Wildlife

"BURNS, Ore. -- Harney County, infamous now for enduring a 41-day occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, may find itself back in the spotlight soon and this time it will be the government's doing. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell concluded a day of tours and meetings in the Burns area Monday by declaring she intends to help trumpet a success that got overshadowed by acts of the armed protesters who took over the reserve Jan. 2."

"In the first test of a landmark environmental law, Minnesota has compensated two beekeepers whose hives were severely damaged last spring by toxic dust that drifted off the fields of a neighbor planting corn."

"SeaWorld, together with the Humane Society of the United States, announced a landmark agreement Thursday to drastically alter practices at its theme parks, which have come under increased scrutiny for their treatment of animals. The company confirmed that it will end orca breeding."

"Researchers have created the first reliable population estimates for the now-rare New Zealand southern right whale."

"The common murre on Sarah Schoen's examination table lived a short, hungry life."

"The federal government is sending a group of formerly endangered bears back into the wild with fewer protections."

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Thursday stripping Endangered Species Act protections from the grizzly bear in and around Yellowstone National Park, saying the animal's numbers have rebounded sufficiently in recent decades."

"When a whooping crane stands up, you notice. At 5 feet in height, it's America's tallest bird. Its wingspan is more than 7 feet, its body snowy white, its wingtips jet black. By the 1940s, the birds had nearly gone extinct. Biologists have worked hard to bring them back, by breeding whoopers in captivity and releasing them in the wild."