The following clips reflect recent wildlife-related news coverage in the media. The Wildlife Society does not independently verify any statements or assertions in these articles. The statements expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official TWS policy unless so stated. Likewise, products mentioned herein are not endorsed by The Wildlife Society unless so stated.
A gray wolf walks along a path in Washington State. A federal judge recently restored ESA protections for gray wolves in Wyoming, ruling that the state’s management plan was inadequate and unenforceable. (Credit: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)
Judge Restores Protections to Wolves in Wyoming
(USA Today)
Overruling U.S. wildlife officials, a federal judge restored protections for gray wolves in Wyoming but left intact a determination that the species has recovered and is not endangered or threatened “in a significant portion” of its northern Rocky Mountains range. Relying on Wyoming data, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service declared that the gray wolf had recovered from near extinction by humans and removed it from the list of threatened or endangered species in late August 2012. More
U.S. NEWS
Obama Creates Vast Pacific Ocean Marine Reserve
(BBC)
President Barack Obama has signed a memorandum to expand a vast marine reserve in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument will become the largest network of oceanic protected areas in the world. The memorandum bans commercial fishing, deep-sea mining and other extraction of underwater resources in the area. More
As Colorado’s Mule Deer Decline, So May Conservation Funding
(Colorado Public Radio)
They have white tufts of fur on their chests and noses, a springy step, and big pointy ears. Mule deer are plentiful in Colorado — one of the nation’s largest herds is in northwestern Colorado. But wildlife officials are concerned about them. In 2012 the Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimated there were 408,000 mule deer, or muleys, as they’re called, statewide. That’s well below the goal of 525,000 to 575,000 animals. Numbers are also down in several other western states. More
A Call to Action Against a Predator Fish with an Import Ban, App and Even Rodeos
(The New York Times)
They eat anything that fits in their mouths. They reproduce copiously and adapt effortlessly. And they have become as ubiquitous and pesky as rats — only prettier and more conniving. Nearly three decades after a lone venomous lionfish was spotted in the ocean off Broward County — posing as a bit of eye candy back then and nothing more — the species has invaded the Southern seaboard, staking a particular claim on Florida, as well as the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, and even parts of South America. More
Florida Ag Commissioner Calls for State Aid If Oyster Harvesting Halted
(Tallahassee Democrat)
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said state officials must be ready to assist thousands of families whose lives would be impacted if the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shuts down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay. Putnam wouldn’t go so far as to say he’d support closing the Northwest Florida bay to harvesting. But he expressed confidence in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s biologists who are working to revive the waterway. More
Lab Results Pending for ‘Oily’ Seals Harvested Off Alaskan Island
(Alaska Dispatch News)
Two seals recently harvested near Gambell in the Bering Sea were found coated in a dark, oily substance. While the hunters on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island believed it was oil, testing by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has not yet confirmed that. “They tested the flipper samples that were sent in from each seal — a front flipper, and there was no petroleum product on the flippers that were tested,” said Gay Sheffield, Marine Advisory Program agent for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. More
10 Things in Nature That Could Vanish Before Your Kids See Them
(The Washington Post)
In their losing battle with television and digital devices, conservationists have urged parents to get the kiddies to the great outdoors. But even if parents managed to pull their children away from cellphones, what would they find in America’s wilderness? A new report by the Endangered Species Coalition, an alliance of 10 environmental activist groups, says they’ll see fewer things in nature than their parents did. More
NEWS FROM CANADA
First Orca Birth in Salish Sea Since 2012 Cause for Cheer, Caution
(Vancouver Sun)
A killer whale has given birth to a calf in the Salish Sea, first such birth there since 2012. The new calf is a sibling to a whale born off Victoria’s breakwater. Biologist Dave Ellifrit, of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbour, Wash., spotted the calf in the Salish Sea — an area off the south coast of British Columbia and home to the southern resident killer whale. More
Squirrels’ Taste for Grain May Be Contributing to Grizzly Deaths
(Calgary Herald)
It’s well known that grizzly bears eat squirrels, but a team of scientists is trying to determine whether squirrels are also contributing to the death of bears. Researchers are studying the environment and animal behavior to determine why bears have been dying on the railway tracks in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks. More
Bill Introduced to Ban Oil Tankers from Northern BC Coast
(Vancouver Observer)
New Democratic Party MP Nathan Cullen introduced a bill designed to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, a 1,100 kilometer pipeline proposal that would carry 535,000 barrels of diluted bitumen across British Columbia to a terminal in Kitimat. “It will ban the passage of supertankers off BC’s north coast — this is an explicit response to the experience that we’ve had through the hearings around Enbridge Northern Gateway,” said Cullen in a press conference. More
Cape Breton Bats Hit with Devastating White-Nose Syndrome
(The Chronicle Herald)
Bats in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, may no longer be safe from the devastating impact of white-nose syndrome, which can wipe out colonies within a few years. Until this summer, scientists had hoped that Cape Breton bat populations would be spared from the disease that has killed off nearly all of the bats on the mainland, but new lab results show white-nose syndrome has reached the island. More
Toxic Seagulls: Montreal’s Contaminated Bird Colony Offers Clues About Flame Retardants
(Straight.com)
There are no homes, few trees, and no real reason for any human to visit the 18-hectare hunk of clay and dirt that is Deslauriers Island, Quebec. Gulls run this island, their screaming audible for miles, their guano covering every square foot. “There are about 100,000 of them,” says Jonathan Verreault. “And they’re pretty loud.” An avian toxicologist, Verreault has ventured to this island in the St. Lawrence River about two miles off the eastern tip of Montreal dozens of times over the past four years. More
WILDLIFE HEALTH AND DISEASE NEWS
Color Variability in Crimson Rosellas is Linked to a Virus
(Phys.org)
Despite its name, the Crimson Rosella is perhaps Australia’s most color-variable bird and a cause of this striking and beautiful diversity seems to be a disease that’s potentially deadly to many other parrots. Hybrid forms of the Crimson Rosella have lower loads and lower prevalence of this virus than the parental subspecies, according to our research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
In Chile, An Animal Whose Numbers Please No One
(New York Times)
The guidebooks for South America’s Tierra del Fuego somehow fail to mention the gunfire. From the mist-shrouded Patagonian steppe to the dense beech forests, shots pierce the air here for months on end each year. Hunters armed with telescopic rifles roam this archipelago at the southern tip of South America in pickup trucks as they pick off their prey: the guanaco. More
A Sanctuary for Malawi’s Broken Wildlife
(CNN)
Malawi is in the midst of a population explosion. In 1966, the country boasted a meager four million citizens. Today, that number hovers around the 15 million mark and could reach 37 million by 2050. That’s a big number for a country half the size of the United Kingdom, and could spell trouble for indigenous wildlife. More
Ancient African Fish Dust Nourishes Amazon
(BBC)
The Amazon is being fertilized by the remains of ancient fish from Africa. The nutrient-rich material is being carried in millions of tons of dust blown across the Atlantic from the Sahara every year. Scientists have long recognized the importance of this airborne train to the rainforest’s health. But now a U.K. team has been able to show that much of the essential phosphorous in the dust is derived from the bones and scales of fish and other organisms. More
