protected species

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Great White's Tracker Shows They Swim in Surprising Places

14-foot LeeBeth helps scientists understand the movements of sharks

(Newser) - As sharks go, LeeBeth is something like a long-haul trucker with gills and giant teeth. Swimmers at the beach might not be excited to see the 14-foot great white shark, but scientists following LeeBeth's movements are thrilled that the big fish's epic journey could provide valuable clues to...

Pair Accused of Trafficking Sea Cucumbers Could Get 25 Years

Zunyu Zhao, Xionwei Xiao plead guilty to illegal importation of endangered species worth $10K

(Newser) - Wildlife traffickers pleaded guilty this week in federal court in California to illegally importing endangered sea cucumbers—which are prized in China for food and medicine and as a reputed aphrodisiac—from Mexico. Zunyu Zhao and Xionwei Xiao were charged with conspiracy and illegal importation of brown sea cucumbers worth...

Rare Flower Unique to Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe
Rare Flower Unique to
Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe
longform

Rare Flower Unique to Kentucky Faces a Mighty Foe

'Courier Journal' explores the plight of Kentucky glade cress amid encroaching development

(Newser) - If you want to see a specimen of the plant known as Kentucky glade cress, you'll have to travel to southern Jefferson County or northern Bullitt County in that state. Otherwise you're out of luck because, as environmental reporter Connor Griffin explains in the Louisville Courier Journal , the...

She Cooked and Ate a Great White. Now, an Apology

Chinese food blogger was fined $18.5K after noshing on protected species, showing it online

(Newser) - Chinese food blogger Tizi is apologizing after one of her viral social media videos showed her eating what turned out to be a protected great white shark. She insists the online seafood seller from whom she procured the shark, and with whom she had worked before, assured her it was...

Charges Filed After an Alleged 'Koala Massacre'

21 animals were found dead in February 2020, more were euthanized

(Newser) - An Australian landowner and an earthmoving business face 126 animal cruelty charges apiece in connection with a February 2020 incident that one conservation group dubbed a "koala massacre." CNN reports the individual and company are accused of causing "unreasonable pain or suffering to dozens of koalas,"...

Man Pleads Guilty After Unusual Find in Swimming Pool

Man from Dutchess County, NY, convicted for having 7 live sandbar sharks in his basement

(Newser) - When Georgia cops pulled Joshua Seguine over in 2017 for driving without a license, they likely didn't expect what they found in the back of his truck: five small live sharks in a tank, which Seguine admitted he was transporting to his home in Dutchess County, NY, where he...

Man Faces Prison Time for Killing Elephant Seal

Jordan Gerbich shot protected animal on California beach

(Newser) - A man who went to an elephant seal viewing area in California and killed one of the protected animals with a handgun could get up to a year in prison. Prosecutors say 30-year-old Jordan Gerbich, who now lives in Utah, has pleaded guilty to taking a marine mammal, NBC reports....

Protected Birds Are Eating Cows Alive
Protected Birds Are
Eating Cows Alive

Protected Birds Are Eating Cows Alive

Black vultures can peck a calf to death in minutes, starting at the eyes

(Newser) - Black vultures are eating livestock alive, and there's little farmers can do about it unless they secure a federal permit to kill the protected birds, whose numbers have ballooned over the last two decades. Kentucky herdsman Derek Lawson says he came upon six black vultures pecking a calf to...

A Seagull Stole His Burger. His Reaction Got Him a $124 Fine

Nate Rancloes says his aim wasn't to injure the bird—he just wanted to shoo it away

(Newser) - A man accused of kicking a seagull that tried to eat his cheeseburger at a New Hampshire beach has been fined $124. Police investigated the report from a bystander at Hampton Beach earlier this summer, the AP reports. Per NH1 , Nate Rancloes says he'd just returned from getting a...

Beach Volleyballers Wreck Protected Birds' Nests

Players on island off Alabama moved eggs from least terns' nests, scared off adults

(Newser) - Beach volleyball players on a small island off Alabama probably killed hundreds of unhatched birds, moving eggs to make room for their court and scaring adult birds from nests, reports the AP . The day after the damage was found, the conservation group Birmingham Audubon put up ropes and signs to...

They Left the Funeral and Picked Up Their Knives

Indonesian villagers reportedly slaughter crocodiles in act of revenge

(Newser) - They allegedly left the funeral and grabbed their knives and clubs, determined to exact revenge for a man's death. A slaughter followed. The BBC reports each of the 292 crocodiles that lived at a crocodile sanctuary in West Papua, Indonesia, were killed on Saturday, and it's possible the...

Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Icing Gila Monster With Screwdriver

She bragged about it online

(Newser) - An Arizona woman accused of killing a federally protected Gila monster and bragging about it online has pleaded not guilty, the AP reports. Sarah Crabtree of Tucson faces five citations, including the taking of wildlife without a license. Each citation carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and...

Anti-Wildfire Project Tabled Over Rare Frogs

Forest Service project may hurt endangered species

(Newser) - US officials are balancing forest-fire risk against the need to preserve an endangered species near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevadas, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reports. Per a stipulation signed by a judge last week, the US Forest Service will delay its tree-thinning project there until it consults with the...

Rihanna Poses With Rare Critter, Arrests Ensue

Thai cops arrest 2 after she posts pic with slow loris on Instagram

(Newser) - Rihanna has been busily posting photos to Instagram, so predictably arrests have been made. The brouhaha this time arose after the pop star, whilst vacationing on the Thai island of Phuket, uploaded a pic of herself and a cute little critter: A cute little critter called the slow loris that...

Feds to Wind Farmer: Go Ahead, Kill Eagles

Project to receive first-of-its-kind 'eagle take' permit

(Newser) - A wind power development in Oregon should be allowed to kill a few golden eagles as long as it contributes to conservation efforts, the federal government says. Authorities have recommended granting a first-of-its-kind "take" permit to the wind farm, giving it permission to kill up to three golden eagles...

$40K Baby Gorilla Saved From Poachers

But experts worry about ones they miss

(Newser) - A baby gorilla has been saved from poachers seeking $40,000 for the highly protected infant. But experts worry about how many more infants have been stolen from parents likely butchered by animal traffickers, reports MSNBC . The baby gorilla, hidden in a small backpack, was "extremely tense and stressed,...

Men Mutilate Beached Whale —for a Tasty Snack

It was dead, and they were hungry; it's still illegal

(Newser) - Two Florida men are in trouble after they spotted a dead whale on the beach and approached it with one thought in mind: Hey, free lunch. "The thing was deader than a doornail," said one of the men picked up for questioning by state conservation officers. He told...

17 Stories