conservation

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Zoos Choose Which Species Live, Which Ones Die

Zoo directors try to strike a balance with entertaining the public

(Newser) - To be or not to be: That is increasingly the question for American zoos, which have to choose whether entire species live or die, the New York Times reports. With many species facing extinction, zoos are being asked to preserve the most endangered, a mission that can conflict with their...

2011's Elephant Carnage: Tens of Thousands

Populations on decline across Africa, wildlife groups warn

(Newser) - The mass slaughter of elephants and rhinos in Africa by poachers has once again reached crisis levels, warns the world body that tracks endangered species. As many as tens of thousands of elephants were slaughtered by poachers last year alone, and the illegal trade in tusks and horns is "...

First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies
 First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies 

First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies

Toola showed that rescued pups could return to the wild

(Newser) - Staff at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium are mourning the most remarkable sea otter they have ever encountered. Toola, who died at age 15, was the first captive sea otter ever to serve as a surrogate mother to others, raising a total of 13 pups, some of which now lead...

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...

Florida Abolishing 'City That Never Was'

Conservationists thwarted developers' plans for Islandia

(Newser) - Florida's smallest city, which spans 33 islands at the north end of the Florida Keys and is home to many more manatees than people, is about to be wiped off the map. The city of Islandia only ever really existed in the minds of developers, who declared it a...

10M New Acres Conserved Since 2005

Land trusts doing well despite poor economy

(Newser) - Since 2005, 10 million new acres of land have been voluntarily conserved as parks, farms, gardens, forests, and more, according to a new report by the Land Trust Alliance. The fact that the amount of land saved from development increased 27% between 2005 and 2010—despite a struggling economy—shows...

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...

Poachers Kill Vietnam's Last Rhino

Javan rhino moves closer to extinction

(Newser) - And then there were none. The World Wildlife Fund says poachers have killed Vietnam's last Javan rhinoceros, reports the AP . There were at least two rhinos in a national park in Vietnam as of 2004, the WWF says, and for the last few years they knew of one, but...

Island Nation Creates Largest Shark Sanctuary

Protected area size of Mexico

(Newser) - A Mexico-size chunk of the Pacific will soon be a haven for sharks—and they have a tiny island nation to thank. The Marshall Islands’ government is declaring its waters off-limits to commercial shark fishing and the trade of shark products, the BBC reports, providing the creatures with 750,000...

Marine Scientists: Ban Deep-Sea Fishing

Stocks are being dangerously depleted, they warn

(Newser) - A group of marine scientists has issued a damning report about deep-sea fishing and called for the practice to be banned, reports the Washington Post . The paper in the journal Marine Policy says it's not so much fishing as "mining" and the sea is more like a "...

Bahamas Bans Shark Fishing
 Bahamas Bans Shark Fishing 

Bahamas Bans Shark Fishing

It follows a similar move in Honduras

(Newser) - Score another one for the sharks: The Bahamas has banned shark fishing in its coastal waters, becoming the second Caribbean nation to institute a ban in the past month, the Washington Post reports. It is now illegal to fish for sharks in 240,000 square miles of water surrounding the...

Aussies Warm to Snarling, Vanishing Tasmanian Devil

Once-reviled creature in trouble

(Newser) - The Tasmanian devil is nobody’s idea of lovable. The combative screeching marsupial was once the most reviled animal in Australia. But now that the creature is on the brink of extinction , Australians have found a well of sympathy for the little devil, the LA Times reports. The devil’s...

Archaeologists Scramble to Restore Babylon

Work begins for first time since US invasion

(Newser) - Archaeologists are once again digging into the ruins of Babylon and the rest of Mesopotamia, left unexplored since the American invasion of Iraq, the New York Times reports. “There is great potential at this site. You could excavate the street plan of the entire city,” says an expert....

Senate Dems Push to Pass 100 Bills in One Go

Reid seeks filibuster-proof measures for public lands, water

(Newser) - With time running out in the lame-duck session, Democrats are working hard to push through some 100 environmental bills, Politico reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling on party leaders to compile a list of public lands and water measures Republicans won’t kill with a filibuster. On the...

Seal Pups Clubbed to Death in Sanctuary

Some 24 animals killed over several days in popular New Zealand spot

(Newser) - Several fur seals, including newborn pups, were clubbed to death in a popular New Zealand sanctuary over several days, officials said today. Killers using clubs or bats slaughtered some two dozen animals in an isolated area of the Ohau Point colony seal breeding ground, reports AP ; many more animals are...

Threatened Spirit Bear's Best Hope: Photographers

'Canada's panda' symbolizes fight to preserve British Columbia's rainforest

(Newser) - Never heard of "Canada's panda?" Naturalists fighting to preserve the very rare bear's rainforest habitat in British Columbia want that to change. Only about 500 of the bears—a subspecies of black bear that has white fur—exist, and activists fear that a proposed pipeline through the Great Bear...

Rumors of My Extinction Have Been Exaggerated

One third of species thought extinct have resurfaced

(Newser) - The Guadalupe fur seal was declared extinct in 1882, but these days, you can find thousands of them swimming off the coast of Mexico. A small handful of the scrappy creatures had clung to life, hiding in island caves and evading human detection for decades. And it’s not the...

Buffalo Kills Zimbabwe Conservationist

Wounded animal attacks veteran conservationist Steve Kok

(Newser) - Veteran Zimbabwe conservationist Steve Kok has been killed by a wounded buffalo he had spent days tracking. The buffalo—one of the most aggressive creatures in the African bush—had partially severed its leg in a poacher's trap and surrounding communities had been warned the animal was highly dangerous, the...

Gray Wolf to Be Protected Again

Angry Montana, Idaho blame Wyoming

(Newser) - A federal judge has put the gray wolf back on the protected list, and angry ranchers in Montana and Idaho are blaming Wyoming for the move. While Montana and Idaho have agreed to management plans with controlled wolf hunts, Wyoming allows unregulated hunting of wolves if they're not on the...

Pinocchio Frog Among Dozens of New Species

Discovered by expedition to 'Lost World' in New Guinea

(Newser) - Scientists on an expedition to a remote part of Indonesia known as the "Lost World" discovered over two dozen new species, including a "Pinocchio" tree frog with an inflatable nose and the smallest known member of the kangaroo family. The scientists say the finds, in a mountain range...

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