Conservation News ~ 13 December 2019

• SD Zoo names Southern White Rhino baby calf ‘future’
• Spark of hope as rare bird declared extinct is rediscovered
• Salmon die-off expands, brining total chinook fishing closure on Oregon’s north coast
• Nan on anaconda sales in Florida will remain in place
• Scientists devise a lifespan clock for vertebrates
• Conservation biologist and journalist Sue Palminteri dies
• The Arctic is emitting pollution
• EU to stir global action with pledge on climate crisis
• Scientists find cheaper way to make hydrogen energy out of water
• White Nose Syndrome harming Jolly Cave bat populations
• New species of ancient whale offers clues on how whales evolved to swim
• Colombia to host 2020 World Environment Day on biodiversity
• Imperiled Yellow-legged Frogs protected under California’s Endangered Species Act
• Nevada approves 1.2 gigawatts of new solar capacity
• UK’s hottest recorded day ‘caused deaths of extra 200 people’
• US President’s son killed rare endangered sheep in Mongolia with special permit
• Amazon deforestation paces ahead of recent historical norm
• Earliest known cave art by modern humans found in Indonesia
• Research confirms timing of tropical glacier melt at the end of the last ice age
• Saving the ozone layer in 1987 slowed global warming
• Newly discovered Widow spider lays bright purple eggs
• Hopes dim as COP25 delegates dicker over article 6 and the world burns
• Greta Thunberg named Times Person of the Year
• Arctic sea ice cover falls to alarming low as temperature rise
• Physics Nobel prize winner says to fix climate crisis because Earth is all we’ve got
• Rancho Palos Verdes adopts habitat conservation plan after years in draft form
• CDFW awards $11.35 million for greenhouse gas reductions grant projects
• Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
• Killer Whale grandmothers boost survival of calves
• GoT star Jerome Flynn gets in a cage just like your bacon
• Greta Thunberg labelled a ‘brat’ by Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro
• Group looking to restore wolves to Colorado gets 200,00 signatures for 2020 ballot
• UN declares 2021-2030 the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration
• Government officials say permits for mega-plantation in Papua were falsified
• Killings of environmental defenders on the rise in the Philippines
• Illegal hunting a greater threat to wildlife than forest degradation
• BBC announces The Green Planet to be presented by Attenborough
• Colombia turns down $35bn gold mine – prefers a clean environment
• Hawaii’s most populated island bans most single-use plastic products
• New venomous spider discovered that rots human flesh with one bite
• Researchers find over 40 new species of fish in one lake
• 1.9 billion people at risk from mountain water shortages
• Acres of Georgia coastline purchased for conservation
• Michigan hunters donate 58k lbs of venison and $100k to feed 232k hungry people
• California ports support sea level defense
• Scientists find no evidence for insect Armageddon but there’s still cause for concern
• Nene is downlisted from Endangered to Threatened
• Amazon indigenous leaders killed in Brazil drive-by shooting
• Paintings from Prado Museum Collection given climate change makeovers
• Alaska Cod fishery closes and industry braces for ripple effect
• Pope says climate crisis is challenge of civilization
• Reebok develops plant-based running shoe
• EU lawmakers call for legally binding biodiversity targets
• Michigan University regents vote against investing in fossil fuel holdings
• Oceans running out of oxygen
• Sumatra’s dwindling forests face extra pressure from a major highway project
• Seahorse breeding project aims to recover endangered species from near extinction
• Officials propose taking Nashville crayfish off Endangered Species list
• Wolf packs on the increase in Germany
• Norwegian billionaire funds deluxe deep ocean research ship
• Victoria Falls dries to trickle after worst drought in a century
• The Amazon Reef is alive, growing, and under threat
• Zambian president allegedly involved in illegal timber trade
• Nature’s Brita Filter, mussels, are dying and nobody knows why
• Sight of polar bear daubed with graffiti sparks outrage
• World’s second-largest ferry operator switching from diesel to batteries
• Rivers could generate thousands of nuclear power plants worth of energy thanks to new technology
• Javan Rhino increases to 72 in latest count
• Fractured forests are endangering wildlife
• National Park Service announces entrance fee-free days for 2020
• North Atlantic right whale use of key habitat changing rapidly
• Svalbard reindeer rebounding better than hoped after nearly going extinct
• Extinctions loom as forests are erased in Mozambique
• Latest UN Emissions Gap Report finds world must ramp up climate ambitions at least threefold to meet Paris goals