Wildlife

"The administration moved to block endangered species protections in the Gulf of Mexico, but few see a real threat to oil production."

"Interior Secretary Doug Burgum can convene the Endangered Species Committee, or “God Squad,” on March 31 to approve the Pentagon’s request to exempt all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from the Endangered Species Act because of national security needs, a judge ruled Friday."

"Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behavior of these large, elusive mammals."

"The Pentagon is behind the first-ever request to convene the “God Squad” to exempt all oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act due to national security reasons, the Justice Department said in a Wednesday court filing."

"Folklore dating to ancient Egypt has held that cats have nine lives and in modern times that mystique certainly seems true for the Florida panther. Sometimes it feels like everything in the world is trying to snuff out the panthers — everything human, that is. The panthers, a mountain lion subspecies, nearly went extinct in the 1990s, when the population dwindled to 20. That would have been embarrassing for Florida, which — thanks to a 1981 vote by schoolchildren — had designated the panther as the official state animal."

"As bears emerge from their dens in early spring, they’re on the search for food. That can lead them to backyard beehives, birdfeeders, compost piles and even chicken coops."

"Now, parish lawsuits, including one in front of the Supreme Court, could make oil giants pay to restore the state’s vanishing marshes."

"On a recent afternoon, deep in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and less than an hour’s drive from Shenandoah National Park, a tricolored bat was moving its mouth rapidly, as if it was trying to chew something. In fact, it was echolocating, using its mouth to shape and direct pulses of ultrasonic sound as a way to survey its surroundings."

"Elmer Brown was following two friends on his four-wheeler last November, hunting caribou across a frozen channel in northern Alaska when the ice gave way. All three plunged into the frigid water. One friend drowned, and Brown, 45, later died of hypothermia, leaving behind five children."