Wildlife

"The number of polar bears in eastern Alaska and western Canada has declined by 40%, according to a scientific study that raises more questions about the impact of global warming on the creature that has become the symbol of some of its worst effects."

"Japan on Tuesday unveiled plans to resume whale hunting in the Southern Ocean despite an international court ruling that previous hunts were illegal, but said it would slash the quota for the so-called scientific whaling program."

"ANCHORAGE -- Six environmental groups sued Monday to throw out a federal agency rule that concludes oil exploration off Alaska’s northwest coast has a negligible effect on walrus."

"Nearly 140 bison originally from Yellowstone National Park that were quarantined on a ranch owned by media mogul Ted Turner to create a herd free of a cattle disease will be transported late on Wednesday to an Indian reservation in Montana."

"U.S. wildlife authorities listed the Gunnison sage grouse as threatened on Wednesday, disappointing environmental activists who wanted the species given greater protection, and politicians who did not want the federal government involved."

"Every fall and winter at sunset, the sky above Staten Island fills with majestic sandhill cranes alighting in the fields. The sight is more spectacular than usual this year, as the number of cranes wintering on the island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has doubled over the same time in 2013."

"Growing numbers of non-native crayfish are leading to a “devastating” explosion in the population of destructive American mink in Scotland, experts have warned."

"Chinese officials and businesspeople used a state trip by President Xi Jinping and other high-level visits to smuggle ivory out of Tanzania, an environmental watchdog said Thursday, casting doubt over Beijing's efforts to end the illegal trade that has led to rampant elephant poaching throughout Africa."

"New reports of waterfowl landing on toxic ponds of industrial waste in the oil sands of northern Alberta are being investigated by the Canadian province's energy regulator in light of the death of 1,600 ducks on such ponds in 2008."