Wildlife

"SALMON, Idaho -- Native American tribes on Wednesday called for the U.S. government to halt plans to strip grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone of Endangered Species Act protection because it would open the way for trophy hunting in Idaho and two other states bordering the national park."

"SeaWorld Entertainment Inc announced plans on Monday to phase out the signature 'Shamu' killer whale show at its San Diego park next year, after long-running criticism of its treatment of the captive marine mammals."

"Federal authorities said on Thursday they were investigating the deaths of two California common bottlenose dolphins that stranded and died on beaches just a few miles apart in San Diego a day after the U.S. Navy conducted a brief exercise with sonar."

"Only two of 10 Barataria Bay bottlenose dolphins that were found to be pregnant in 2011, a year after the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion oiled the bay, had successful pregnancies. And the survival rate through July 2015 for adult dolphins that were given health assessments in the bay in 2011 is 10 percent lower than found in two studies of dolphins in un-oiled Sarasota Bay, Fla."

"President Obama [Tuesday] ordered five federal agencies to streamline regulations for offsetting environmental harm and to promote independent mitigation efforts."

"Federal wildlife managers have determined that grizzly bear numbers in and around Yellowstone National Park have rebounded sufficiently to propose stripping the animals of U.S. Endangered Species Act protections in the months ahead, a spokesman told Reuters."

"Suspected poachers have used cyanide to kill 23 elephants in Zimbabwe's Hwange national park, raising the death toll there and in the northern part of the country to 60 since late September, officials said on Thursday."

"A prominent Agriculture Department scientist is alleging that he was suspended after complaining that the agency was blocking his research into the harmful effects of pesticides on pollinators, such as bees and butterflies."

"Six of Africa’s 11 vulture species – the continent’s largest and most recognisable birds of prey – are now at a higher risk of extinction, according to the latest assessment of birds carried out by BirdLife International for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species."

Melting glaciers in Glacier National Park are endangering stoneflies which are dependent on cold water. In the coming year, federal biologists will decide whether such insects deserve endangered species status.