Animals

1,000+ Rhinos Poached in South Africa for Fourth Straight Year

1,000+ Rhinos Poached in South Africa for Fourth Straight Year

South African rhino poaching numbers for the last year show a decline for the second consecutive year due to concerted conservation efforts. However, there is still a long road ahead as Africa continues to lose an average of three rhinos a day to the ongoing poaching crisis. In 2016 alone, 1,054 rhinos were reported killed […]

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    This City Just Set Aside 1,000 Acres to Save Honey Bees

    This City Just Set Aside 1,000 Acres to Save Honey Bees

    By Julie M. Rodriguez It’s no secret that bee populations have declined in recent years. Last year, beekeepers across the U.S. reported losing a staggering 44 percent of their colonies over the course of the winter and summer. It's Official: First Bumble Bee Species Listed as Endangered in 'Race Against Extinction' https://t.co/7Kl4bXYqtw @xercessociety @bpncamp — […]

    Monarch Populations Plummet: 27% Decrease From Last Year

    Monarch Populations Plummet: 27% Decrease From Last Year

    By David Mizejewski The annual population status report for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) has been released showing a 27 percent decrease from last year’s population. Why Millions of Monarch Butterflies Are Dying in Mexico – EcoWatch https://t.co/YV0SIMKksW @Greenpeace @HuffPostGreen — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) September 8, 2016 Populations of this once-common iconic black and orange butterfly […]

    House Passes NRA-Backed Bill Legalizing the Killing of Bear Cubs in Wildlife Refuges

    House Passes NRA-Backed Bill Legalizing the Killing of Bear Cubs in Wildlife Refuges

    The House of Representatives approved a controversial bill to overturn an Obama-era rule that protects wolves, bears, coyotes and other animals on more than 76 million acres of national wildlife refuges in Alaska. The measure was passed 225-193 on Thursday on a mostly party-line vote. Animal welfare advocates said that the resolution allows trophy hunters […]

    Desperate to Protect Rhinos, Rangers Shoot Poachers in India

    Desperate to Protect Rhinos, Rangers Shoot Poachers in India

    With legal immunity, Rangers at Kaziranga National Park (Kaziranga) in Assam, India can shoot poachers to protect the Indian one-horned rhinoceros. While the number of rhinoceroses killed has now dropped, the human shooting policy—started in 2013— remains controversial. Local villagers and tribal peoples’ rights organizations, including London-based Survival International, feel the poacher-killing program is out […]

    Oil Industry-Funded Republicans Launch Effort to Gut Endangered Species Act

    Oil Industry-Funded Republicans Launch Effort to Gut Endangered Species Act

    Senate Republicans will hold a hearing Wednesday to begin attempting to gut and repeal the Endangered Species Act. This is the first hearing on the act to be chaired by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo), who has voted against the Endangered Species Act and protecting endangered species at every opportunity since 2011. https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/811698005602484224 “The clear intent […]

    Can a Drone Do the Work of Honeybees?

    Can a Drone Do the Work of Honeybees?

    By Marlene Cimons Ten years ago, Japanese chemist Eijiro Miyako was trying to invent a liquid that could work as an electrical conductor. But the sticky gel he created failed, so he shoved it into a cabinet in an uncapped bottle and forgot about it. Recently, during a lab cleanup, it was rediscovered—with the viscous […]

    Yellowstone National Park Sends Hundreds of America’s Last Wild Buffalo to Slaughter

    Yellowstone National Park Sends Hundreds of America’s Last Wild Buffalo to Slaughter

    Under continued pressure from Montana livestock interests, Yellowstone National Park is sending hundreds of America’s last wild buffalo—the National Mammal of the U.S.—to slaughter. Since Feb. 8, approximately 45 wild Yellowstone buffalo have been shipped from the park’s Stephens Creek buffalo trap to a slaughterhouse. With recent captures of at least 600 buffalo, more than […]