Free Republic

Congratulations on your new panda cub, Washington! You’re prolonging the existence of a hopeless and wasteful species the world should’ve given up on long ago. I understand the impulse. Some people find them cute. Pandas don’t have much of a habitat left in the wild, thanks to heedless human development. And zoos imagine they’re doing the right thing, pulling in some extra visitors while helping conservation efforts. But the first test of a species’ worthiness for conservation should be some instinct for self-preservation. And pandas fail objectively. First, their breeding habits don’t suggest a species brimming with vitality. Pandas at...

If someone calls you a weirdo they're probably just jellous.If you go down to the intertidal shrimp pond today, you’re sure of a big surprise – which is certainly what researchers in Hong Kong received when they discovered a completely unknown species of box jellyfish, the first species of box jelly ever to be found in Chinese waters. The class Cubozoa, most commonly known as box jellyfish, has around 50 known species including the world’s most venomous jellyfish, the Australian box jellyfish. This class is subsequently split into two easy-to-tell-apart orders: the carybdeids which have only one tentacle per pedalium...

Video Sharon Rosel told CBC she caught the bear in the act in the middle of the night outside her home in Earls Cove, British Columbia. "It was about three in the morning, and my dog actually alerted me to something was out there," she said. "So I took a look outside, and I saw the bear and then, later on, looked at my security cameras and saw him enter the yard and smashed the window really quickly." Rosel said she eventually began noticing the bear coming in and out of her car with different cans of soda. "He started...

I always loved Wings Wild Life, Mumbo was and is sexier than John Lee Hooker or Elmore James. Tomorrow - a beautiful little bit of pop. Dear Friend - an enigmatic hymn to yearning for reconciliation with John Lennon. It was recorded for Ram but I'd be guessing the intense emotions of the breakup delayed it. The Lovely Linda underpinned both albums. A marriage that lasted. Ram on. Read on ........ for more ...... please .......

Wildlife officials on Central Coast are concerned for the California condor population after an avian outbreak in ArizonaThe death of six California condors from avian flu in Arizona raised concerns for wildlife officials on the Central Coast. "The last thing we need is a population of 88 to be threatened by bird flu with no treatment or vaccine, so that's why we're taking these additional preparations,” said Kelly Sorenson. Sorenson, with Ventana Wildlife Society, leads a team that monitors and protects the condor population locally. In 2022, they reported a low population of the already critically endangered species. They...

The Red Desert and the larger area surrounding Rawlins is usually a winter haven for wildlife – one of the few places elk, deer and antelope can migrate to where large patches of ground afford at least some forage. That’s not happening this year, and as many as half of the antelope in the area, as well as significant numbers of mule deer, are expected to die as a result, some Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials said. Radio collars are telling a heart-wrenching story in some areas. Game and Fish frequently captures animals to be fitted with radio collars...

North Park rancher Greg Sykes said he has tried to do things the right way since wolves migrated across the boarder from Wyoming into the area near Walden. He has kept an eye on the predators as they could be seen in the distance around the ranch he manages and got guardian dogs to watch over his cattle. “I was that one rancher that said, ‘OK, they’re here. Let’s figure out how to get along,'” Sykes said. “That’s what I intended to do.” Early on Monday, March 13, wolves killed one of his cattle dogs named Cisco, according to Colorado...

School leaders in rural northwest Oregon are worried about big budget cuts. The Oregon Department of Forestry is working on a plan to protect habitats for endangered species across 640,000 acres of state forest. The loss of timber revenue will affect local schools. The Jewell School District expects to be the most heavily impacted because it gets almost all of its funding from timber revenue. It could see budget cuts of 40 percent. The Jewell School District has about 150 students and a budget of $5 million. District superintendent Cory Pederson estimates the cuts will bring his annual budget down...

Owls, more owls and federal land grabbers Owls In response to a 2013 lawsuit by WildEarth Guardians on behalf of the Mexican spotted owl, a federal judge in Arizona has ordered a halt to timber operations on all New Mexico forests and one forest in Arizona (about 12 million acres). WildEarth Guardians Executive Director John Horning said, “With this decision, the agencies will finally be held accountable for ensuring that all forest management practices help, not hinder, owl recovery.” The attorney for the organization on this case explained that “certain timber projects will be paused in light of the...

A source told The Ohio Star that her husband, a wildlife biologist and consultant for the federal forestry, received hundreds of calls on both Sunday and Monday from colleagues who say forestry workers have found hundreds of dead animals in Ohio’s parks. Several labs across the country have received specimens of whole minks, deer, elk, worms and livers of such animals and they are finding toxicities that are off the charts, she said.

<p>For two weeks, an owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo has eluded capture as legions of fans worry about its ability to survive in New York City.</p><p>Professional dog walker Jim Buck heads uptown early on July 2, 1996, with his charges in tow on New York's Upper East Side. Buck is a pioneer in the field known as urban dog handling and serves as an all-around dog adviser to Manhattan's gentry. (AP Photo/Rick Maiman) Fecal bacteria ‘rampant’ on New York sidewalks, researchers find Read more Would Flaco, a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl, go hungry because he had not developed an ability to hunt while in captivity? The answer was a resounding no: Flaco is feeding on park rats.</p>

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) estimates more than 43,000 fish and other aquatic animals have died as a result of the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month. ODNR director Mary Mertz announced Thursday that roughly 38,222 minnows and about 5,550 other aquatic animals — such as small fish, crayfish, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates — were killed in the 5-mile span of waterway from the derailment site.

The Gunnison Stockgrowers’ Association filed a 22-page comment with the Colorado Wildlife Commission detailing the group members’ concerns about the Draft Wolf Plan process laid out by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Ken Spann, who has delivered public comment to the CPW Commission on behalf of the group, said the endorsement of the comments lies in every acre of agricultural land in Gunnison County. The basis of their concerns is the survival of the area’s long standing ranching operations as well as the existing big game and other wildlife in the Gunnison Valley. According to Spann, established in 1894, the Gunnison...

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials encourage safety precautions as lions remain in the area ... This story has been updated with information about the fate of the mountain lion involved in the second mountain lion attack in Grand Lake. A rash of recent mountain lion attacks have resulted in the deaths of at least one dog and 15 cats, and Grand County residents remain on edge because lions are still in this area. The first attacks on cats began in Kremmling, at the home of Sami and Shawn Lechman during the week of Jan. 15. On Jan. 19., a mountain...

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) -Florida Fish and Wildlife officers have arrested a Collier County man for five misdemeanor charges related to violations against endangered or threatened species. Officials say the incident occurred on Jan 9, on Marco Island. Officers say Renardo Stewart accelerated and ran a golf cart through a flock of black skimmers resting on the beach. Marco Island Police Department detained Stewart and he admitted to driving the golf cart through the flock of birds. The black skimmer is protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It is also protected as State Threatened by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened...

The recent discovery of two beavers sighted along Matadero Creek in Palo Alto could be a sign of a major comeback for the species in the Bay Area. Naturalist Bill Leikam, who is the co-founder and president of the Urban Wildlife Research Project, captured trail camera footage of the semiaquatic rodents wandering along the waterway late last month, as the Mercury News first reported. He set up the cameras after he had been tipped off by a resident who claimed to have seen one while they were meditating on the side of the creek, and sure enough, there they were...

On Friday, December 2, 2022, a father, Ariel Eliyahuo, and his two-year-old daughter returned to their Woodland Hills home in Los Angeles, California. An average-sized coyote can be seen approaching the two-year-old. It knocks the child down, then attempts to drag the girl off by her legs. Only the quick action of her father, who ran at the coyote, yelling, drove off the animal. The coyote did not leave the area until the father threw a water bottle at it.The action fits very well as a predatory attack. Young children are reasonably close to the size of prey that a...

If you subscribe to Fox Nation, there's a wonderful series there called 'Yellowstone One-Fifty', about Yellowstone National Park, featuring Kevin Costner. It's fascinating history and stunning photography. We watched the first two episodes tonight, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in American and natural history, and wildlife.

Any killing of a grizzly bear in Wyoming must be reported immediately and will trigger a federal investigation into whether the killing was legitimate self-defense, a wildlife official said. There have been two reported grizzly attacks in Wyoming in the past month. And in one of the incidents, the victim claimed to have hit the bear with several handgun rounds, possibly wounding or killing it. If a grizzly is killed, the first call made should be to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the agency’s large carnivore expert, Dan Thompson, told Cowboy State Daily. “As with any conflicts between grizzly...

Wild pigs on the Central Coast continue to be a growing problem as they extend their range of damage and county park leaders now looking at hiring a private hunter to help eradicate the problem. “It gets very very frustrating. Our parks are the jewels of our community,” said Mike LeBarre, mayor of King City. LeBarre is referring to San Lorenzo Park in King City which was the latest target of the wild hogs. They ripped up the grass this week in search of grubs, insect larvae hidden beneath the grass. The damage is estimated to be thousands of dollars...