Conservation News ~ 3 January 2020

• Thailand begins the New Year with plastic bag ban
• British Troop’s anti-poaching mission saves 17 endangered Black Rhinos
• Feds waived environment, other regs on 90 miles of Arizona border in 2019
• Germany cuts fares for long-distance rail travel in response to climate crisis
• The Golden Globes will serve a 100% vegan menu
• Pope Francis to ‘every person on earth’: be kind to animals
• White House will approve largest solar farm
• Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Dell sued over child-mined cobalt from Africa
• Palau is first country to ban ‘toxic sun cream
• Amazon threatened to fire employees for speaking out on climate
• Rediscovered after 100 years, Gurney’s pitta is in peril once again
• Denmark generated almost half of its electricity from wind in 2019
• Nepal’s road-building spree pushes into the heart of the Himalayas
• The first regional conservation area in Huanuco, Peru
• New species of amphibians and plants discovered in Sagaing
• Prince William launches Earthshot Prize to solve Earth’s environmental problems
• Judge says filthy zoo must give up animals, Zoo appeals
• In a rare feat achieved in Assam Zoo, endangered species of stork are bred artificially
• State, Federal government renew Platte River agreement
• Argentina sinks Chinese fishing ship that entered restricted area
• New Zealand glaciers turn brown from Australian bushfires’ smoke, ash and dust
• Clemson, LSU partner to avoid tiger extinction
• Chinese company approved to run water mining operation in drought-stricken Queensland
• Copenhagen to plant communal fruit trees on city streets
• Testing the IUCN Green List of Species
• Innovative orange juicer 3D prints bioplastic cups out of leftover orange peels
• Unfathomable tragedy as fire ravishes German zoo’s ape house
• Grassroots campaign saves major wetland in Montenegro
• Lighting Industry sues to stop new efficiency standards
• Newly discovered Australian spider breathes underwater, eats toads
• Waimea forest purchased for $3.7m to keep in conservation
• New fake rhino horn could push up poaching, inventors warned
• Rebounding Hawaiian Hawk removed from Endangered List
• Biodiversity moves into sustainability spotlight
• Half a billion animals perish in Australian bushfires
• Suspected abalone poacher bust by beachgoers at Clifton after swimming there from Robben Island
• Endangered black rhino baby born on Christmas Eve at Michigan Zoo
• 7 Caribbean countries ban single-use plastics starting New Year’s Day
• Cheetahs face extinction as numbers crash
• New Zealand opens Paparoa Track, first new ‘Great Walk’ in 25 years
• Grizzly Bears move north in High Arctic as climate change expands range
• Fausta, world’s oldest rhino, dead at 57
• New species in Manipur: Trichodesma Kumareum
• New species of crustacean thrives in mouth of giant shark
• UN75 – UN Environment Programme’s leader shares three actions to save the world
• Malibu wants to ban all pesticides but the state disagrees
• The 2020 Biodiversity Strategic Planning timeline
• SD Zoo elephant, Tembo, passes away
• Habitat loss drives deadly conflict in Indonesia’s tiger country
• Alarm over mass vulture poisoning in South Africa
• Manipur Hero dedicates 17 years of his life to grow 300 acre forest
• Millionaire who killed rare whale hybrid vows to kill 150 more
• Virginia School District to give students one day off per year for civic action
• Court upholds creation of National Monument in Atlantic
• Parasitic leeches present a new threat to endangered mussels
• Water-guzzling demands of border wall threaten fish species
• More discoveries, more threats for Sri Lanka’s dragonflies and damselflies
• Female gorillas recognize and respond to contagious disease
• Three pangoling species closer to extinction
• Greta Thunberg will interview David Attenborough
• 13 rhinos poached and 7 poachers killed in Okavango Delta
• Rapid genetic test traces spread of fungus that kills frogs, reveals new strain in Southeast Asia
• White House removes Federal database that tracked pollution
• New National Parks get Sh255 bn
• Meet the new ancient shark species found in southern Alabama
• Interior wordsmiths habitat with eye on regulatory reach
• Climate crisis linked to at least 15 $1bn-plus disasters in 2019
• Microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers
• New York becomes first state to ban sale of Giraffe products
• Nearly 8000 rhinos poached in Mzansi this decade
• Court upholds Obama’s protected marine monument
• New Zealand becomes first country to adopt Hookpod
• West Coast fishery rebounds in rare conservation home run
• Australia’s environment minister says up to 30% of koalas killed in NSW
• Italy creates Europe’s first plastic-free ski resort