endangered species

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'Iconic Animal' Proposed for Endangered Species List

Bethany Beach firefly could be first firefly to receive federal protections

(Newser) - The act of catching fireflies may soon be a thing of summers past. For the first time, the US government hopes to add a firefly to the list of endangered species, making it illegal to harm the insect in most cases. Named after the Delaware town where it was discovered...

Only 18 Red Wolves Exist in the US Wild. Rescue Efforts Are on

FWS expert says it's 'a serious roller coaster' to save the endangered species from cars, guns

(Newser) - Red wolves used to frolic throughout the eastern United States, their habitats stretching from Pennsylvania to Texas. Now, there are fewer than two dozen left in the wild, settled in a handful of counties in northeastern North Carolina. Experts are trying their best to save the endangered canine from extinction,...

Reality Show Contestant Kills, Eats Protected Bird

'What I did disrespected New Zealand, and I'm sorry,' he says

(Newser) - The New Zealand Department of Conservation describes the weka as a "large, brown flightless bird that has a famously feisty and curious personality." It is also "fully protected," the department says—meaning reality show contestants definitely shouldn't kill and eat them. An American contestant on...

These 60 Baby Crocs Have Conservationists Swooning

Hatching is 'a real sign of hope' for near-extinct Siamese crocodile

(Newser) - The Siamese crocodile was once found throughout much of mainland Southeast Asia. Today, not so much. Feared extinct only a few decades ago, the freshwater crocodile is listed as critically endangered, with around 400 individuals left in the wild, mostly in Cambodia. Hunting has taken a toll, while large-scale farming...

To Save One Kind of Owl, Death to 450K Others

FWS plans to cull 450K barred owls so that the spotted owl can compete for habitat

(Newser) - To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, US wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins. The US Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is...

Unto a Chilean Zoo, a Rare White Rhino Is Born

Silverio is the third calf for his parents, in an uncommon success story

(Newser) - Hannah, a 13-year-old southern white rhinoceros, has delivered a newborn calf in a rare zoo birth for the almost endangered species. The arrival of the male calf, named Silverio, two weeks ago marked the third time that a white rhino has ever been born in South America, reports the AP...

Millions of Altered Mosquitoes Could Save Hawaii's Birds

Incompatible insect technique aims to limit disease-carrying insects on Maui

(Newser) - Ten million mosquitoes have been released over the Hawaiian island of Maui at a rate of 250,000 per week. Believe it or not, this isn't an effort to deter tourists, but rather one to save endangered birds. Many Hawaiian honeycreepers are disappearing due to avian malaria, a disease...

Scientists Clone Endangered Ferrets
Scientists Clone
Endangered Ferrets
Apr 18, 2024 4:09 PM CDT

Scientists Clone Endangered Ferrets

2 more black-footed ferrets born, with hopes of breeding them

(Newser) - Two more black-footed ferrets have been cloned from the genes used for the first clone of an endangered species in the US, bringing to three the number of slinky predators genetically identical to one of the last such animals found in the wild, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said...

Off the Florida Keys, 'Emergency Response' Over Spinning Fish

NOAA has implemented an 'emergency response' to strange behaviors of dying smalltooth sawfish

(Newser) - Endangered smalltooth sawfish, marine creatures virtually unchanged for millions of years, are exhibiting erratic spinning behavior and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced what it calls an "emergency response" focused on the Florida Keys starting next week. A NOAA news release...

Scientists Urge French to Cut Down on Frog Legs

French taste for the delicacy was called out by 557 experts as overconsumption

(Newser) - Hundreds of concerned scientists are asking French President Emmanuel Macron to put the brakes on a very French custom: eating frog legs. The open letter , signed by 557 research, veterinary, and conservation professionals, notes that the European Union isn't exactly practicing what it preaches in how native frogs are...

Half of Migratory Species Are in Trouble: UN

New report has bad news for critters who roam the planet to feed, breed

(Newser) - Nearly half of the world's migratory species are in decline, according to a new United Nations report released Monday. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks, and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons and are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution, and climate...

A Unique Love Story Has Ended
A Unique
Zoo Love Story
Has Ended
Feb 5, 2024 1:22 PM CST

A Unique Zoo Love Story Has Ended

Walnut, a white-naped crane who attacked potential mates but bonded with her keeper, has died

(Newser) - One of the great interspecies love stories of our time has come to an end. Walnut, a white-naped crane and internet celebrity, has passed away at age 42, reports the AP . She is survived by eight chicks, the loving staff at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,...

For This Nearly Extinct Rhino, a Chance to Bounce Back

Successful embryo transfer into southern white rhino could bode well for northern white rhinos

(Newser) - A rhinoceros was impregnated through embryo transfer in the first successful use of a method that conservationists said might later make it possible to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino. In testing with another subspecies, the researchers created a southern white rhino embryo in a lab from an egg...

A Fifth of Freshwater Fish Are in Big Trouble

Climate change adds to threats endangering thousands of species, researchers say

(Newser) - This has been a terrible year for the world's freshwater fish and a lot of work needs to be done to stop thousands of species from hurtling toward extinction in 2024, researchers say. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says that about 21% of freshwater fish—3,086...

US Wildlife Experts Play Dating Game With Rare Wolf

Wildlife officials pick up wandering female gray wolf, will try to mate her with one of two brothers

(Newser) - A match made in the wilds of New Mexico? An endangered Mexican wolf captured last weekend after wandering hundreds of miles from Arizona to New Mexico is now being readied for a dating game of sorts as part of federal reintroduction efforts. But as the AP reports, only time will...

'Cats Eat a Lot More Than We Thought'
'Cats Eat a Lot More
Than We Thought'
NEW STUDY
Dec 13, 2023 1:50 PM CST

'Cats Eat a Lot More Than We Thought'

Hundreds of endangered species are on the menu for free-roaming cats, researchers say

(Newser) - Cats are far from finicky eaters when it comes to wildlife, researchers say. According to a study published in Nature , cats are "indiscriminate predators and eat essentially any type of animal that they can capture at some life stage or can scavenge." Researchers say cats worldwide—feral cats...

Interpol's Animal Trafficking Crackdown Sees Big Results

Operation Thunder sees primates, big cats, ivory, rhino horns, and more confiscated in 133 countries

(Newser) - Interpol and the World Customs Organization said Tuesday they seized 53 primates, four big cats, and more than 1,300 birds, as well as some 660 pounds of ivory, thousands of turtle eggs, and rhino horns, leopard skins, and lion teeth and paws in their sweeping annual crackdown on wildlife...

Ecologists Want People to 'Adopt' These 'Water Monsters'

Mexican researchers launch fundraiser to bolster conservation for endangered axolotl

(Newser) - Ecologists from Mexico's National Autonomous University last week relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, an iconic, endangered fishlike type of salamander. The campaign, called "Adoptaxolotl," asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny "...

Not Seen for 80 Years, This Little Guy Reappears

De Winton's golden mole was presumed extinct

(Newser) - Researchers in South Africa say they have rediscovered a species of mole with an iridescent golden coat and the ability to almost "swim" through sand dunes after it hadn't been seen for more than 80 years and was thought to be extinct. The De Winton's golden mole—...

This Little Guy Is Big News for Endangered Species

There's a new calf for the population of Sumatran rhinos, which number fewer than 50

(Newser) - A critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born in Indonesia's western island of Sumatra over the weekend, reports the AP , the second Sumatran rhino born in the country this year and a welcome addition to a species that currently numbers fewer than 50 animals. A female named Delilah gave birth...

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