Madagascar forests face destruction

Antananarivo (AFP) Oct 9, 2009 – Environmental groups are protesting the resumption of exports of precious woods from Madagascar, arguing that the wood is logged illegally and that the island’s forests are being destroyed. On September 21 a government decree “temporarily” legalised the export of “certain stocks” of precious woods, citing the need to “evacuate […]

Freshwater species suffer most as extinctions rise

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) – Creatures and plants living in rivers and lakes are the most threatened on Earth because their ecosystems are collapsing, scientists said on Sunday. They urged the creation of a new partnership between governments and scientists to help stem extinctions caused by humans via pollution, a spread of […]

Alaska polar bear sightings on land quadruple

By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Oil companies scouring the coastline of Alaska’s North Slope for new production sites are converging on the same territory as hungry polar bears trying to escape shrinking and thinning sea ice. Polar bears have not attacked any workers recently, but oil companies are reporting four times as many […]

Endangered Alaska beluga whales declining

By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A government study found that a group of endangered beluga whales in Alaska is declining, raising concern that bolstered protection for the animals is not coming quickly enough. The downward trend comes after two years where numbers for the Cook Inlet belugas appeared to have stabilized. […]

Stress is pushing the koala to extinction

A virus brought on by loss of habitat is wiping out an Australian icon By Tanalee Smith in Cudlee Creek The koala, Australia’s star symbol, is dying of stress. The marsupial is found only along the coastal areas of eastern Australia where it feeds off the leaves of the eucalyptus tree. But, as more and […]

Lethal fungus spreads to Southern bats

By Jenni Vincent, Journal staff writer, September 27, 2009 MARTINSBURG – It’s only been three years since White-nose syndrome was discovered in bats living in caves near Albany, N.Y., but the number of bats now believed to have this fungus has grown significantly and spread to other states such as West Virginia. U.S. Fish and […]

Middle East's most endangered bird threatened by hunting

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2009) — Conservationists trying to prevent the extinction of Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita are distraught that one of the last remaining wild birds in the Middle East has been shot by a hunter in Saudi Arabia, bringing the known wild Middle Eastern population of this Critically Endangered species to just four […]

One fifth of Mediterranean dragonflies threatened with extinction

29 September 2009 | News – Press Release One fifth of Mediterranean dragonflies and damselflies are threatened with extinction at the regional level as a result of increasing freshwater scarcity, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Climate change and habitat degradation, due to the way land is managed, are also affecting the […]

BBC zoologist: Let the panda die out 'with dignity'

By Philippe Naughton, From Times Online, September 22, 2009  The BBC wildlife expert Chris Packham has questioned the millions spent trying to save the giant panda from extinction and suggested that the bamboo-eating bear should be allowed to die out “with a degree of dignity”. The zoologist, who has replaced Bill Oddie as a presenter […]

EU drops demand for ban on commercial bluefin tuna fishing

By Lewis Smith Attempts to save the bluefin tuna from extinction suffered a serious setback yesterday when the European Union dropped its demand for commercial fishing of the species to be banned. A rearguard action by Mediterranean fishing nations, including Spain, Italy and France, blocked moves to get the European Union to support a worldwide […]

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