conservation news stories on Newser

First Surrogate Otter Mom Dies

Rob Quinn — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:32:00 CST

Staff at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium are mourning the most remarkable sea otter they have ever encountered. Toola, who died at age 15, was the first captive sea otter ever to serve as a surrogate mother to others, raising a total of 13 pups, some of which now lead their...

To Save Owls, Gov't Wants to ... Kill Owls

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:57:40 CST

The Obama administration is trying to save the spotted owl, but bailing out the endangered critter might just involve the premeditated demise of someone sitting on the family tree: The larger barred owl is a rival to the spotted owl, and is often cited as one of the major threats...

Florida Abolishing 'City That Never Was'

Rob Quinn — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:25:00 CST

Florida's smallest city, which spans 33 islands at the north end of the Florida Keys and is home to many more manatees than people, is about to be wiped off the map. The city of Islandia only ever really existed in the minds of developers, who declared it a municipality...

10M New Acres Conserved Since 2005

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:46:07 CST

Since 2005, 10 million new acres of land have been voluntarily conserved as parks, farms, gardens, forests, and more, according to a new report by the Land Trust Alliance. The fact that the amount of land saved from development increased 27% between 2005 and 2010—despite a struggling economy—shows...

Zulus Urged to Switch to Fake Fur

Rob Quinn — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:42:32 CST

A leopard can't change its spots, but can South Africa's Zulus trade their traditional leopard-pelt adornments for a cheap knockoff? For the sake of protecting the country's dwindling population of the big cats, conservation biologist Tristan Dickerson hopes they can. Dickerson has created a fake version he says is as...

Poachers Kill Vietnam's Last Rhino

Mark Russell — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:50:05 CDT

And then there were none. The World Wildlife Fund says poachers have killed Vietnam's last Javan rhinoceros, reports the AP . There were at least two rhinos in a national park in Vietnam as of 2004, the WWF says, and for the last few years they knew of one, but in...

Island Nation Creates Largest Shark Sanctuary

Matt Cantor — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:04:30 CDT

A Mexico-size chunk of the Pacific will soon be a haven for sharks—and they have a tiny island nation to thank. The Marshall Islands’ government is declaring its waters off-limits to commercial shark fishing and the trade of shark products, the BBC reports, providing the creatures with 750,000...

Marine Scientists: Ban Deep-Sea Fishing

John Johnson — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:31:51 CDT

A group of marine scientists has issued a damning report about deep-sea fishing and called for the practice to be banned, reports the Washington Post . The paper in the journal Marine Policy says it's not so much fishing as "mining" and the sea is more like a "watery desert" as...

Bahamas Bans Shark Fishing

Sarah Whitmire — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:41:06 CDT

Score another one for the sharks: The Bahamas has banned shark fishing in its coastal waters, becoming the second Caribbean nation to institute a ban in the past month, the Washington Post reports. It is now illegal to fish for sharks in 240,000 square miles of water surrounding the...