Western range issues can be seen from space BILLINGS, Montana––No one needs to take anyone else’s word about the condition of the western range. Monitor Google Earth for a while and ancient sages will tell you all about it. First, though, it is necessary to understand the evolutionary and ecological relationships among sagebrush, grasslands, […]
Florida: Bashing the brains out of iguanas as alleged illegal aliens
Iguanas were in Florida first––by 16 million years FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida––Bashing or shooting the brains out of iguanas essentially for the hell of it would be illegal almost anywhere if done to pets. Braining iguanas in the name of research, however, brought University of Florida wildlife biologist and research coordinator Jenny Ketterlin and 14 […]
Death of Florida 6-year-old reminds that bat rabies can strike anywhere
Humans & bats evolved to live in frequent proximity, yet rarely meet. That keeps us both safe. ORLANDO, Florida––The January 14, 2018 death of Ryker Roque, 6, at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, just 20 minutes from Disney World and half an hour from Walt Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom, came as […]
Why has Paul Watson asked 58 groups to drop a boycott of Mexican shrimp?
Alleges boycott jeopardizes anti-poaching work to save the vaquita SAN FELIPE, Mexico––Leading an international boycott of Mexican shrimp called on behalf of the endangered vaquita porpoise, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity have yet to publish a promised response to a December 3, 2017 appeal […]
Vaquita captures suspended after death of female of breeding age
Two captures with only frozen tissue samples to show for it (Updates coverage of November 6, 2017.) SAN FELIPE, Mexico––VaquitaCPR and SEMARNAT, the Mexican Secretariat for the Environment & Natural Resources, have indefinitely suspended attempts to bring highly endangered vaquita porpoises into a captive breeding program, Sandra Dibble of the San Diego Union-Tribune and CBS News […]
Are vaquita captures for breeding or for show? Mexican report raises question
Mexican environment secretary talks tourism SAN FELIPE, Mexico––The first-ever capture of an extremely endangered vaquita porpoise on October 18, 2017 in the Sea of Cortez, disclosed a day later, upstaged statements by Mexican environment secretary Rafael Pacchiano indicating that the capture might have been undertaken less from the hope of saving an endangered animal […]
Delivering vaquita damsels to the ogre: U.S. Navy dolphins sally forth
Sea of Cortez campaign may be more about saving the Navy Marine Mammal Program than saving vaquitas SAN FELIPE, Mexico; SAN DIEGO, California––Purported knights errant sent to save a damsel in distress, the U.S. Navy dolphins Andrea, Fathom, Katrina and Splash on October 5, 2017 arrived in San Felipe, Mexico, on the east coast of Baja California, to […]
Remembering Amelia Earhart friend & “Turtle Lady” Ila Loetscher
A personal recollection of the pioneering aviator who became rescuer & advocate for endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles Recent headlines about the ongoing quest for definitive confirmation of the fate of flyer Amelia Earhart brought to mind memories of her longtime close friend and rival Ila Loetscher, seven years younger, the renowned Turtle Lady of […]
Favor to speedboaters: Trump administration downlists manatees
But manatees may benefit from global warming HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, Florida––After a record 104 Florida manatees were killed by speeding boaters in 2016, one might almost expect the March 30, 2017 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announcement that Florida manatees are no longer officially endangered to be followed by a shout of “April Fool!” But […]
Fishers’ riot may hasten extinction of the vaquita porpoise
Rioters damaged marine law enforcement capacity throughout the Sea of Cortez GOLFO DE SANTA CLARA, Sonora, Mexico––Wall or no wall along the Mexican border, the furious rejection of environmental regulation characterizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s first six weeks in office appears to be shared by some of the violent lawbreakers whom […]