endangered species list news stories on Newser

Arabian 'Unicorn' Makes a Comeback

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:54:33 CDT

The Arabian Oryx, whose distinctive horns are widely believed to have given rise to the unicorn legend, is back from the brink of extinction in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula. About 1,000 of the creatures now exist owing to nearly three decades of successful breeding, a Swiss-based conservation...

Oil Giants Battle Over 5-Inch Lizard

Kevin Spak — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:52:05 CDT

To hear some politicians and lobbyists tell it, the fate of New Mexico’s oil industry rests on the fate of a five-inch lizard. The federal government is considering listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species, the Wall Street Journal reports, and that spooks the industry, because Sceloporous arenicolus...

Tree Rat Reappears After 113 Years

Rob Quinn — Sun, 22 May 2011 06:45:12 CDT

A rare South American rodent not seen since the Spanish-American War has turned up at the doorstep of a nature reserve in Colombia. The red-crested tree rat ambled up to a pair of amazed volunteers at the El Dorado Reserve in the Sierra Nevada, Wired reports. The last recorded sighting...

Budget-Deal Casualty: Gray Wolf

Kate Schwartz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:50:05 CDT

It looks like the gray wolf may be a literal casualty of the budget deal. Congress has removed the animal from the Endangered Species List—the first time it's ever done so—and critics are, predictably, howling. A rider to the budget deal states that wolves in Montana and Idaho...

20% of Species Risk Extinction

Kevin Spak — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:01:39 CDT

A whopping 20% of the world’s species are on the brink of extinction, according to a new study unveiled at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Japan. The Red List of Threatened Species now includes a staggering 41% of amphibians, with the heaviest losses coming from Southeast Asia, where habitats are...

Yellowstone's Bears Hungry, Bloodthirsty

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:12:00 CDT

Remember those admonishments not to feed the bears? Well, the grizzlies at Yellowstone are hungry this year, reports the AP, and cranky as a result—which doesn't bode so well for human visitors. Two people have already died in 2010 after encountering starving grizzlies. "Pack your bear spray: there's going...

Gray Wolf to Be Protected Again

Jane Yager — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:38:00 CDT

A federal judge has put the gray wolf back on the protected list, and angry ranchers in Montana and Idaho are blaming Wyoming for the move. While Montana and Idaho have agreed to management plans with controlled wolf hunts, Wyoming allows unregulated hunting of wolves if they're not on the...

Humpback Whales May Lose Endangered Tag

Kevin Spak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:55:26 CST

In attempt to determine whether the humpback whales still need to be saved, the government is reviewing the marine mammals' place on the endangered species list for the first time in a decade. The results look promising: “They appear to be coming back pretty strongly in most of the places...

Feds Showing More Love for Uglier Endangered Species

Harry Kimball — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:28:01 CDT

When you’re an endangered species jockeying for federal funding, good looks are historically a plus. That may be changing, the Washington Post reports. In the past, researchers note, “there has been a very heavy bias toward ‘charismatic megafauna’—relatively large, well-known birds and mammals.” But in recent years, smaller, less...