Conservation News ~ 27 December 2019

• Fish feel pain
• Tree falls on 3 people, kills 1 in Muir Woods
• Oregon judge dings wildlife commission for changing direction on Murrelet protections
• US rules out any talk of a climate crisis in trade negotiations
• Indonesian palm oil firm hit with $1.8m fine for 2015 fires
• Larget coral reef survey in French Polynesia offers hope
• Scientists create largest-ever botanical biodiversity data set
• Elephant herd sighted in Nigeria’s Boko Haram warzone
• Rainforest XPRIZE challenges teams to develop tech to survey biodiversity
• Wildlife heir, Damian Aspinall, pleads to help make zoos extinct
• Study finds whales use stealth to feed on fish
• Scientists discover three new species of solar power plants in 2019
• Fossil research unveils new turtle species and hints at intercontinental migrations
• Researchers identify that mosquitoes can sense toxins through their legs
• Reindeer rebounding better than hoped for on Svalbard
• Breeding program boosts endangered Florida grasshopper sparrow population
• Deleware’s Bethany Beach firefly nears endangered species list
• Rolls-Royce sets goal for zero emission plane by 2020
• In strongest climate ruling yet, Dutch Court orders leaders to cut GHG by 25 percent
• Chimpanzees spontaneously dance to music
• Community conservation agreements a lifeline for Uganda’s Grey Crowned Cranes
• The Ganges brims with dangerous bacteria
• Conservationists blast timing and content of draft Forest Plan for the Wild Clearwater Country
• AI from google is helping identify animals deep in the rainforest
• National Parks mark sixty years of conservation success in Tanzania
• Senate bill would provide $20 million for butterflies, desert fish, mussels, and Hawaiian plants
• Barge with 600 gallons of diesel sinks off Galapagos islands
• Denver shoppers will start paying for plastic and paper bags in 2020
• Government loophole gave oil companies $18 billion windfall
• Popularity of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat is saving 250,000 animals annually
• US President goes on bizarre tirade against wind turbines saying he never understood wind
• Oregon’s Red Tree Vole will not receive Federal protections
• White Sands monument re-designated as US National Park
• US Feds unlawfully OK’d longline fishing off California
• Tiny Ozark Chub found in Missouri, Arkansas won’t be listed as endangered species
• US White House quietly serves offshore drilling companies a sweetheart giveaway
• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo welcomes 2 endangered species – Amur Tiger and two Mexican Grey Wolves
• Court says EPA must regulate river temperatures for fish
• A new species of monkey is discovered in Brazil as their natural habitat is slowly being deforested
• Plans for new Indonesian capital put Borneo’s abandoned mines in the spotlight
• 2020 ballot initiative would restore wolves to Colorado
• Illegal gold rush causing irreversible damage to rivers in the Brazilian Amazon
• Large carnivore and zoos – essential for biodiversity conservation marketing
• BC guide fined $2k after sailing too close to breaching Humpback Whale
• The global price tag for 100 percent renewable energy - $73 trillion
• Indonesian fires cost nation $5 billion
• Scales from 50,000 pangolins seized by Chinese customs
• Plans to lift baby lobster export ban draws fire in Indonesia
• Paris Accord is impossible to implement if tropical forest loss not stopped
• Deforestation for potential rubber plantation raises concerns in Papua New Guinea
• Toxic chemicals found in rainwater and drinking water throughout the US
• California coastal waters rising in acidity at alarming rate
• A fracking explosion in Ohio created one of the worst methane leaks in history
• Gov Cuomo signs historic bill to reverse biodiversity loss
• Trail cam accidentally captured the moment an opossum helped a deer by picking ticks off its face
• Cambodia sees births of 13 Irrawaddy Dolphins this year