http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/endangered_animals/ Endangered species news. Read about threatened species and comebacks. From antelopes to zebras, get the latest updates on endangered animals. en-us Sat, 17 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT Sat, 17 May 2008 01:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/endangered_animals/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514175045.htm The U.S. government has finally decided to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The listing is based on the fact that loss of sea ice will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat. Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514175045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512153631.htm Over a decade of work and contributions by more than 200 leading conservation scientists have produced a first-ever comprehensive map and database of the diversity of life in the world's freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater Ecoregions of the World divides the world's freshwater systems into 426 distinct conservation units, many of which are rich in species but under increasing pressure from human population growth, rising water use, and habitat alteration. Wed, 14 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512153631.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507084005.htm Some Malagasy mouse lemurs are so similar that picking a mate of the right species, especially at night time in a tropical forest, might seem like a matter of pot luck. However, new research has shown that our desperately cute distant cousins use vocalizations to pick up a partner of the right species. Wed, 14 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507084005.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm It's a tough job, but somebody, or at least some dogs, have to do it. In the Cerrado region of Brazil, four dogs trained to detect animal feces by scent are helping researchers monitor rare and threatened wildlife such as jaguar, tapir, giant anteater and maned wolf in and around Emas National Park, a protected area with the largest concentration of threatened species in Brazil. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512092420.htm Scientists in Louisiana are reporting development and successful testing of a new cost-effective system to kill unwanted plants and animals that hitch a ride to the United States in the ballast water of merchant ships. These so-called "invasive species," such as the notorious zebra mussel, devastate native organisms and infrastructure and cost taxpayers billions of dollars annually. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512092420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508142820.htm An endangered species of flora or fauna ups the risk of the extinction of the other species in its ecological community. Trophically unique species are more vulnerable for cascading extinction, according to studies of a team of theoretical biologists. Sun, 11 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508142820.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm Research done by the US Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a new study. The Interior Department has been ordered to make a determination by May 15. Sat, 10 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508131118.htm New research shows increased temperatures and carbon dioxide levels are a threat to the Australian national icon, the koala. Biologists have been researching the effects of carbon dioxide increases and temperature rises on eucalypts. They have shown in the laboratory that increases in carbon dioxide affect the level of nutrients and 'anti-nutrients' (things that are either toxic or interfere with the digestion of nutrients) in eucalypt leaves. Anti-nutrients in eucalypts are built from carbon and an increase in carbon dioxide levels will favor the production of anti-nutrients over nutrients. Koalas are fussy about the species of eucalypts that they eat as different species contain different ratios of nutrients to anti-nutrients. Fri, 09 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508131118.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083955.htm Nearly 35% of all amphibians are now threatened of extinction raising them to the position of the most endangered group of animals in the world. Decline of amphibian populations and species is ongoing due to habitat loss, fungal disease, climate shift and agrochemical contaminants. These impacts are even worse to frogs that reproduce in water bodies such as streams and ponds. Scientists now propose a priority set of areas for the conservation of frogs and toads in Latin America. The study is unprecedented in terms of not only the proposition of key-conservation areas, but also because it shows that the inclusion of species biological traits, such as reproductive modes, affects the performance of area-prioritization analyses. Fri, 09 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083958.htm Walking through the last rainforests on the volcanic island of Mauritius, located some 800 km east of Madagascar, one is surrounded by ghosts. Since human colonisation in the 17th century, the island has lost most of its unique animals. The litany includes the famous flightless dodo, giant tortoises, parrots, pigeons, fruitbats, and giant lizards. It is comparatively easy to notice the los­­s of a species, but much more difficult to realise how many interactions have been lost as a result. Fri, 09 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507083958.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133330.htm What if hydrology is more important for predicting biodiversity than biology? New research challenges current thinking about biodiversity, and opens up new avenues for predicting how climate change or human activity may affect biodiversity patterns. Thu, 08 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133330.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211822.htm Highly diverse and so far apparently untouched by emergent diseases, Malagasy frogs nevertheless are threatened by ongoing habitat destruction, making proactive conservation actions especially important for preserving this unique, pre-decline, amphibian fauna. Tue, 06 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211822.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211835.htm The Arctic has become a poster child for the negative effects of climate change, but new research that species living in the tropics likely face the greatest peril in a warmer world. Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211835.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095049.htm Researchers discovered a legless lizard and a tiny woodpecker along with 12 other suspected new species in Brazil's Cerrado, one of the world's 34 biodiversity conservation hotspots. The Cerrado's wooded grassland once covered an area half the size of Europe, but is now being converted to cropland and ranchland at twice the rate of the neighboring Amazon rainforest, resulting in the loss of native vegetation and unique species. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428104518.htm Endangered North Atlantic right whales are safer along Massachusetts Bay's busy shipping lanes this spring, thanks to a new system of smart buoys. The buoys recognize whales' distinctive calls and route the information to a public Web site and a marine warning system, giving ships the chance to avoid deadly collisions. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428104518.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428080356.htm A study into one of the world's rarest seabirds provides knowledge that could help avoid extinction. Molecular analysis of the Critically Endangered Magenta Petrel Pterodroma magentae (also known as the Chatham Island Taiko) discovered that 95% of non-breeding adults were male. This suggests that critically low population levels may be causing male birds difficulty in attracting a mate. Their calls are too spread out to attract the infrequent females which pass by. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428080356.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423154558.htm The loss of sea ice due to climate change could spell disaster for polar bears and other Arctic marine mammals. Sea ice is the common habitat feature uniting these unique and diverse Arctic inhabitants. Sea ice serves as a platform for resting and reproduction, influences the distribution of food sources, and provides a refuge from predators. The loss of sea ice poses a particularly severe threat to Arctic species, such as the hooded seal, whose natural history is closely tied to, and depends on, sea ice. Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423154558.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080419020546.htm The government of Cameroon --- with guidance from the Wildlife Conservation Society --- has created the world's first sanctuary exclusively for the Cross River gorilla, the world's rarest kind of great ape. Classified as Critically Endangered by IUCN's Red List, the Cross River gorilla is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla. The entire population numbers under 300 individuals across its entire range, which consists of 11 scattered sites in Cameroon and Nigeria. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080419020546.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416151943.htm When frogs hit the road, many croak. Researchers found more than 65 animal species killed along a short stretch of roads and nearly 95 percent of the total dead were frogs and other amphibians, suggesting that road-related death, or road-kill, possibly contributes to their worldwide decline. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416151943.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416213653.htm A critically endangered turtle that previously was thought to be extinct in the wild has been discovered in northern Vietnam. Experts confirmed that they have identified the only known living specimen of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) in nature. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416213653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416223340.htm The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race -- accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests. The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behavior differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416223340.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409170333.htm One of the world's great wildlife spectacles is under way across Australia: as many as two million migratory shorebirds of 36 species are gathering around Broome before an amazing 10,000-kilometer annual flight to their northern hemisphere breeding grounds. But an alarming new study has revealed that both these migrants and Australia's one million resident shorebirds have suffered a massive collapse in numbers over the past 25 years. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080409170333.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410140535.htm Biologists have developed a remarkable new roadmap for finding and protecting the best remaining holdouts for thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar, an island nation considered one of the world's jewels of biodiversity. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080410140535.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407123824.htm Researchers have confirmed the first case of complete lunglessness in a frog. The little aquatic frog apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin. Previously known from only two specimens, two new populations of the aquatic frog were found by biologists during a recent expedition to Indonesian Borneo. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407123824.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402213640.htm Federal efforts to recover endangered salmon on the Columbia and Snake rivers can no longer ignore global warming, which already has fundamentally changed the river and ocean habitats of salmon and steelhead, warns a new scientific review. Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402213640.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401095229.htm Climate change is likely to transform many of Australia's natural landscapes. Temperatures over Australia are projected to rise by about 1 degree Celsius by 2030, and 1.8 degrees C by 2070, relative to 1990 levels. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401095229.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402210456.htm At a hearing on Capitol Hill April 2, the National Wildlife Federation urged immediate action to protect America's polar bears from the impacts of climate change by listing polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Facing a court-imposed deadline, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the ESA. FWS was required by the ESA to issue a final listing decision twelve months thereafter. FWS missed this deadline nearly three months ago despite the imminent dangers to polar bears, as demonstrated by unprecedented melting of Arctic ice in 2007. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402210456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401110221.htm Buoys equipped with underwater microphones and other sensors will be on duty in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts for the next 30 months, recording sounds from whales, fish, ships and other sources around the clock to help NOAA researchers develop a global monitoring network for ocean noise. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401110221.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331223843.htm Climate models together with population models provide quantitative evidence that the combined effects of climate change and anthropogenic pressures can explain the extinction of the woolly mammoths. Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331223843.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327093626.htm US Forest Service scientists with the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry have completed a study on ways to make high-value koa trees grow faster, while increasing biodiversity, carbon sequestration, scenic beauty and recreation opportunities in native Hawaiían forests. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327093626.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326195628.htm New research opens a bigger window to understanding a deadly fungus that is killing off frogs throughout Central and South America, and that could threaten amphibian populations in North America as well. The research underscores the dire circumstances facing up to 43 percent of known amphibian species in the world and points up the need for more regulations, conservation efforts and quarantines to prevent the fungus' spread. Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326195628.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325203442.htm Evidence shows that a new logging road in Riau Province is cutting into the heart of Sumatra's largest contiguous peatland forest, a rare hydrological ecosystem that acts as one of the planet's biggest carbon stores. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325203442.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325203447.htm The beaches of French Guiana constitute a major reproduction site for leatherback turtles. This sea turtle, although a protected species, is threatened by human activity. Female turtles return to the same beach every two to three years to lay their eggs; what happens in the interval remains a mystery. In a new study a group of French and Belgian scientists found that the turtles segregate into two distinct feeding units. Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325203447.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080324203807.htm A decline by more than 70 percent of several North American shorebird species since the early 1970s has brought state, federal and international concern about conservation efforts for these birds and their wetland habitat. Wildlife ecologists are particularly interested in conservation measures aimed at slowing the decline. Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080324203807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123240.htm Take a deer's body, attach a camel's head and add a Jimmy Durante nose, and you have a saiga -- the odd-ball antelope with the enormous schnoz that lives on the isolated steppes of Central Asia. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123240.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314160222.htm Endangered sea turtles are victims of sloppy logging practices in the west central African country Gabon, according to a new study. Sea turtle nesting attempts are impeded by lost or abandoned logs that accumulate along the country's coastal beaches. Logs are floated downriver from forests to coastal lumberyards in the Gabonese Republic, but some float out to sea and then wash ashore, where they form large tangles. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314160222.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318094616.htm Current classifications of IUCN protected areas are based on management objectives. Fully revising the category system to reflect each category's contributions to biodiversity would greatly enhance their value as effective tools for conserving biodiversity. Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318094616.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314095059.htm The discovery of a new bird comes with a twist: It's a white-eye, but its eye isn't white. Still, what this new bird lacks in literal qualities it makes up for as one of the surprises that nature still has tucked away in little-explored corners of the world. Ornithologists describe for science a new species of bird from the Togian Islands of Indonesia -- Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314095059.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312160247.htm One of the world's most endangered species -- a North Island brown kiwi -- has just hatched at the Smithsonian's National Zoo Bird House. Keepers had been incubating the egg for five weeks, following a month long incubation by the chick's father, carefully monitoring it for signs of pipping: the process in which the chick starts to break through the shell. The chick remained in an isolet for four days and is now in a specially designed brooding box. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080312160247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311160514.htm After 14 years without having been seen, several young scientists have rediscovered the Carrikeri harlequin frog in a remote mountainous region in Colombia. Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311160514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311163631.htm The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering a proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a proposal largely based on anticipated habitat loss in a warming Arctic. Climate models -- mathematical representations of the natural processes affecting climate -- factored heavily in the scientific information requested by the FWS to guide its official recommendation, which was due Jan. 9. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311163631.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080305194942.htm What looks at first to be a slimy mess in a Petri dish represents a highly-significant advance in conservation and restoration ecology. Ecologists are celebrating the arrival of the first Maud Island frogs (Leiopelma pakeka) to hatch on mainland New Zealand for many years. No larger than a human adult's little fingernail, the Maud Island froglets differ from most frog species in that they hatch from the egg as fully-formed froglets without going through the usual tadpole stage. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080305194942.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080306094633.htm The giant panda is a much loved animal all over the world and is considered a symbol of China. Now, the panda genome will be sequenced. Such data will aid in understanding the genetic and biological underpinnings of this unique species, especially with regard to its very specific niche in the environment and the molecular mechanisms of its evolution. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080306094633.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304093748.htm The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species announced trade quotas governing the export of wild sturgeon and their prized caviar eggs from the Caspian Sea. The Pew Institute for Ocean Science has analyzed the quotas, which are re-set each year, and has determined that beluga caviar quotas are virtually unchanged from 2007 and do little to halt continued population declines. Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304093748.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080302163549.htm Evolution moves in fits and starts, shaping species through random genetic mutations that can help them survive or even hasten their death. But although the mutations occur by chance, the process can create surprisingly similar results. Now, in a startling twist, new research has provided an example in which evolution didn't just result in similar outcomes -- it actually repeated itself, occurring the same way twice. Scientists have shown that nearly the exact same mutation occurred twice, in two monkey species that live on opposite sides of the world from each other. And while the change evolved independently in each case, in both species it plays a distinct role in how the animals fend off disease. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080302163549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303145300.htm As western states debate removing the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act, a new study cautions that doing so may result in an unintended decline in another species: the pronghorn, a uniquely North American animal that resembles an African antelope. Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303145300.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303145253.htm Scientists are reviewing unusual environmental conditions in the Pacific Ocean as the likely culprit for the dramatically low returns of Chinook and coho salmon to rivers and streams along the West Coast of the United States in 2007. Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303145253.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228100735.htm Biologists have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss. Many of the regions that face the greatest habitat change in relation to the amount of land currently protected —- such as Indonesia and Madagascar —- are in globally threatened and endemic species-rich, developing tropical nations that have the fewest resources for conservation. Conversely, many of the temperate regions of the planet with an already expansive network of reserves are in countries —- such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland —- with the greatest financial resources for conservation efforts, but comparatively less biodiversity under threat. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080228100735.htm