Conservation News ~ 1 May 2020

• Clean air in Europe during lockdown leads to 11,000 fewer deaths
• Climate change threatens drinking water quality across the Great Lakes
• Seabed fossils show the ocean is undergoing a change not seen for 10,000 years
• Microplastics disrupt hermit crabs’ ability to choose shell
• Scientific advice recommending ban on fracking in Lake Eyre basin kept secret
• Beijing bans consumption of wild animals
• Coronavirus disrupts wildlife trafficking
• Greenhouse gas emissions predicted to fall nearly 8% - largest decrease ever
• Greta Thunberg receives Human Act Award, donates $100,000 to UNICEF
• Polar Bear kills female at Russian zoo after she rejects him
• Outcry as Spanish beach sprayed with bleach
• Swedish city to dump tonne of chicken manure in park to deter visitors
• Climate change makes some fish smaller and others even bigger
• Rwanda’s Akagera park thrives thanks to community-led anti-poaching drive
• In Panama, agroforestry technique of silvopasture improves ranching traditions
• New database wrangles data on land rights projects around the globe
• Indonesia aims for sustainability certification for oil palm smallholders
• Church fund urges other ExxonMobil investors to sack board over climate
• New shocking video of NYC wet markets as animal rights org demands shutdown
• NRDC and partners sue to stop the dirty water rule
• Iceland has killed its last whale as industry shuts down for good
• As BP’s profits plunge, analysts say we are entering the end game for oil
• Indigenous peoples of Ecuador’s Amazon file lawsuit against government and oil companies
• A big win for the Frank Church-River of no return wilderness and a call to protect wolves
• Team Rhino’s actions help seal a victory for South Africa’s Skukuza court, rangers
• Bats are not the enemy in the fight against COVID
• Defenders of Wildlife challenge EPAs gutting of Clean Water Protections
• Important manta ray habitat discovered in Raja Ampat
• Thailand’s tourist drought leaves spaces for shy sea mammal
• Millions of farm animals culled as US food supply chain chokes up
• New species of Moray Eel discovered
• White House fails again to protect the Gulf of Mexico whale
• Western association of Fish and Wildlife agencies bungle Lesser Prairie Chicken conservation effort
• Silence is golden for whales as lockdown reduces ocean noise
• Keystone XL ruling could threaten other pipelines
• Invasive lionfish likely to become permanent residents in the Mediterranean
• Former EPA head says COVID pandemic is no excuse to give polluters a break
• UK military beef supplier buys from sanctioned Brazilian farmers
• Through biomimicry, Brazil seeks tech innovations inspired by nature
• Flamingos form lasting friends, a new study finds
• Campaigners call for transparency in Myanmar timber trade after 850 tons of wood seized
• As calls to shutter wildlife markets grow, China struggles with an industry worth billions
• After furloughing 95% of workers, SeaWorld seeks fed loan
• Mussels arrive in Antarctica, an ominous sign
• Austria’s last coal plant closes sa renewable energy takes over
• 40,000 trees being planted to help West Michigan forests through climate change
• Zali Steggall calls for investigation of Coalition plan to underwrite gas, hydro, and coal power
• Only ‘A-list’ of coral reefs found to sustain ecosystems, livelihoods
• New Zealand calls for thousands of new ‘green’ jobs in bold comeback plan
• Sweden closes its last coal-fired power plant two years ahead of schedule
• Tyson Foods chairman warns the food supply chain is breaking
• Dolphins reclaim Bosphorus as virus silences Istanbul
• Beyond Meat stock soars as animal meat shortage looms
• Meteorologists say 2020 on course to be hottest year since records began
• A bold new project aims to ID every species in Costa Rica
• Wolf cubs on way as Belgium becomes ‘wolf crossroads of Europe’
• Iceland won’t be killing any whales this year
• Numbers of critically endangered orange-bellied parrot soar from low 20s to more than 100
• Chicago City Council votes for equitable access to EVs
• In the Philippines’ Boracay, flying foxes are down from 15,000 resident bats to 30
• World’s wind power capacity up by fifth after record year
• BU’s renowned bat researcher Thomas Kunz dies at 81 of COVID
• Europe has its own tiger kings with 1,600 captive big cats used for entertainment
• Five major banks refuse to fund Arctic Refuge oil drilling
• Chinese trawlers fined for being in SA waters without permission
• With no tourists Australian SCUBA tours are planting coral instead
• North America has lost more than 1 in 4 birds in last 50 years
• Florida aquarium makes breakthrough discovery that could save dying coral reefs
• First wild stork chicks to hatch in UK in centuries poised to emerge
• Pressure grows on DC to close roads to give residents more room for walking, jogging, biking
• Bill Maher calls factory farms just as despicable as wet markets
• Glowing dolphins light up the ocean waters in stunning California video
• New bat species discovered – cousins of the ones suspected in COVID
• Southeastern flower recovers in latest Endangered Species Act success story
• Poachers kill at least six rhinos in Botswana as tourism dries up
• Russia lists Caspian seals and Orcas as endangered species after ‘whale jail’ controversy
• Wildlife trafficking soars as illegal dealers use unchecked hubs in southern Africa
• Conservation plans help boost threatened mammals
• Iceland says no whaling this summer, possibly into future
• Hummingbirds show up when tropical trees fall down
• Dissolved oxygen and pH policy leave fisheries at risk
• Indigenous activists permanently barred from Queensland’s Adani mine site
• Infamous Southern Oregon wolf Or-7 presumed dead
• 13 Rangers among 16 were murdered in Congo’s DRC Gorilla Park by poachers
• Fashion is a top global polluter
• Insects and bacteria emerge as alternative animal feed
• Ocean plastic was choking Chile’s shores – now it’s in Patagonia’s hats
• 3 rare right whale calves spotted in Cape Cod Bay with their mothers
• Insect numbers down 25% since 1990, global study finds
• China lists white dolphins as source of medicine
• South Korea is subsidizing biomass so heavily that wind and solar are being crowded out of the market
• Fossil of a ‘Crazy Beast’ that coexisted with dinosaurs discovered from Madagascar
• Senegal and Bangladesh protect sharks and rays
• Wall Street is bending to pressure to halt Arctic-Oil loans
• Simulating early ocean vents shows life’s building blocks form under pressure
• Asteroid 1998 OR2 to safely fly past Earth this week
• The tiniest bit of air pollution makes COVID more deadly
• Nearly 15,000 miles of new roads will be built in Tiger habitat by 2050
• California’s critical kelp forests are disappearing in a warming world
• Ocean currents are sweeping microplastics into the deep sea