Biodiversity

"'Monkey see, monkey do' is about to be put to the test. Seems some cooped-up orangutans, finally moved into more spacious outdoor digs at a Dutch zoo, have forgotten how to swing through the trees. So the zoo, Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen, is bringing in Olympic gymnast Epke Zonderland to re-teach them."

"A federal judge has revoked the government's approval of genetically altered sugar beets until regulators complete a more thorough review of how the scientifically engineered crops affect other food."

"A unique collection of European fruit and berry crops could be destroyed after a court in Russia gave permission today for land at a research institute in St. Petersburg to be turned into a housing estate."

Walruses in the Arctic depend on sea ice as a base for hunting and transportation. The native Yupik and Inupiat people have depended on the walrus for meat, clothing, and tools. Now the climate-driven shrinking of sea ice is threatening both walruses and humans.

After wolves killed dogs in Wisconsin, the state DNR is calling for transfer of jurisdiction over the federally protected endangered species to the state.

"Genetically modified crops are commonplace in fields across the United States, but a new study suggests that some plants have spread into the wild."

"A federal judge on Thursday reinstated protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the states where Northern Rocky Mountain wolves roam."

"A research team organized by Thomas Kunz of Boston University has concluded in a new paper that a common, beneficial bat species is likely to be completely wiped out across much of the Northeastern United States within 20 years due to a spreading fungal infection."

"A U.N. panel has declared the Florida's Everglades to be an endangered World Heritage site due to the wetlands' continued degradation, officials said on Friday."