conservation

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Rare Croc Killed in Zoo Mating Gone Wrong

Male false gharial suffocated female

(Newser) - A Dutch zoo's attempt to breed a rare, endangered crocodile went terribly wrong when the female half of the horizontal tango died in the act, the zoo revealed yesterday. While mating, the male false gharial crocodile usually holds the female down with his mouth "to show his superiority,...

Shark Eggs Rescued From Fish Market Grow Into Pups

Three are released at sea in Malta

(Newser) - Three baby sharks swimming off the coast of Malta got there in incredible fashion. Members of the conservation group Sharklab Malta came across dead nursehound sharks being sold at a local fish market, and got permission from vendors to remove the eggs, reports Malta Today . They brought the eggs to...

Plan OKed to Dredge, Dump in Great Barrier Reef Park

Environmental groups warn of dangers

(Newser) - The authority in charge of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has given the final approval to a plan to dump millions of tons of dredging spoils into the park's waters, despite howls of protest from environmental groups and scientists. The dredging is part of a plan to...

West African Lions on Brink of Extinction

There are fewer than 250 adults left, surprise study finds

(Newser) - Lions are on the verge of extinction in West Africa, a stunning new survey has concluded, after years of harrowing treks in search of them. When researchers started their search in 2005, the lions, a distinct species from their east and south African brethren, were believed to inhabit 21 protected...

To Give Birth, Sharks Return to Own Birthplace

Even if they're away for years: study

(Newser) - A mother shark can be away from her birthplace for years—but she'll still return there when it's time for her to have babies, scientists have found in a 17-year-study. Researchers suspected as much, but to confirm their suspicions, they decided to follow individual lemon sharks starting in...

Inside Ethanol's Quiet, Dirty Toll on Environment

Industry fumes over AP report

(Newser) - President Obama, and President Bush before him, fought hard to make ethanol a central part of American energy. But an AP investigation finds that the program as it stands may be doing far more environmental harm than good. The effort to grow corn for fuel has meant the destruction of...

Texas Club's Plan: To Help Imperiled Rhino, Kill One

Dallas Safari Club will auction permit to hunt endangered species

(Newser) - Plans to auction a rare permit that will allow a hunter to take down an endangered black rhino are drawing criticism from some conservationists, but the organizer says the fundraiser could bring in more than $1 million that will go toward protecting the species. The Dallas Safari Club earlier this...

Anti-Shark Fin Soup Campaign Goes Viral in China

Thanks to support from celebs like Yao Ming

(Newser) - Just a few years ago, most Chinese people were oblivious to the environmental problems caused by eating shark fin soup, reports the Washington Post . But thanks to widespread public awareness campaigns, backed by celebrities and business leaders, the country is finally losing its appetite for the dish, and both the...

Behold the 'World's Ugliest Animal' (If You Dare)

Blobfish wins contest to become mascot for conscientious comedy group

(Newser) - It's a perpetually sad-looking, endangered sack of a fish, but the blobfish has reason to rejoice today: it's just been voted the official mascot of the Ugly Animals Preservation Society . The British comedy/conservation group has been holding a public poll to determine the world's ugliest animal, in...

Biologists Try to Save Rare Trout ... by Poisoning a River

Controversial plan designed to flush out other species from creek

(Newser) - California fisheries officials pumped an 11-mile stream full of poison yesterday, killing all the fish in it—in what, believe it or not, is a conservation plan. State officials are trying to preserve the Paiute cutthroat trout, the rarest trout in the world, the LA Times explains. It's native...

Endangered US Tortoises to Be Euthanized

Funding for Las Vegas-area conservation center dries up

(Newser) - For decades, the vulnerable US desert tortoise has led a sheltered existence on a sprawling conservation reserve outside Las Vegas. But the pampered desert dweller now faces a threat from the very people who have nurtured it. Federal funds are running out at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center and officials...

Penguins&#39; Unlikely Savior: Dogs
 Penguins' Unlikely 
 Savior: Dogs 
in case you missed it

Penguins' Unlikely Savior: Dogs

Maremma sheepdogs help restore population to Australia island

(Newser) - Things got so bad for the penguins on Australia's Middle Island that one researcher counted all of four just seven years ago, down from a peak of 1,500. The problem, as the New Zealand Herald explains, is that red foxes acquired a taste for the Little Penguins and...

19% Reptiles at Risk of Extinction
 19% of Reptiles at 
 Risk of Extinction 
New Study

19% of Reptiles at Risk of Extinction

Study reviewed 1,500 species

(Newser) - Farming and logging are destroying the habitats of the world's reptiles, putting nearly one in five in danger of extinction, reports AFP . The new study—in which 200 experts examined 1,500 species of snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, and other reptiles—claims to be the most comprehensive made of...

Hunters Shoot World's 'Most Famous' Wolf

832F was shot just outside Yellowstone's boundary

(Newser) - A wolf described as "the most famous in the world" has been shot dead by hunters just outside the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, reports the New York Times . The alpha female known as 832F had become a tourist favorite over the last six years and the shooting, which...

African Gorillas' Habitat Quickly Disappearing

Continent-wide survey finds huge losses since 1990s

(Newser) - The first-ever continent-wide survey of gorillas in Africa finds that their habitats have been shrinking at a disturbingly fast clip since the 1990s, reports the BBC . Eastern gorillas, for example, have the distinction of being the largest living primate, but they've lost 52% of their habitat over that span....

Worst for Wildlife: Vietnam
 Worst for Wildlife: Vietnam 

Worst for Wildlife: Vietnam

New WWF report ranks China second, Laos third

(Newser) - Rhinos, tigers, and elephants don't fare so well in Vietnam: The Asian country is the worst when it comes to wildlife crime, says the WWF in its first report on the matter. Rhinos are in danger there because citizens believe the horns have medicinal value; legalized tiger farms also...

St. Lucia Racer Now World's Rarest Snake

Team finds 11 of snake once thought extinct

(Newser) - Scientists are trying to drum up support for saving a creature they describe as gentle and comfortable with humans—but not particularly huggable. After months of searching, researchers found and tagged 11 St. Lucia racers, a snake believed to be the world's rarest, in a nature reserve on a...

Zoos Choose Which Species Live, Which Ones Die

Zoo directors try to strike a balance with entertaining the public

(Newser) - To be or not to be: That is increasingly the question for American zoos, which have to choose whether entire species live or die, the New York Times reports. With many species facing extinction, zoos are being asked to preserve the most endangered, a mission that can conflict with their...

2011's Elephant Carnage: Tens of Thousands

Populations on decline across Africa, wildlife groups warn

(Newser) - The mass slaughter of elephants and rhinos in Africa by poachers has once again reached crisis levels, warns the world body that tracks endangered species. As many as tens of thousands of elephants were slaughtered by poachers last year alone, and the illegal trade in tusks and horns is "...

First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies
 First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies 

First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies

Toola showed that rescued pups could return to the wild

(Newser) - Staff at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium are mourning the most remarkable sea otter they have ever encountered. Toola, who died at age 15, was the first captive sea otter ever to serve as a surrogate mother to others, raising a total of 13 pups, some of which now lead...

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