Animals

7 Bees Facing Extinction Added to Endangered Species List for First Time

7 Bees Facing Extinction Added to Endangered Species List for First Time

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has added seven bee species to the endangered species list, a first for bees. Native to Hawaii, these yellow-faced bees are facing extinction due to habitat loss, wildfires and invasive species. Cantankerous Yellow-faced Bee photographed in Hawai’i County, Hawaii.SteveMlodinow / Flickr The tiny, solitary bees were once abundant […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Groups Sue Government Over Slaughter of Yellowstone Bison

    Groups Sue Government Over Slaughter of Yellowstone Bison

    Three wildlife groups sued the federal government Tuesday, asking for the Yellowstone bison to be listed as a threatened or endangered species in order to protect the iconic animals from hunting and prescribed culling. Currently, park officials manage the population to about 4,000 animals using these methods. The population now numbers about 4,500. Some 60 […]

    Daring Conservationist Takes Off on 4,500-Mile Migration With Swans

    Daring Conservationist Takes Off on 4,500-Mile Migration With Swans

    A British conservationist took off last week in a motorized paraglider, embarking on a 4,500-mile journey across the Russian Arctic. Sacha Dench, 41, who works with the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust in the United Kingdom, is following along the migration route of Bewick’s swans in hopes of learning why their numbers have declined by more […]

    200 Farms in China Breed Tigers for Slaughter for Body Parts, Luxury Goods

    200 Farms in China Breed Tigers for Slaughter for Body Parts, Luxury Goods

    In legal tiger farms across China, some 6,000 caged cats are kept in filthy conditions and will be killed for dubious medicinal uses and as home decor for the country’s newly-rich elite. The sordid business is mostly legal, but hides behind carefully-worded agreements and pretensions of conservation. The issue is expected to be addressed at […]

    World’s Biggest Sockeye Run Shut Down as Wild Pacific Salmon Fight for Survival

    World’s Biggest Sockeye Run Shut Down as Wild Pacific Salmon Fight for Survival

    Salmon have been swimming in Pacific Northwest waters for at least 7 million years, as indicated by fossils of large saber-tooth salmon found in the area. During that time, they’ve been a key species in intricate, interconnected coastal ecosystems, bringing nitrogen and other nutrients from the ocean and up streams and rivers to spawning grounds, […]

    North American Moose Struggling for Survival

    North American Moose Struggling for Survival

    The official number of moose in Yellowstone National Park is 200. Unofficially, rangers told me that it could be as few as 80 animals. In other parts of the country, Minnesota has seen a dramatic decline in their moose population of 70 percent from 2006 to 2013, while in New Hampshire, 3,800 animals remain of […]

    Norway to Kill 47 of Its Remaining 68 Wolves

    Norway to Kill 47 of Its Remaining 68 Wolves

    Norway has announced plans to kill more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves, justifying the action as protection for livestock. The plan has sparked outrage by conservationists. Three wolf packs, including pups, will be shot by hunters during Norway’s annual hunting season, which runs from Oct. 1 to March 31. Last year, 11,571 people applied […]

    100-Year-Old Tortoise Fathers 800 Offspring in Fight to Save Species

    100-Year-Old Tortoise Fathers 800 Offspring in Fight to Save Species

    He may be well over 100 years old, but Diego the Tortoise still has plenty of charm and he’s using it to ensure that his species lives on. The giant Galapagos tortoise has been “working” since the 1960s—when there were only 14 wild tortoises, two of which were male, left on Española—to save his native […]