Biodiversity

"The two-and-a-half-week-old sea otter cried for help. Stranded in a tide pool after heavy winds and strong surf near the edge of the bay, it was ashore and alone."

"They claim the offshore wind is responsible for a spike in whale deaths. Experts don’t buy it, but interest groups backed by fossil fuel money are spreading false information."

"A herd of 2,000 rhinoceroses urgently in need of a new owner has finally found one: The rhinos and the farm where they live in South Africa have been purchased by a conservation group that plans to release the animals into the wild over the next decade."

"Take a mental picture of the Earth. Now shatter that image into 600,000 fragments. These fragments are carved out by road networks, which stretch across about 40 million miles of the Earth's surface."

"Almost 50 years ago, conservationists reintroduced white-tailed eagles to Scotland. It’s gone well. Some say too well."

"A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take another look at its 2019 decision denying endangered status protection for the eastern hellbender, the nation’s largest aquatic salamander that is found in low numbers in all Chesapeake Bay drainage states."

"Fireflies — whose shimmering, magical glows light up summer nights — are in trouble, threatened by habitat destruction, light pollution, and pesticide use. With 18 species now considered at risk of extinction in North America alone, recovery efforts are only just beginning."

"The U.S. Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department, said Thursday that it will issue 385 grants to increase access to trees and nature in cities, towns and suburbs around the country."

"A new court settlement will put the Environmental Protection Agency on track to regulate pesticides more tightly."

"Call it a win for the little species, though all kinds of endangered animals and plants stand to benefit.

A sweeping legal settlement approved this week has put the Environmental Protection Agency on a binding path to do something it has barely done before, by its own acknowledgment: Adequately consider the effects on imperiled species when it evaluates pesticides and take steps to protect them.