endangered species

(Newser) - The national bird is no longer threatened with extinction, an achievement the Interior Department celebrated today by letting a bald eagle frolic in the skies above the Jefferson Memorial. Thanks in large part to conservation laws, the number of nesting pairs has grown more than 20-fold since 1963; the bird...

(Newser) - Russia is lifting a fifty-year old ban on hunting polar bears, expressly to save the endangered species from extinction. Poaching has been endemic in Siberia since the injunction, but it's increased since shrinking sea ice has forced bears to search for food on shore, making them easier to kill.

(Newser) - The Bush administration is quietly rewriting the rules on enforcing the Endangered Species Act, drafting changes that some environmentalists say will fatally weaken protections for threatened wildlife. A 117-page internal proposal obtained by Salon would limit which animals could be effectively protected, cut back on the size of habitats preserved,...