News and research about endangered species from around the world
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.
Illegal demand for rhino horns for use in traditional Asian medicine has soared in recent years. As a result, rhino deaths by poaching hit an all-time high in 2010, and 2011 is likely to beat that number.Last year, the owner of the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, proposed a new idea to help save rhinos: poison their horns...
Devastating fires that swept through eastern Texas this month have left dozens of people dead or missing and destroyed more than 1,500 homes. The fires have also dealt a horrible blow the endangered Houston toad ( Bufo houstonensis ), which had already been suffering due to years of drought that preceded the flames.Houston toads started disappearing from much of their historic range (including the city the species is named after) decades ago, as habitat loss forced them into smaller and smaller territories...
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...
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 the ESA since they were classified as "endangered" in 1990, but chimps and other great apes in captivity have not enjoyed the same protection under what is known as the "captive-bred wildlife exception." According to the Michigan State University College of Law's Animal Legal & Historical Center, this means "people who register with FWS can legally export, re-import, sell and 'take' (including euthanize) their captive-bred apes as long as those activities enhance the survival of the species." Those activities include scientific research, exhibition (this applies to show-biz chimpanzees) or "holding and maintenance of 'surplus' apes (meaning those not immediately needed for scientific research or breeding)." The "threatened" designation also means that people can import, export or sell great apes with an FWS permit (pdf).The FWS status review is a response to a petition from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, the Fund for Animals, Humane Society International and the New England Anti-Vivisection Society."The federal government does not 'split list' any other endangered species by wild and captive populations, and it should not have done so in this case," HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle said in a prepared statement...
The thylacine ( Thylacinus cynocephalus ), better known as the Tasmanian tiger, has long been the poster child for human-caused extinction. Hunted out of existence by Australian farmers who feared that the striped, canine-like marsupials would kill their sheep, the last thylacine died in captivity in Hobart Zoo 75 years ago next week, on September 7, 1936 (although the species was not officially declared extinct until about 25 years ago).Now, just a few days before the annual observance of National Thylacine Day in Australia, a new study reveals that the predator was probably not a threat to sheep after all...
Here's something amazing: a new bird species has been discovered in the U.S. for the first time since 1974. Unfortunately, the discovery wasn't a live bird.
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.
A planned hydroelectric project on Ecuador's Rio Topo will generate 22 megawatts of energy for the surrounding area, but building it also will likely wipe out a rare plant.The plant, a mosslike liverwort called Myriocolea irrorata that lives only in the region, was first discovered on the banks of the Rio Topo in 1857 by Scottish explorer Richard Spruce...
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...
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