Wildlife

"North America's bison, a living emblem of the Western frontier that roamed the continent by the millions before being hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s, was officially designated on Monday as the national mammal of the United States."

"Member states of the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are not meeting until September, but some African countries have already drawn their battle lines on divisive issues such as the ivory trade."

"Leopards are reclusive and known for their ability to adapt, traits that have led some wildlife biologists to assume that the animals remained relatively abundant in the wild. But a study published Wednesday suggests that leopards have lost as much as 75 percent of their historical range since 1750."

"The Obama administration is revising a federal rule that allows wind-energy companies to operate high-speed turbines for up to 30 years, even if means killing or injuring thousands of federally protected bald and golden eagles."

"Zimbabwe put its wild animals up for sale on Tuesday, saying it needed buyers to step in and save the beasts from a devastating drought."

"When the Yellowstone grizzly bear was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, there were only about 100 to 200 of them in the park and the surrounding country."

"Ringling's final 11 performing elephants marched into arenas for the last time Sunday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Providence, R.I., ending a 145-year-old tradition of the giant pachyderms taking part in the big top."

"Kenya's president set fire to thousands of elephant tusks and rhino horns on Saturday, destroying a stockpile that would have been worth a fortune to smugglers and sending a message that trade in the animal parts must be stopped."

"The bison could soon become the national mammal of the United States. Legislation approved by Congress would elevate the bison to a stature approaching that of the bald eagle, long the national emblem. There has not been an official mammal of the United States."