Wildlife

"Biologists are searching caves and abandoned mines in the West, hoping to spare many species of the winged creatures from the devastating fungus, white-nose syndrome."

"A 31-year-old man who fended off and suffocated a mountain lion when it attacked him on a Colorado jogging trail last week described on Thursday how he killed the big cat by stepping on its throat during a life-and-death struggle."

"Another North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother have been spotted - the critically endangered species’ second confirmed newborn of the winter birthing season."

"The Canadian government, two territories and several First Nations are expressing concerns to the United States over plans to open the calving grounds of a large cross-border caribou herd to energy drilling, despite international agreements to protect it."

"PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon wildlife officials have started killing California sea lions that threaten a fragile and unique type of trout in the Willamette River, a body of water that’s miles inland from the coastal areas where the massive carnivorous aquatic mammals usually congregate to feed."

"George, the last of his species of Hawaiian land snail, died on New Year's Day. He was approximately 14 years old."

"Researchers with an environmental group have labeled as “disturbingly low” the number of western monarch butterflies that migrate along the California coast."

"David Bernhardt, the Interior Department’s No. 2 official and a former fossil fuel lobbyist, took over Wednesday as acting secretary after the resignation of scandal-plagued agency chief Ryan Zinke."

"A critically endangered right whale calf was spotted off Jacksonville on Friday, the first calf of the species seen in nearly two years, giving local whale watchers high hopes for the coming weeks."