Iberian lynx extinct within 50 years due to climate change – ‘Current management efforts could be futile if they don’t take into account the combined effects of climate change, land use, and prey abundance’

By Bary Alyssa Johnson21 July 2013 (Latinos Post) – The Iberian lynx has seen severe population decline over the past hundred or so years and now the species faces extinction as a very real future possibility. This species of lynx, which now numbers only 250 in the wild, has been decimated in southern Europe over […]

Drought in U.S. West prompts feds to truck water and food to wild horses – ‘Despite everything we are doing, it may not be enough to save them’

By Amy Joi O’Donoghue18 July 2013 SKULL VALLEY, Tooele County (Deseret News) – The blistering heat and thirst were greater enemies than the people lingering next to the watering trough. A solitary, gray stallion fought through his instincts to flee and instead wandered closer and closer, beaten down by perhaps days upon days without life-sustaining […]

Kill gone wrong: The slow death of a whale on a hunting trip in Norway – ‘I want you to know, it almost never happens like this’

By Jo Fidgen14 July 2013 NORWAY (BBC News) – Whale hunters tend to shy away from publicity because of the controversy surrounding their profession. But the crew of the Jan Bjorn in Norway – a country whose fishermen kill around 500 minke whales a year for commercial purposes – agreed to let us join them […]

Whaling in the Antarctic: New Zealand intervenes, Australia concludes

By Tony Press, CEO, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC at University of Tasmania13 July 2013 (The Conversation) – Australia had its second (and last) chance this week to argue against Japan’s whaling program in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). But before it did, New Zealand appeared before the Court to provide its take on […]

Renowned whale expert studying effect of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Gulf of Mexico sperm whales – ‘Every step of the food chain you get about a 10 times increase in the concentration of a contaminant’

By Dennis Pillion12 July 2013 PENSACOLA, Florida (al.com) – To get a better understanding of the full impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, renowned marine scientist Roger Payne is thinking big. That is to say, he’s looking at sperm whales, one of the largest inhabitants of the Gulf and the largest of the […]

Yangtze finless porpoise declared critically endangered – ‘Future generations will undoubtedly wonder if we were ignorant, incompetent or both’

By Jeremy Hance7 July 2013 (mongabay.com) – The newest update to the IUCN Red List has downgraded the status of the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) from Endangered to Critically Endangered, reflecting the deteriorating state of arguably the world’s most degraded river system. The downgrade follows a survey last year that counted only 1,000 […]

Arizona horses dying as Navajo Nation declares drought emergency – ‘We've been in a drought for eight years’

5 July 2013 (ICTMN) – The horses, desperate for water, had come to drink from a pool of rainwater that had run off a hill and flooded land on the Navajo reservation. What they got was a mud bath that turned deadly as they became trapped in the bentonite clay of the Chinle Formation, which […]

President Obama launches initiative to curb wildlife trafficking – ‘Poaching operations have expanded beyond small-scale, opportunistic actions to coordinated slaughter commissioned by armed and organized criminal syndicates’

By Suzanne Goldenberg US environment correspondent 1 July 2013 (The Guardian) – Barack Obama launched a new initiative against wildlife trafficking on Monday, using his executive authority to take action against an illegal trade that is fuelling rebel wars and now threatens the survival of elephants and rhinoceroses. The initiative, announced as the president visited […]

Australia whaling case against Japan worth the gamble

By Andrew Darby, Hobart correspondent for Fairfax Media25 June 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – When Australia first went to court against Japan over whaling, it was against clear warnings from anti-whaling allies. The US commissioner at the International Whaling Commission, Monica Medina, called it a ”bet the whales” case – an uncertain gamble on whales’ […]

Illegal wildlife trade flourishes in Sumatra – Critically endangered orangutans sell for $200 – ‘It’s a zoo, but you can buy’

By Birchard Kellogg10 June 2013 (mongabay.com) – In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on a piece of plywood and grabbed the metal wires of his tiny cage. He has sat in that cage for six […]

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