Rotoroa Island, off the coast of New Zealand is tiny, at just 82 hectares (200 acres), but don’t let its diminutiveness fool you: big things are happening here. Over the past few years the island has become the site of a quiet, but grand, conservation experiment. What would happen if you populated an island with […]
Tag: threatened species
Is the end of ‘house of horror’ bear bile factories in sight?
If we grant bears any modicum of intelligence or emotional experience, if we grant them the capacity to suffer pain or mental anguish, then bear bile farming – which houses bears in tiny cages for the breadth of their life in order to repeatedly extract their bile – poses a whole slew of ethical questions. […]
First gray wolf seen at Grand Canyon in 70 years killed by Utah hunter
A gray wolf killed last year by a Utah hunter was “Echo”, a female that had garnered international attention after roaming from Wyoming to become the first of the protected animals seen at the Grand Canyon in Arizona in 70 years, US wildlife managers said on Wednesday. News that the lone wolf spotted last fall […]
Threatened species given lifeline by new bait developed to kill feral cats
New baits targeting feral cats could aid the recovery of 53 threatened species covered under Western Australia’s largest conservation project, according to the state’s environment minister, Albert Jacob. The West Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife has spent more than 10 years developing baits to appeal to the notoriously fussy palate of cats. The end […]
Poll: Should hunting of black bears in Florida be allowed?
A little less than three years ago, Florida’s native black bears were listed as an “imperiled species”, as their numbers in the wild recovered slowly from a low of only several hundred towards the end of the 20th century. Now, in a move environmental groups have branded a “painful new development”, the state’s wildlife leaders […]
Myanmar’s bird species count jumps to 1114
Myanmar is home to at least 1,114 bird species after researchers identified 20 previously undocumented species during recent surveys, reports The Myanmar Times. The discoveries were made between 2010 and 2014 by bird watchers from Myeik University, Myanmar Bird and Nature Society (MBNS), the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bird Tour Asia, Wildlife Sanctuary (Putao), and Flora […]
Viral Photo of Great White Shark Stirs Debate Over Cages, Baiting
A schoolteacher’s dramatic photo of a great white shark has gone viral, inspiring a lively Internet debate about whether it’s ethical to bait sharks, many of which are threatened species, so that tourists can see them up close. The buzz-worthy photo, which shows the shark lunging for fish bait, looks like a frame from a […]
Japan’s whaling has produced more sushi than science
In 1994, member governments of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the whaling regulatory body, agreed to create a vast sanctuary in the Southern Ocean. There, commercial whaling would be barred so whales hunted nearly to extinction could replenish their numbers in the cold, nutrient-rich waters and thrive again. The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was designed […]