by Beth Clifton Updating Legendary Whidbey Island lone elk Bruiser found dead at age 18, I wish to share some further reflections about Bruiser, the solitary elk of Whidbey Island, who was found deceased on October 6, 2026, beneath a cliff in the heavily wooded Strawberry Point area, where he spent most of his adult […]
Wood & wine bucks allegedly bring barred owl & mule deer massacres
Claim that killing barred owls & Catalina mule deer is to protect endangered species is at best questionable SALEM, Oregon; LOS ANGELES, California––Blazing gunfire directed at barred owls in the Coast Range of Oregon and at mule deer on Catalina Island, 26 miles west of Los Angeles, again demonstrates how successfully adaptive species can become […]
Tweety & Sylvester Down Under: two new studies exonerate cats
Birds are Still Singing in Our Suburbs and Bella & Charlie Are Not the Problem, argue team from the University of Queensland KENMORE, Queensland, Australia––Two new studies from scientists associated with the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation and the University of Queensland challenge the notion that cat predation has much of anything to do with bird […]
Catalina Island Conservancy invokes drone ban, starts killing 2,000 deer
Deer cull may do more for wine-growing relatives of Catalina Island Conservancy founder than for either nature or claimed pretext of fire suppression LOS ANGELES––Henry David Thoreau, had he been an observer of the Catalina Island mule deer cull now underway, might have observed that “Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find […]
Dog & pony show: wild horses to slaughter, pit bulls to Miranda’s Rescue
Myth that “We can save them all” without contracepting problematic populations both dumps dead dogs in ditches & feeds wild horses to the meat trade FORTUNA, California; POTEAU, Oklahoma & WAUSEON, Ohio––One might observe that the Miranda’s Rescue saga playing since April 2026 in northern California and the Bureau of Land Management equines-sold-to-slaughter horse opera […]
Trump admin ESA rewrite brings spotted owls home to roost for enviros
“Umbrella species” approach to endangered species protection brings both barred owl massacre and loss of habitat protection WASHINGTON D.C.––Northern spotted owls on July 10, 2026 came home to roost for the U.S. conservation movement. While hired guns employed by government agencies massacred barred owls in northern California, in the name of protecting northern spotted owls […]
Cats & dogs: how tigers, leopards, jaguars, & coyotes survive in suburbs
Dog & cat feeders unwittingly bait wild predators Cats hunt, dogs scavenge. When either dog or cat numbers drop, the other changes behavior MUMBAI, India; MAHAHUAL, Mexico; KATHAMANDU, Nepal; SAN FRANCISCO, California––Recent reports of tiger, jaguar, leopard, and coyote predation in human-dominated habitat come as reminders that the cat/dog relationship, even in the presence of […]
200 cats in Puerto Rico doomed by 20 years of cat-feeding in name of TNR
Fixing 66 cats in 2008 could have fixed the problem. Feeding stations put three times that many at risk. WASHINGTON D.C.––Pending possible further appeals, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss on May 20, 2026 appears to have ended the Battle of the Cats at the historic El Morro castle in San Juan, Puerto Rico, […]
Hunting lobby Michigan United Conservation Clubs goes bust
Would culling the Michigan hunter population have prevented the collapse? LANSING, Michigan––Once reputedly the most influential state-level pro-hunting lobbying voice in the U.S., the Michigan United Conservation Clubs are “dissolving after almost 90 years because of ongoing financial struggles,” reported Dan Basso on May 6, 2026 for the Lansing State Journal. The fiscal collapse of […]
All the news, good & bad, about vaquitas, jaguars, & hippos, oh my!
Vaquita porpoises & a clouded jaguar seen alive, but Colombian environment minister wants to see feral hippos dead SAN FELIPE, Mexico; TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras; BOGOTA, Colombia––Recently reported good news about vaquita porpoises and jaguars, among the most endangered species in Latin America, was offset by the April 1, 2026 announcement by Colombian environment minister Irene Vélez […]