endangered species

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US Classifies Polar Bears as 'Threatened'

First species to be listed as endangered by global warming

(Newser) - After 15 months of deliberation, the Interior Department will declare polar bears “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, officials told the AP today. The decision will reportedly cite internal scientific studies which project that melting Arctic ice could nearly wipe out the animals by 2050.

Endangered Frogs Find Their Noah

Amphibian Ark project aims to save 500 imperiled species

(Newser) - Half of all frog species are in danger of extinction, and conservationists are taking a page from the Bible in working to preserve them. A program called Amphibian Ark has named 2008 the Year of the Frog, and is working with zoos to harbor endangered species, including some that have...

Save a Food From Extinction: Eat It for Dinner

'Food coalitions' aim to keep ingredients, recipes key to US heritage in circulation

(Newser) - Vanishing culinary breeds are getting a new lease on life, thanks to the efforts of an ethnobotanist with an interest in America's foodie past, the New York Times reports. While Makah ozette potato sounds like a "Final Jeopardy" answer, the once-endangered vegetable is one of the many culinary artifacts...

Canada Declares Polar Bears 'At Risk'

Bears not quite endangered but still require protection

(Newser) - Canada has classified polar bears as a species of “special concern” requiring legislative protection, the BBC reports. While the panel of experts stopped short of declaring the bears endangered, it said that melting ice and hunting problems had put the bears in jeopardy. Canada is home to 15,000...

Cloning Could Save Rare Rhino
 Cloning Could Save Rare Rhino 
Apr 18, 2008 3:00 AM CDT

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 
Mar 29, 2008 9:35 PM CDT

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  
Mar 25, 2008 5:57 AM CDT

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
Mar 12, 2008 8:51 AM CDT

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
Mar 10, 2008 10:27 AM CDT

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
Mar 8, 2008 10:45 AM CST

'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
Mar 5, 2008 6:27 PM CST

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
Feb 29, 2008 9:23 AM CST

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
Feb 25, 2008 5:00 AM CST

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
Feb 22, 2008 5:06 AM CST

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
Feb 13, 2008 11:50 AM CST

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...

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