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All in Conservation
Cougars once roamed freely throughout much of North America but were exterminated in many states by the 20th century, including Michigan, which killed off its last wild specimen in 1906. In recent years the predator has been seen again on the Upper Peninsula and wildlife experts wonder if the species can re-establish a breeding population here.
A small group of lions have left their traditional stomping grounds in the Namibian desert and have found new life – and plenty of seals to eat – on the country’s Atlantic coast. The 12 lucky lions now prowling the Skeleton Coast are part of a population of maybe 80 stuck in the Namib Desert which features massive sand dunes and the weird Welwitschia plant which can live for 2000 years.
A monkey born in the Oklahoma City Zoo is getting lots of attention because of his brilliant orange fur, but it’s perfectly natural for a François langur, an endangered species that starts life with color, then darkens up as it ages.
Earlier this month, the Aquarium of the Pacific announced that its giant Pacific octopus named Ghost had laid a clutch of eggs, but that her days were numbered. She had entered the last stage of her life cycle, senescence, when a female lays eggs that won’t hatch.
This week the Missouri Department of Conservation hosted a birthday party for its beloved turtle Peanut. The old girl’s defining characteristic is her unusual figure-eight shaped shell, the result of getting stuck in a plastic six-pack ring when she was very young.
A man discovers purpose when he helps rescue a baby pangolin in South Africa. Their story, told in the Netflix documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, is both soothing and difficult as the volunteer conservationist grows a deep emotional attachment to his vulnerable friend.
The Philadelphia Zoo welcomed nine more Galápagos tortoises this week, the latest output of Mommy and Abrazzo, the zoo’s oldest residents. The parents are estimated to be about 100 years old; Mommy has lived at the zoo almost as long, since 1932.
China’s surveillance state has arrived at the remote Hoh Xil area plateau of Tibet, although it’s not citizens being watched. Here conservationists are using a robot dressed up like an antelope to spy on the local herds.
Conservationists in South Africa this week ramped up their fight to stop poachers with a new tactic: injecting rhino horns with radioactive isotopes. The implants do not harm the rhinos, but they will trigger alarms at airports if the horn is ever smuggled through security.
The Brookfield Zoo in Chicago announced the July 14 birth of a pair of extremely rare Amur leopards, the first litter born to a six-year-old female named Mina. Any addition to the population is crucial, as there are fewer than 100 of these big cats left in the wild.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service had big plans to cull hundreds of thousands of barred owls in an effort to keep them away from the habitats of an endangered species, the northern spotted owl. Now those plans face bipartisan pushback in Congress.
This summer, a bald eagle in northwestern Wisconsin took flight after a long rehab for a leg injury. The key to the bird’s recovery was a first-of-its-kind skin graft treatment normally used for humans. The skin came from a North Atlantic cod.
Conservationists in southeastern Australia have figured out a non-intrusive way to monitor platypus in the wild. To navigate the waterways where the aquatic mammals live, they’ve trained paddleboard-riding dogs to sniff out the critters without disturbing them.
The US military is working on ways to prevent airplane-bird collisions, an expensive and dangerous consequence of basing operations in areas with wildlife. Now the Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center has hit on a promising solution: wheeled drone vehicles that look like coyotes.
Marine biologists in the north Pacific have observed orcas taking the killer whale version of a spa day: using kelp to massage each other. The behavior, which involves fashioning a tubular piece of seaweed and using it for a planned purpose, marks the first time a marine animal has been seen using tools.
The pangolin is easy to catch and nice to eat. This week the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed federal protections for several pangolin species in Asia and Africa. Listing under the Endangered Species Act would give law enforcement resources to protect the world's most trafficked mammal.
When we last checked in on the axolotl, the bizarre little amphibian was beset on all sides by threats to its existence. Climate change, pollution, a shrinking habitat, and especially the exotic pet trade have all conspired to bring the creature to the brink of extinction.
38-year-old dolphin named Allie has given birth at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, her labor lasting a bit over an hour. The new calf weighs an estimated 35 pounds and is nearly four feet long.
An ostrich farm in British Columbia is under court order to cull the flock – or wobble, in ostrich-speak – as the birds have come in contact with a strain of the deadly avian flu virus, H5N1.
Cheetahs, the fastest land animal on the planet, are up against multiple existential threats: dwindling habitat, poachers, lethal competition with farmers. This week the Cheetah Conservation Fund founder and executive director, Laurie Marker, sat down with PBS to talk about the big cat's fight for survival.
