Conservation News ~ 21 February 2020

• White House signs order diverting water to California farmers against state wishes
• France to shut down its oldest nuclear complex by end of June
• Wyoming governor releases new executive order on migration corridors
• South American volcano showing early signs of potential collapse
• Lehigh Valley Zoo announces the death of Mexican Grey Wolf, Alpha
• Wyoming state leaders are looking to buy 1 million acres of land in southern Wyoming
• Tanzania government issues guidelines on game meat trade
• Three endangered Mexican Grey Wolves found dead in Arizona
• Whale cams track swimming efficiency of ocean giants
• Federal judge shuts down the largest oil refinery on the East Coast
• The Dalai Lama says we have an ‘urgent responsibility’ to protect wildlife and the planet
• America’s recycled plastic waste is clogging landfills
• Astonishing Blue Whale numbers at South Georgia
• Southeast Alaska fossil declared a new species and given a Tlingit name
• Advocates warn new New Hampshire construction rule puts endangered species at risk
• White House rolls back Endangered Species Act protections during trip to California
• Indonesia records 21 new bird species
• LA Zoo’s new baby gorilla could mean new hope for endangered species
• Sea ice loss is making polar bears thinner and they’re having fewer cubs
• EPA can’t kick scientists off Science Advisory Panels, court says
• Costa Rica indigenous leader shot amid tensions over land rights
• Oregon has passed the 1st hurdle to becoming the 6th state to ban wildlife killing contests
• Thunberg mural to be permanently displayed in downtown Fargo
• 2020 Indianapolis Prize finalists announced
• Forest fires push Bornean orangutans into harm’s way
• Belize adopts comprehensive fisheries reform law
• Cash-strapped farms are growing a new crop – solar panels
• Otters spotted in southern Alberta city for first time in about a century
• Colorado scientists say research suggests snake venom could cure cancer
• Endangered gorilla community ravaged by exotic man-borne disease
• Antarctica broke two temperature records in a week
• Massacre in Nicaragua – four indigenous community members killed for their land
• 2020 a super year for environment, super year of biodiversity and will be a deciding year
• Spain’s government just made its first-ever investment in vegan meat
• US farm bankruptcies hit an eight-year-high
• Two bald eagles rehabilitated and released in NEMO
• New species of orchid discovered in Arunachal Pradesh
• UN stamps featuring endangered species released
• Gulf shrimpers fight for their livelihoods in fertilizer-fueled dead zone
• Philippine fruit bats may be entirely new species
• Extinction Rebellion protestors dig up Cambridge college lawn
• Deepwater Horizon disaster had much worse impact than believed
• New catalyst recycles greenhouse gases into fuel and hydrogen gas
• Jeff Bezos establishes $10 billion ‘Earth Fund’ to combat climate change
• Family seeks justice as probe into Indonesian activist’s death stalls
• Kellogg announces stronger palm oil and deforestation policies, including precedent setting human rights defenders
• Solar-powered barges can scoop up 50 tons of plastic from rivers each day
• White House budget proposal reveals regressive environmental priorities
• Bringing back Oregon’s sea otters gets Federal dollars for feasibility study
• New green technology generates electricity out of thin air
• Major UN meeting on wildlife to address critical threats to migratory species
• New species of urban lizard found in Guwahati
• Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal huge decline in number of insects
• Beavers cut flooding and pollution and boost wildlife populations, five-year study finds
• White baby rhino discovered in Nairobi National Park
• Oregon Governor calls for breaching 4 Snake River dams; Washington’s GOP House members outraged
• Notorious palm oil producer uses new commitment to stop deforestation in Leuser ecosystem
• Manufacturer to halt production of pesticide linked to brain damage in children
• Global demand for Colombian shark dins triggers intense debate
• Oil production on public lands exceeds 1 billion barrels
• Rare European cave salamander stayed in same spot for seven years
• Federal bill seeks to make companies responsible for plastic waste
• Orphaned albino elephant recovers from poachers snare
• Nike just launched vegan sneakers made from trash
• New cockroach species named after Kalakkad
• Affiliated tribes of northwest Indians and northwest tribal leaders stand together to protect the environment
• Deadly fungus could decimate salamanders in the US Southeast
• 2.5 million pounds of radioactive fracking waste illegally dumped in Oregon landfill
• White cuts NOAA’s and EPA’s budget by a third and completely defunds US Marine Mammal Commission
• More than 60 shipping vessels stalled off BC coast due to rail blockades
• Denmark took a mountain of trash and made a ski hill
• Sanders, AOC bill would outlaw fracking by 2025
• Jimmy Carter’s solar farm is powering half his home town
• Indonesia targets pulpwood, palm oil firms in civil suits over 2019 fires
• In Indonesian renewables bill, activists see chance to move away from coal
• UK wildlife at risk due to regulatory gaps created by Brexit
• For Indonesia’s Javan Deer, non-protected areas play key conservation role
• Brazilian meat giant JBS expands its reach in China
• Idaho Fish and Game approves year-round wolf hunts after weighing over 27,000 comments
• Colorado River flow shrinks from climate crisis, risking ‘sever water shortages’
• Paleontologists identify new Jurassic amphibian and name it Egoria
• Two giant icebergs broke off Antarctica
• Critically endangered Sumatran tiger found dead with neck caught in wire trap
• JP Morgan economists warn of climate ‘catastrophe’
• Citizen scientists name newly discovered snail species after Greta Thunberg
• California sues White House administration over alleged failure to protect species
• Great Indian Bustard, Bengal Florican classified as ‘endangered migratory species’
• Urgent help needed for 113 species after fires
• Oil and gas firms ‘have had far worse climate impact than thought’
• Animal-rights coalition sues USDA for failing to protect sick pigs