously...

Pocket of Asia Yields 208 New Species—in 1 Year

Mekong region's amazing biodiversity under threat, WWF warns

(Newser) - It's a region that produces a new species every other day: Carnivorous plants that can eat mice, birds, and lizards. An all-female species of lizard that reproduces by self-cloning. Brightly colored geckos bathed in orange, yellow, blue, and green markings. A noseless monkey that looks like it's wearing...

Wild Jaguar Spotted in Arizona
 Wild Jaguar Spotted in Arizona 
Nov 24, 2011 4:54 AM CST

Wild Jaguar Spotted in Arizona

Sighting is first since 2009

(Newser) - A wild jaguar has been seen in the US for the first time in more than two years. The sighting was made by an Arizona hunter using dogs to track mountain lions and was confirmed by state wildlife officials. Jaguars—the only big cat in the Americas to roar—are...

Western Black Rhino Extinct
 Western Black Rhino Extinct 
Nov 10, 2011 3:36 AM CST

Western Black Rhino Extinct

Another rhino species at the point of no return, IUCN says

(Newser) - The western black rhino, one of four subspecies of black rhino, is now a thing of the past, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List." The group has declared the black rhino species native to West Africa extinct and says another rhino species,...

Zulus Urged to Switch to Fake Fur

Biologist looks to save endangered leopards with synthetic pelts

(Newser) - A leopard can't change its spots, but can South Africa's Zulus trade their traditional leopard-pelt adornments for a cheap knockoff? For the sake of protecting the country's dwindling population of the big cats, conservation biologist Tristan Dickerson hopes they can. Dickerson has created a fake version he...

London Olympics Blasted for Using Endangered Wood

Team USA will use basketball court for training

(Newser) - At next year’s London Olympics, the US basketball team will train on some pretty rare ground. The court is being made from eucalyptus wood logged in a 1,000-year-old Tasmanian forest that's home to endangered species such as the Tasmanian Devil, activists allege. The UN World Heritage Committee...

Florida Ranchers Give Returning Panthers a Break

Their cows are disappearing, but they're working with conservationists

(Newser) - Florida’s endangered panther population has come a long way; thirty years ago there were just 20 of the big cats left, whereas now there are more than 160 of them. That’s the good news. The bad news? Panthers will be panthers, and Florida ranchers are reporting increasing deaths...

Blue Whales Visit LA for Risky Meals

Shipping-area feeding grounds pose threat to endangered species

(Newser) - Visitors are thrilled by blue whales' frequent appearances at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach—but for the whales, such visits could be deadly, experts warn. The biggest port complex in the country now boasts "the densest concentration" of whales "close to shore in all of...

Earth Holds 8.7M Species, Study Finds

And most of them are still undiscovered

(Newser) - Humanity shares the planet with roughly 8.7 million species, most of them still undiscovered, according to a new study. Researchers used complex mathematical models to tackle a question that has long puzzled scientists, identifying numerical patterns in data from 1.2 million known species, excluding viruses and microorganisms, reports...

Slimy Hagfish Is Threatened— and Vital

Study says some species in danger of extinction

(Newser) - Pity the poor hagfish: It has an awful name, an even-worse nickname ("slime eel"), shudder-inducing eating habits (it is thought to burrow into dead and dying creatures on the ocean floor and absorb nutrients through its skin), and now troubling numbers about its very survival. Of 76 species...

Feds Make $1M Ivory Bust
 Feds Make $1M Ivory Bust 
Jul 27, 2011 1:10 PM CDT

Feds Make $1M Ivory Bust

Philadelphia dealer accused of bringing one ton of tusks to US

(Newser) - Tusks from large numbers of elephants killed by poachers in west and central Africa ended up in the hands of a Philadelphia art dealer, federal investigators say. The dealer is accused of paying a co-conspirator to travel to Africa, buy raw ivory for carving, and stain it so the specimens...

Chesapeake 'Dead Zone' Could Be Largest Ever

Marine life threatened in oxygen-starved portion of bay

(Newser) - High nutrient pollution levels have caused the Chesapeake Bay's underwater "dead zone" to expand unusually quickly this year: It covers a third of the bay and will likely become the bay's largest-ever area of oxygen-starved water. The dead zone, which sucks oxygen from deep waters and kills...

Snake-Free Hawaii Fears Slithery Invasion

Authorities see more illegal pets, worry about ecosystem

(Newser) - Leave it to a snake to ruin paradise. Hawaiian officials are worried that a steady increase in illegal snake ownership—a 9-foot boa and a 7-foot python were captured this month after escaping—will threaten the islands' fragile ecosystem and kill off birds and flowers, reports the Associated Press . Environmental...

Calif. Judge Steps Up Protection for 40 Species

Feds not doing enough for wildlife in national forests, judge rules

(Newser) - Endangered birds, fish, frogs, butterflies, and even a species of sea lion are set to benefit from a judge's ruling that federal authorities need to do more to protect some 40 species in southern California's national forests. The judge ordered three federal agencies to "take all necessary...

Oil Giants Battle Over 5-Inch Lizard

Dune sagebrush lizard may be listed as endangered in New Mexico

(Newser) - To hear some politicians and lobbyists tell it, the fate of New Mexico’s oil industry rests on the fate of a five-inch lizard. The federal government is considering listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species, the Wall Street Journal reports, and that spooks the industry, because Sceloporous ...

Tree Rat Reappears After 113 Years
 Tree Rat 
 Reappears 
 After 113 Years  
in case you missed it
May 22, 2011 6:45 AM CDT

Tree Rat Reappears After 113 Years

Red-crested tree-rat walks up to biologists

(Newser) - A rare South American rodent not seen since the Spanish-American War has turned up at the doorstep of a nature reserve in Colombia. The red-crested tree rat ambled up to a pair of amazed volunteers at the El Dorado Reserve in the Sierra Nevada, Wired reports. The last recorded sighting...

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