Biodiversity

"Oral arguments begin next week in a case targeting California’s Proposition 12, a law that bans the sale of pork from farm systems that cage pigs. The ruling has implications for a wide range of other environmental and public health laws."

"The number of gray whales migrating along the Pacific Coast of North America has steadily declined by nearly 40% from a 2016 peak, and the population produced its fewest calves on record this year, according to U.S. research released on Friday."

"An apex predator has been quietly hunting interlopers in Death Valley, and for the first time, the deadly encounter has been captured on camera."

"Hibernating bears stay healthy despite being very fat and sedentary. New research is focusing on what humans can learn from them."

"Fat bear week starts today, that glorious autumn tradition when anyone with an internet connection can vote for the plumpest brown bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. Last year, more than 800,000 people weighed in during Fat Bear Week, crowning Otis, an enormous, dimpled ursine, Fat Bear champion for the fourth time.

"In many ways, it's a model election. The campaign runs for only one week, and all the candidates are well-grounded and devoid of hypocrisy."

"The snail darter, a tiny Southeastern fish that derailed a federal dam during an epic battle over Endangered Species Act protection in the 1970s, is no longer considered imperiled, officials announced Tuesday."

"The federal government has set a goal to prevent any new extinctions of Australian wildlife. It is the first time a federal government has announced a zero extinctions target for the country’s plants and animals."

"The old, epic story of agriculture in North America had two heroes, long sung and much venerated. One was human ingenuity. The other was corn."

"A ruling against the state’s Prop 12 animal welfare law could affect a range of regulations across the country".

"The greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado’s state fish, was declared extinct over 50 years ago. But last week officials found the first confirmation that the trout are once again reproducing in the wild."