endangered species

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It's Raining Baby Pandas in China

Four born in 14 hours in Sichuan province

(Newser) - Four giant pandas were born within 14 hours of each other at a Chinese breeding center over the weekend, giving a much-needed population boost to the endangered species. Nine-year-old Qiyuan gave birth to twins, and two other 8-year-old pandas each gave birth to a cub in Sichuan province, BBC reports....

Zoo Shows Off Baby White Lions
 Zoo Shows Off Baby White Lions 

Zoo Shows Off Baby White Lions

Record-breaking number of rare cubs born on the same day

(Newser) - The world's population of just 200 white lions leaped by seven in a single day when twin lionesses gave birth in June, Der Spiegel reports, and the German safari park where they were born has now unveiled the extremely rare cubs. But while one new mom took to motherhood with...

UN Approves China to Buy Ivory
 UN Approves China to Buy Ivory 

UN Approves China to Buy Ivory

Critics say allowing imports plays 'Russian roulette' with elephants' lives

(Newser) - China has been given a green light to begin importing African ivory by a UN body that banned the sale 10 years ago, a decision that has infuriated conservation groups, the Daily Telegraph reports. African states say they need to sell stockpiles of ivory from elephants that are culled or...

Devils Breed Earlier to Stave Off Cancer

Attempt to outlast disease could be evolutionary

(Newser) - Tasmanian devils are reproducing at a younger age to offset a contagious cancer epidemic, the Daily Telegraph reports. The ill-tempered marsupials, suffering from tumors that cut their lifespan in half, are now breeding at age 1 instead of 2 or 3. "We could be seeing evolution occurring before our...

Even Toughest Toads Are Being Unmanned

Clues to sex-change mystery could explain amphibian decline

(Newser) - The mystery of the hermaphrodite toads may be solved: Researchers have found that various chemicals used in farming are linked to sex changes in certain amphibian species, the Independent reports. In a population of cane toads, 40% of males had developed feminine coloring and ovaries, and an additional 20% had...

Tabby Adopts Red Panda Cub
 Tabby Adopts Red Panda Cub 

Tabby Adopts Red Panda Cub

Dutch zookeeper's cat lets abandoned panda join her litter

(Newser) - A newborn red panda rejected by its mother has been adopted by a zookeeper's cat, the BBC reports. The panda and its sibling were first put on an incubator at the Dutch zoo but the tabby cat, who had recently given birth, proved willing to take the kitten-sized panda cubs...

Big Sugar's Exit Gives Hope to Everglades
 Big Sugar's Exit
 Gives Hope to
 Everglades 
Analysis

Big Sugar's Exit Gives Hope to Everglades

Florida land deal boosts ecological preservation efforts

(Newser) - Everglades restoration may finally be a reality, writes Michael Grunwald in Yale Environment 360 during his “vacation from defeatism.” Florida's tentative $1.75 billion land deal with US Sugar would halt sugar production (and pollution) on nearly 300 square miles, and have an ecological ripple-effect that extends beyond...

Orangutans In Trouble as Forests Shrink

Loggers, plantations bring great ape close to extinction

(Newser) - Illegal loggers and palm oil plantations may make the orangutan the first great ape to become extinct, scientists warn. In Indonesia, a mere 6,600 of the apes remain, while on Malaysia’s Borneo Island, the population has fallen 10% to 49,600, the Telegraph reports.

Aussie Minister Ditches Economy for Wombats

Treasury boss going incommunicado during recess to help save endangered critters

(Newser) - The Australian economy might be wobbly, but the treasury secretary would rather be off romping with northern hairy-nosed wombats, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reports. Ken Henry is unapologetically using the legislature's 5-week winter recess to tend to a small population of endangered critters—to the baying of opposition politicians worried over...

Condors Pulled From Calif. Fires

Calif. wildlife group moves to protect rare birds

(Newser) - Wildfires in Northern California spurred the rescue of eight California condors from their Monterey County refuge, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The unusual operation was performed by a US Coast Guard helicopter crew after a wildlife organization said that the fires threatened the condor sanctuary. The birds were taken to...

Celebs Earn Stripes Helping Save Tigers

Harrison Ford, Bo Derek on board with World Bank effort to preserve habitats

(Newser) - Actors Bo Derek, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall helped the World Bank kick off a tiger-preservation campaign yesterday in Washington, CNN reports, with efforts to save the endangered species' habitats atop the list. Derek, who works with the US State Department to fight trafficking, says the tiger initiative should stem...

Polar Bear Shot After 200-Mile Swim

It was the first to arrive in Iceland for 15 years

(Newser) - Police in Iceland shot dead a polar bear that swam more than 200 miles to reach the island nation, the Guardian reports. The bear, thought to be the first to reach Iceland since 1993, probably came from Greenland or a floating chunk of Arctic ice. Authorities said they had to...

Quake-Rattled Pandas Get Hugs, Bamboo

Bears recovering with help from keepers

(Newser) - Zookeepers are helping pandas traumatized by the Sichuan earthquake get back to normal with hugs and games, the Guardian reports. Eight young pandas have been sent to Beijing Zoo and 47 more remain at the Wolong reserve, where the deputy chief said the animals' appetites are back to normal, but...

Sure, Pat That Nose— It's Only a Great White

The feared predator is sociable, curious, and will let you ride its fin

(Newser) - Want to pat a great white shark's nose? Or ride its fin for 100 yards? Experts say the much-feared predators are so sociable and curious, you can swim with them or even tread water by their open jaws. "Unlike most fish, white sharks are intelligent, highly inquisitive creatures,"...

Tasmania Moving Its Devils
 Tasmania Moving Its Devils 

Tasmania Moving Its Devils

As cancer decimates critters, Aussies quarantine them on old prison peninsula

(Newser) - The Australian government is stepping in to prevent the Tasmanian Devil from extinction, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the ill-tempered beasties have been dying off thanks to the world’s first contagious cancer, which they transfer by biting each other in the face. So zoologists are now working to...

Wolves, Back From Brink, Are Targets Again

Environmental groups sue after feds remove species' protected tag

(Newser) - A success story is at risk of turning into a bloodbath as gray wolves, newly removed from the US endangered-species list, are no longer protected from being hunted outside national parks. A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Bush administration, claiming that the wolves still need protection in the...

Six Pandas Moved From Rattled Reserve

Damaged shelters and little food prompt transfer

(Newser) - Six hungry pandas have been transferred to a new reserve in southwest China in the wake of the region's massive earthquake, AFP reports. Their shelters damaged and food scarce, the giant pandas were moved from the renowned Wolong breeding center; eight others will be sent to Beijing tomorrow ahead of...

Ocean Sharks Face Extinction
 Ocean Sharks Face Extinction 

Ocean Sharks Face Extinction

Study finds severe effects of intentional, unintentional fishing

(Newser) - Ocean sharks are threatened with extinction, with 11 species designated “high-risk” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and five more also in danger. Sharks are dwindling from intentional fishing, which targets them for their meat and fins, and “bycatch” fishing that lands them in nets meant...

Everglades Wildfire Claims 33,000 Acres

Blaze threatens endangered sparrow, homes

(Newser) - Nearly 33,000 acres of Florida's Everglades National Park were burning yesterday with only 20% of the blaze contained, CNN reports. A dense smoke warning was in effect in parts of southern Florida as flames threatened an endangered sparrow species and private property. The fire is the latest in a...

Wildlife Populations Plunging
 Wildlife Populations Plunging 

Wildlife Populations Plunging

One of 'great extinction episodes in history' unfolding: report

(Newser) - Humanity is rapidly wiping out the planet's species, sending wildlife populations plunging, the BBC reports. Pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing have cut wildlife numbers as much as a third since 1970 and wipe out 1% of species each year. One of the "great extinction episodes" in Earth's history also...

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