Endangered News

Mediterranean sharks risk 'disappearing': conservationists By AFP Paris - Sharks -- the sea's top predators for millions of years -- are at risk of disappearing from the Mediterranean as overfishing and plastic pollution choke populations of the endangered hunters, conservationists warned Friday.

Six men arrested in Vietnam for killing, eating endangered monkey By AFP Hanoi - Six men were arrested in central Vietnam for killing and eating an endangered monkey while livestreaming it on a social media site, police said Friday.

World's rarest plants, vital crops can't be banked: study By AFP Paris - International efforts to save some of the world's rarest and economically important plants from climate change are doomed to fail because their seeds cannot be stored, researchers warned Friday.

The sorry state of Earth's species, in numbers By AFP Medell - The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) issued a dire diagnosis Friday of Earth's plant and animal species.

Judge halts clearing of rare forest targeted by Walmart By Karen Graham Miami - A Miami District Court judge gave environmentalists fighting a construction project a victory on Friday, issuing an emergency injunction halting bulldozers clearing land for a Walmart shopping center near Zoo Miami.

Atlantic salmon declines worsen, conservationists report By Karen Graham The population estimate for North American Atlantic salmon in 2016 was dismal, coming in lower than the year before and raising the specter of an even worse decline for 2017, according to conservationists.

Tracking invasive species? Follow the people By AFP Paris - Islands and populated coastal areas are the world's "hotspots" for invasive species, which can upend entire ecosystems and drive local animals and plants to extinction, a study reported Monday.

Pollution linked to deaths of over 70 endangered giant stingrays By Karen Graham The deaths of over 70 giant stingrays in Thailand's Mae Klong River has been attributed to molasses wastewater that leaked from a sugar/ethanol factory in Ban Pong District of Ratchaburi Province.

Thousands of endangered tadpoles airlifted to Puerto Rico By Karen Graham Oakland - Over 4,000-week old tadpoles left the Oakland Zoo in California this week, headed to Puerto Rico as part of a program to reestablish the multi-colored crested toad once thought to be extinct.

Climate change could slash polar bear numbers 30% by 2050 By AFP Ginebra - Polar bears look set to see their numbers dwindle by nearly third by mid-century, a top conservation body said Thursday, warning climate change poses the greatest threat to the king of the Arctic.

Toronto Zoo welcomes Canada's first giant panda cubs By Megan Hamilton Toronto - At the Toronto Zoo, giants sometimes come in small packages. The zoo is celebrating the birth of two such packages — tiny twin cubs born early Tuesday to Er Shun, one of two giant pandas on loan from China.

Africa's elephants have a champion on their side Special By Karen Graham In the ongoing battle to save Africa's two species of elephants, many organizations have combined forces. But Tara Easter, with the Center for Biological Diversity is at the forefront of this strategy in combating the illegal wildlife trade.

Petition: Protect two species of African elephants as endangered By Karen Graham On Wednesday, citing new research on African elephants, the Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify African elephants as two separate species, and protect both as endangered.

Rare sighting of unbelievably cute Chinese Ili pika By Stephen Morgan An extremely rare sighting of the incredibly cute, Chinese Ili pika, will hopefully bring world attention to the plight of this very elusive but also endangered species.

Endangered young gorilla dies at San Francisco Zoo By Nathan Salant San Francisco - A hydraulic door that crushed an endangered young gorilla to death at the San Francisco Zoo on Friday night was custom-made with a fully functional manual shut-off switch, a zoo spokesman said Sunday.

Baby steelhead released early as California river water heats up By Nathan Salant Rancho Cordova - State wildlife officials released hundreds of thousands of baby steelhead trout from a Northern California fish hatchery on Wednesday — months too early — to try to save their lives in the face of a severe drought.

Tiny Oregon Chub is the first fish taken off the endangered list By Megan Morreale Corvallis - A small Oregon backwater minnow has been taken off the endangered list and takes its place as the first fish to ever do so, announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Documenting the loss of the Sahara's 'mega-fauna' By Karen Graham Covering most of North Africa, the Sahara Desert is the world's largest tropical desert, covering 3.6 million sq. miles, about the size of Brazil. Largely undeveloped, the Sahara has one of the harshest ecosystems to survive in, for humans and wildlife.

Five more gray whales wash ashore in Chukotka, Russia By Karen Graham Gray whales in the North Pacific belong to two distinct populations, with the Western gray whale population seen mainly along the coasts of China, Korea, Japan and Russia. They have been hunted to the point of near extinction, and less than 100 remain.

Yellowstone wolves possibly among those killed in Wyoming By Justin King Recent kills by hunters in an area bordering Yellowstone National Park have biologists and wolf-watchers worried that the Lamar Canyon Pack has again been hit by wolf hunters in the area just outside the park.

World's most endangered species list released By Steve Hayes Jeju - Today scientists published a list of the world's 100 most endangered species. The list, the first of its kind, was published by the World Conservation Congress in South Korea.

Endangered species conservation may be helped by a new index Special By Kimberley Pollock A new index, called SAFE (Species Ability to Forestall Extinction), has been developed to help conservationists better understand how close a species may be to extinction and could be used to help determine where to focus limited conservation resources.

Endangered tiger among animals found in British man's freezer By Laura Trowbridge Police raided a suburban house in Coventry, England, arresting a 52-year-old man. Among many different dead and frozen animals they found a tiger, a monkey and a chimpanzee in his freezer.

Endangered Lemurs born in Florida By Kim I. Hartman Tampa - Busch Gardens is celebrating the birth of two baby lemurs. The births, the first at the park, were greeted with much excitement. The lemur's survival is threatened in their native habitat of Madagascar and are listed as an endangered species.

Man jailed for selling endangered species By Bob Ewing An Ontario man who used the Internet to arrange cross-border meetings to sell at-risk and endangered species has been sentenced to jail time.

Op-Ed: Iconic Crescent-shaped L.A. Hotel on Endangered Buildings List By Sandy Sand Americans can’t tolerate anything that’s old. Not old people, old clothes, old cars, old-fashioned ideas of politeness, etiquette, civility…the mantra is always out with the old, in with the new.

Bedeviling Details on Saving Tasmanian Devils from Extinction By Sandy Sand Australia is having a devil of a time trying to save its devils, but a little help may be on the way from a few friends at Loony Toons, cartoon home to Taz.

100 endangered rhinos slaughtered in South Africa in 2008 By Adriana Stuijt Vietnamese crime-syndicates are operating from South Africa with only one aim: to slaughter as many African rhinos as they can. The ancient animals' horns are expensive, sold as mythical 'aphrodesiacs' in Chinese traditional medicine shops.

Are Wolves Endangered? By Bart B. Van Bockstaele The legal battles over the status of the grey wolf as an endangered species are continuing in the US while at the same time a discussion is ongoing regarding the wolf species we are talking about.

Map Shows Species Most Vulnerable to Climate Change By Bob Ewing A new project reveals that out of 17,000 assessed species, over 7,000 could be threatened with extinction because of climate change.

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