Wildlife

"A group of former Interior Department officials from both major parties who served under the past eight presidents pressed the Trump administration Wednesday to reconsider its move to ease restrictions against killing birds."

"The Canada lynx, a wild cat found in just a handful of mostly western U.S. states as well as Canada, no longer needs federal protection from extinction in the Lower 48 states, U.S. wildlife officials said on Thursday, sparking an outcry from conservationists."

"Male sea turtles are disappearing from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef."

"The Bureau of Land Management has revised an Obama-era policy directing agency field offices to prioritize oil and natural gas leasing and drilling projects outside of the most sensitive greater sage grouse habitat."

"A ban on all sales of ivory products in China [came] into force on Sunday, a move hailed by conservationists as an important step in the fight to protect endangered species such as African elephants."

"Even as climate change shrinks some populations of arctic animals like polar bears and caribou, beavers may be taking advantage of warming temperatures to expand their range. But as the beavers head north, their very presence may worsen the effects of climate change."

"President Trump on Wednesday was poised to sign the new tax bill, passed by Congress, which lifts a decades-old ban on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska. ... Will exploration begin immediately? No. Both supporters and opponents say it could be years before the first lease sale, a precursor to any drilling."

"The Interior Department is working on possible Endangered Species Act changes, in a move that alarms environmentalists but could gratify Westerners and others unhappy with the current law."

"British Columbia on Monday banned all grizzly bear hunting in the western Canadian province with immediate effect, expanding on its existing ban on trophy hunting."