The Endangered Species Act is under attack. A number of Congress members have introduced legislation designed to chip away at the law, which is the bedrock of wildlife protections in the United States. While it's unlikely that any of this legislation will become law—thanks to the “green line” that still exists in the Senate—the proposals are nevertheless alarming, as they illustrate some representatives’ eagerness to promote human interests over the needs of other species, ev

For anyone who cares about animals, Endangered Species Day is an annual day of dread. More than 14,000 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List — the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of species — are classified as endangered or critically endangered. This means that they face a high or extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. But it’s not all bad news. In honor of Endangered Species Day, Human Nat

CODY ERNST-BROCK, UCS SCIENCE NETWORK, UCS | MAY 9, 2018, 4:39 PM EDT I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, a land of extremes. Temperatures could drop below -50ᵒ Fahrenheit in the winter and the darkness would seem to stretch out endlessly, while the summers provided radiant sunshine for months that infused a sense of magic into our town. Certainly, for me, the most charmed experiences from my childhood all happened in the Alaskan wilderness. I deep-sea fished on my gr

New guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior now prohibit staff members from informing private interests when they must obtain a permit before they can develop properties where activities may affect habitats of endangered species. A memorandum issued last month by the Fish and Wildlife Service principal deputy director, Greg Sheehan, declared that it’s “not appropriate” for staff to tell developers when they need to obtain such a permit — even though it may be

May 02, 2018 04:29 PM Updated May 02, 2018 07:59 PM They're tiny, fluffy and one of them is named for the Norse god of thunder. They're also critically important to the survival of their species. With fewer than 300 red wolves left alive, and only a few dozen left in the wild, the North Carolina Zoo announced May 2 that five endangered red wolf pups were born at the zoo on April 15 — three females and two males. The pups and their mother are all healthy and doing well, zoo sp