“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 […]
“Where’s the beef?” California wolves ask. “It’s what’s for dinner.”
California wolves eat seven times more cattle than wolves in other states DAVIS, California––Are recently self-reintroduced wolves in California targeting cattle due to a scarcity of their natural wild prey, or just as easy prey? Wolves on their way into California, raising their first surviving litter in 2016, followed mule deer and elk herds through […]
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 […]
Wildlife at risk: Trump cabinet pushes exemptions for oil & lead polluters
Whales, sea turtles, eagles, waterfowl & bears all menaced by Trump administration rule reversals WASHINGTON D.C.––Moving to plant U.S. oil industry feet deeper in the public trough while global oil prices are soaring due to the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on March 30, 2026 is to convene a […]
Orangutan rescuer Biruté Galdikas, last of “Leakey’s Angels,” dies at 79
Born a “displaced person,” Biruté Galdikas spent her life aiding & advocating for displaced orangutans LOS ANGELES––Orangutan researcher, rescuer, and conservationist Biruté Galdikas, 79, died on March 24, 2026 in Los Angeles, after a prolonged illness. “Born in Germany, on May 10, 1946, while her parents were en route from Lithuania to Canada,” as displaced […]
Mule deer are again in Catalina Island Conservancy crosshairs
Mule deer are the major natural brakes on growth of tindery browse & grass, but conservancy wants to kill them all in the name of fire prevention AVALON, Catalina Island, California––The Catalina Island Conservancy, owners of 88% of Santa Catalina, California’s largest offshore island, as of January 30, 2026 has the go-ahead from the California […]
Elephant menace brings prayers in India, trophy hunting in Botswana
22 people killed by one rampaging elephant in Jharkand RANCHI, Jharkhand, India; GABORONE, Botswana––“Rogue elephant kills two more in Jharkhand, toll reaches 22 in nine days,” bannered Mukesh Ranjan for the New Indian Express on January 9, 2025. This came just 48 hours after Shashi Singh of The Statesman, an Indian national newspaper published since […]
Five little noted but accomplished animal advocates who died in 2025
Marshall R. Thompson, Jamie Massey, Sarah Fisher, Neil C. Wolff, DVM, and Vincent van der Merwe Among the many accomplished animal advocates whose passage in the last months of 2025 mostly escaped notice from all but family and friends were Marshall R. Thompson, Jamie Massey, Sarah Fisher, Neil C. Wolff, DVM, and Vincent van der […]
Big wins for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, sharks & falcons in Uzbekistan desert
The big loser at CITES Conference of the Parties 20 was the saiga antelope, native to host nation Uzbekistan SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan––Elephants, rhinos, giraffes, white-tipped sharks, peregrine falcons, and the Vantara captive wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat state, India, were among the big winners at the twentieth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the […]
New Zealand escalates war on feral cats, but H5N1 is greater threat to birds
Feral cats can even help to prevent an H5N1 outbreak. Compound 1080 will be useless. WELLINGTON, New Zealand––What most threatens the unique New Zealand bird ecology, an estimated 2.5 million feral cats, or 124 million factory-farmed chickens? Calling feral cats “stone cold killers,” New Zealand conservation minister Tama Potaka in late November 2025 formally added […]