A deadly but critically endangered snake, one of the world’s rarest birds and a heavily guarded flower are among the endangered species in the news this week. A New Snake with a Sad Story: A gorgeous but extremely dangerous new snake species has been discovered in Honduras. The new palm pit viper has been named [...]

Last year I wrote somewhere around 150 articles about endangered species. I could have easily written closer to 1,000. One blog simply can’t cover all of threatened species around the world, as hard as I try. But I hate letting news items (not to mention species) fall through the cracks. And so, here is the [...]

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) have targets on their backs. One of the next barrages of gunfire will start soon in Minnesota, where more than 23,000 people have applied for the 6,000 permits that the state will issue for its fall hunting season, set to start November 3. This is one of the latest salvos against [...]

A new U.S. rule went into effect this week that—after years of legal wrangling—places limitations on hunting of three critically endangered African antelope species: the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), addax (Addax nasomaculatus) and dama gazelle (Nanger dama). Although almost nonexistent in their homelands, thousands of these animals have been raised in captivity and now live [...]

This week’s release and death of more than 50 so-called “exotic” animals near Zanesville, Ohio, is a tragic reminder that the laws protecting wildlife in the U.S. are full of loopholes that endanger not only the animals themselves but also people. One of those loopholes could actually be closed soon. Last month, the U.S. Fish [...]

A subsidiary of Petrohawk Energy Corp. has been fined $350,000 and ordered to pay an additional $150,000 in restitution for damaging the habitat of an endangered species in Arkansas. The latter amount will be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for use in watershed restoration projects in the area, according to a press [...]

There’s just one Franciscan manzanita (Arctostaphylos hookeri franciscana) plant left in the wild, and it could soon get protected status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) this week proposed adding the extremely rare shrub to the ESA in response to a petition from the conservation organizations Wild Equity [...]

In a move that’s probably long overdue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced last week that it will conduct a status review to determine if captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) should be reclassified from “threatened” to the more protected status “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wild-born chimpanzees have been fully protected under [...]

I have had two encounters with rattlesnakes over the years. Each time, the snake shook its tail, made some noise, and let me know it didn’t much care for me being so close. I eased my way around, gave the snake some respect, and kept on moving. No problem. Neither of those encounters were with [...]

Every few months, I try to point out that the news about endangered species isn’t all doom and gloom. Oh sure, most of the stories I cover are pretty depressing, but then I come across the success stories that make it all worthwhile. Recovered First up, we have this week’s announcement that the Lake Erie [...]