Thousands of miles separate Washington, D.C., from the Alaskan coastal plains where polar bear moms raise their cubs. But decisions made on Capitol Hill can have life-or-death implications for polar bears and other vulnerable wildlife—in the Arctic and across the nation. Earlier this month, Congress made several such decisions as part of a broad budget […]
Category: Wildlife
Man takes ‘trophy photo’ after killing badger and steals Red Kite chicks before boasting about it online
A man who hunted and killed a badger and then took Red Kite chicks from their nest has avoided going to prison. Dewi Price was part of a gang of men with dogs who travelled from south Wales to mid Wales to kill badgers, and then went on to take Red Kite chicks from a […]
Petition to Save the Slough Shows Sea Otters Are More Than Cute
A murky estuary once written off as an ecological disaster is now one of California’s most surprising Conservation success stories—thanks to sea otters. As reported by Discover Wildlife, Elkhorn Slough, a coastal wetland just off Monterey Bay, was suffocating under decades of agricultural runoff. Fertilizer-rich water from nearby farms turned the estuary into a soup […]
Photographer’s Epic Encounter With a Grizzly Bear Known as “The Boss”
Canada’s Banff National Park is home to a lot of animals, but there’s one that truly rules the roost. “The Boss” is a large male grizzly bear believed to be in his mid-twenties. He’s outlasted many grizzlies in the area and is recognizable thanks to a missing piece of his ear. In late 2022, The […]
International tiger smuggler faces prison sentence after yearslong manhunt: ‘An important success in fighting wildlife crime’
After nearly a decade on the run, an international wildlife trafficker has been brought to justice, according to The Hawk. Tashi Sherpa, a key figure in an illegal smuggling ring that stretched across India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China, was sentenced to five years in prison in May. Interpol applauded India’s State Tiger Force for leading […]
How drug cartels destroy the last habitat of Mexico’s thick-billed parrot (commentary)
While supporting conservation research in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental with teams from the U.S.-based Columbia University and San Diego Zoo Global, I assisted in work involving the endangered thick-billed parrot. That experience — observing their habitat and the threats it faces — made clear how severely environmental crime and weak governance are driving biodiversity loss. […]
Pakistan Cracks Down on Illegal Pet Lions After Dangerous Escape
Pakistan is taking action after a shocking incident in Lahore exposed the country’s growing and troubling trade in exotic pets. According to DW News (via Reuters), authorities in Punjab province have seized 18 lions that were being illegally kept as pets. This follows a frightening episode in which a lion escaped from a residential home […]
Black bear cub found in tree after 69-year-old woman attacked, WI officials say
A 69-year-old woman was left seriously injured after she was attacked by a black bear, Wisconsin officials say. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the woman called 911 around 2 p.m. Saturday, July 12, to report the black bear attack near Comstock. The woman was located and taken to a hospital, where her condition […]