Conservation

Colorado oil and gas, climate deal includes fees, abandoned bills

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Leading Colorado Democrats and the state’s oil and gas industry announced a preemptive armistice Monday — one that seeks to defuse the latest round of dueling ballot initiatives and legislation aimed at the industry and its environmental impacts. The proposals, described to reporters by Gov. Jared Polis and legislative leadership, include imposing a new per-barrel … Read more

Caribou herds in B.C., Alberta, growing due to wolf culls: study

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Fresh research suggests Western Canada’s once-dwindling caribou numbers are finally growing. But the same paper concludes the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy that will likely have to continue for decades. “If we don’t shoot wolves, given the state of the habitat that industry and government have … Read more

Earth Day puts focus on conservation efforts

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Monday marks Earth Day, which for more than 50 years has placed a focus on clean air and water, addressing pollution and championing conservation efforts. U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson led the creation of Earth Day in April 1970, seeking to hold a series of teach-ins across the country similar to those held at many college … Read more

Opinion | Why proposed Irrawaddy dolphin festival in Cambodian commune is too late – the local population has been wiped out already

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Tiger X, Orangutan Y or Dugong Z would not have been so loved if they had been born in earlier times. The last of their kind they may be, but we value them primarily because they represent a disappearing opportunity – to either ward off yet more loss to the planetary biodiversity we know is … Read more

Could Germany host 20,000 elephants? We asked an expert. – POLITICO

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But but but … let’s say the elephants did end up in Germany — which originally triggered Botswana’s ire by moving to bring in a ban on trophy-hunting imports, thereby nullifying a popular population-reduction method — where would be the ideal spot for them to live? We asked an expert, Nuremberg Zoo director Dag Encke, … Read more

Slovakia proposes law allowing bears to be shot near villages – POLITICO

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The draft law comes after a woman died in March, falling off a ravine, after she was chased by a bear; five people were injured in a separate attack. Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba, who represents the far-right Slovak National Party and put forward the draft legislation, has been pushing to loosen protection rules for bears … Read more

At least 3 right whale calves have died so far this year, conservation group says

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An international environmental organization is calling on the federal government to step up protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales beyond the 2023 measures it’s opting to repeat this year, noting birth rates are already below expectations for the season and at least three of the 19 calves born so far are believed to have died. Oceana Canada campaign director Kim … Read more

‘CSI on the ocean’: Whale researchers comb B.C. waters for eDNA

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It was just after 8 a.m. when Gary Sutton and his crew spotted the signature black dorsal fins cutting through the cool waters of the Salish Sea, off the coast of Vancouver Island. More than a dozen Bigg’s killer whales, also known as transient killer whales, swimming north in search of food. They surfaced every few minutes, the spray of their … Read more