endangered species

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Cloning Could Save Rare Rhino
 Cloning Could Save Rare Rhino 

Cloning Could Save Rare Rhino

Geneticists make last-gasp effort to pull white rhino back from the brink

(Newser) - Faced with a wild population of northern white rhinos that can be counted on the fingers of one hand, scientists are turning to cloning in a last-ditch effort to save the species, the Independent reports. In a technique that could be used to pull other species back from the brink...

'Mythical' Giant Turtle Found in Vietnam

Animal, thought to be extinct, is the stuff of legend

(Newser) - A giant turtle thought to be extinct has been found in northern Vietnam, the AP reports. Scientists from the Cleveland Zoo discovered the Swinhoe's soft-shelled turtle when they followed up reports from villagers of a mythical creature living in a lake. Vietnamese legend tells of a huge turtle that helped...

Greenhouse Gases Destroying Koalas' Food

Extinction threat as eucalyptus becomes inedible

(Newser) - The koala and its marsupial cousins are in serious danger of extinction because greenhouse gases are rendering the eucalyptus leaves they rely on nutritionally worthless, reports the Australian. "What we're seeing is that the staple diet of these animals is being turned to leather," a professor said. "...

Heart Disease Is Killing Caged Gorillas

Experts try to treat mystery ailment in US zoos

(Newser) - Gorillas in US zoos are dying from heart disease, and no one knows why, the AP reports. Zookeepers and scientists started a nationwide “Gorilla Health Project” 2 years ago to probe the causes of fibrosing cardiomyopathy, a condition that turns heart muscle into useless fibers and has left scores...

Hunters Take Aim at Gray Wolf
 Hunters Take Aim at Gray Wolf 

Hunters Take Aim at Gray Wolf

Animal no longer under federal protection in northern Rockies

(Newser) - Hunters in the northern Rockies will soon take aim at a rare target—the gray wolf. The animal lost its protected species status in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming yesterday, and wildlife agencies in the region are looking to reduce the population by granting hunting licenses for the first time since...

Deadly Disease Ravaging Bats
 Deadly Disease Ravaging Bats  

Deadly Disease Ravaging Bats

Puzzling 'white nose syndrome' may be deadliest ever

(Newser) - A mysterious syndrome is wiping out colonies of hibernating bats and baffling biologists, the New York Times reports. Experts don't know what causes the "white nose syndrome" or how it spreads, but they warn that bat populations in the Northeast are being devastated. Field researchers report bats flying...

Endangered Species Listings Plummeting Under Bush

Wildlife advocates sue to save animals

(Newser) - The Bush administration for years has quietly established obstacles to listing new animals and plants on the endangered species list, the Washington Post reports. A total of only 59 domestic species have made it onto the list in the past seven years, compared to 58 each year under Bush's father...

Endangered Tigers Fading Fast
Endangered Tigers Fading Fast

Endangered Tigers Fading Fast

Numbers plummet as WWF calls for quick action

(Newser) - The World Wildlife Fund has warned that the world's tigers are in grave danger of extinction, reports the BBC. Experts believe tiger numbers have fallen in half over the last 25 years to as few as 3,500 worldwide, the WWF said. The South China tiger and the Sumatran tiger...

Pygmy Hippos Found in Liberia
Pygmy Hippos Found in Liberia

Pygmy Hippos Found in Liberia

Rare mammal not wiped out by wars, deforestation

(Newser) - Rare pygmy hippos have been videotaped in the forests of Liberia, proving to a team of zoologists that the rare and elusive mammal has survived through two civil wars, illegal logging, and poaching thought to have wiped it out. Less than 3,000 pygmy hippos, which look like normal hippos...

'Extinct' Bird Flies Again
'Extinct' Bird Flies Again

'Extinct' Bird Flies Again

Beck's petrel hadn't been seen since 1920s

(Newser) - The Beck’s petrel, a bird last seen in the 1920s and long thought extinct, appears to be very much alive, the AP reports. Spurred by unconfirmed sightings in Australia two years ago, an Israeli ornithologist set out for a group of islands off Papua New Guinea and brought back...

Feds Flood Grand Canyon
Feds Flood Grand Canyon

Feds Flood Grand Canyon

Controlled deluge may help rebuild vanishing sandbars

(Newser) - Government officials sent a flood of water surging through the Grand Canyon today in a bid to mimic Mother Nature and rebuild sandbars and other natural habitat for endangered fish. The deluge will continue for three days, increasing by about four or five times the usual flow from the Grand...

Illegal Poaching Funds Militant Groups

US lawmakers to probe $10B wildlife trade in hearings this week

(Newser) - Shipments of African contraband such as ivory, tiger parts, and rhino horn are funding militant groups and perhaps terrorists, Newsweek reports. After the theft of $1.3 million in ivory in Chad last year and a reported rise in contraband smuggling, US lawmakers have become interested: A House hearing on...

Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog
Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog

Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog

Activists bring attention to decline of amphibians

(Newser) - How could any zoo resist? Leap Day, in the Year of the Frog, is being celebrated by zoos and conservationists everywhere as the perfect time to draw attention to the plight of amphibians. "We want to get people talking about frogs and thinking about them," said one zookeeper....

Nations Unite to Save Gorillas
Nations Unite to Save Gorillas

Nations Unite to Save Gorillas

10-year effort is the first to help dying species

(Newser) - Three African nations where the world's last 720 wild mountain gorillas live are finally working together to save the critically endangered animal, the Guardian reports. Until the 10-year plan was announced last week, mistrust and conflict had kept Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo from collaborating as another 10 apes were...

Protections End for Gray Wolf
Protections End for Gray Wolf

Protections End for Gray Wolf

Wildlife groups say it's too soon to remove animals from endangered list

(Newser) - The gray wolf has been taken off the endangered species list in a multi-state area of the northern Rocky Mountains, National Geographic reports. "The wolves are back," said an official of the Department of the Interior. Just 66 of the animals were reintroduced to the region in 1996...

Tiger Numbers Plummet in India
Tiger Numbers Plummet in India

Tiger Numbers Plummet in India

More than half vanish in 5 years

(Newser) - At least half of India's Bengal tiger population has vanished in the last five years, according to the latest alarming census of the endangered predators. A Project Tiger conservationist blamed "poaching, and loss of quality habitat and prey," reports AFP. A 2002 survey estimated there were 3,700...

US to List Polar Bears as Endangered

Move would make species first official victim of global warming

(Newser) - The US Department of the Interior is expected this week to change the polar bear's conservation status from "vulnerable" to "endangered"—which would make the animals the first species officially recognized as victims of global warming. The year-old proposal concerning the appealing predators would give conservationists a...

Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania
Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania

Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania

City updates transport, stores stock up in wake of bear fever

(Newser) - Polar celebrity Snowflake will meet her adoring public as early as late March, and Nuremberg zoo staff predict a blizzard of attention surrounding its most popular bundle of fur. Annual visitors are expected to jump from 250,000 to 1.3 million, reports Der Spiegel, which has the city readying...

The Fight for the Jaguar in Brazil
The Fight for the Jaguar in Brazil

The Fight for the Jaguar in Brazil

Conservationists hope to deter lethal action against the cats by ranchers

(Newser) - Conservationists are waging a pitched battle on behalf of the jaguar in the Pantanal, a rich savannah region in southwest Brazil, the New York Times reports. The area is perfect for supporting a large jaguar population, but revenge killings by ranchers for livestock losses plague the near-threatened cats.

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'
'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

Scientists film endangered critter for the first time

(Newser) - A rare rodent with jumbo ears and a kangaroo hop has been nabbed on video for possibly the first time, the BBC reports. Scientists who braved the Gobi desert recently observed the jerboa as part of a plan to help the endangered and extremely rare mammal. The critter amazed them...

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