Conservation News ~ Earth Day, 2018

• Kangaroo rats missing for 30 years rediscovered in Baja California: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419172701.htm
• Unprecedented Farm Bill provision allows EPA to OK pesticides without looking at harm to endangered species: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/farm-bill-and-pesticides-04-12-2018.php
• Asian House Geckos fast invading Australian homes: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-13/asian-house-geckos-fast-invading-australian-homes/9644402
• Investigation reveals California Fisheries are responsible for killing hundreds of dolphins, turtles, and whales: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/california-fisheries-responsible-killing-dolphins-turtles-whales/
• Camera traps reveal Amur Leopard population is growing: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-world-s-rarest-big-cat-grows-in-number
• Colombia grants ‘historic’ protections to rainforest, indigenous groups: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/colombia-grants-historic-protections-to-rainforest-indigenous-groups/
• Danish Pension Fund cutting 35 oil and gas firms from investment portfolio: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/13/pka-danish-pension-fund-cutting-35-oil-gas-firms-from-investment-portfolio/
• Shipping in historic climate deal: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43759923
• Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico will take decades to recover from farm pollution: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/22/dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-decades-recover-study
• Dairy Farm workers found guilty of animal cruelty after torturing cows: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/22/dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-decades-recover-study
• Colorado fracking company wants to silence opposition to massive drilling project: https://thinkprogress.org/colorado-oil-company-sues-anti-fracking-activists-40e730bd6203/
• Wyoming officials want to allow hunters to kill 24 grizzly bears this fall: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/wyoming-proposes-hunt-of-up-to-24-grizzlies-this-fall/
• National Park Service announces park entrance fee increase: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/national-park-service-announces-park-entrance-fee-increases
• BP claims an oil spill off Australia’s coast would be a ‘welcome boost’ to local economies: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bp-claims-an-oil-spill-off-australia-s-coast-would-be-a-welcome-boost-to-local-economies-20180406-p4z867.html
• Tiger farms flourishing in Laos despite promise of a crackdown: http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2141635/tiger-farms-and-illegal-wildlife-trade
• Woman bequeaths $1 million to national parks in Washington state: https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/woman-bequeaths-1-million-national-parks-washington-state
• Climate protest lawyer set himself on fire: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43773650
• Gray ghosts, the last Caribou in the lower 48 states, are ‘functionally extinct’: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/14/science/gray-ghost-caribou-extinct.html
• Deadly oil spill devastates Borneo port city: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2018/apr/06/deadly-oil-spill-devastates-balikpapan-borneo-port-city-in-pictures
• Trudeau promises financial backing for ‘vital’ Trans Mountain pipeline: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-promises-financial-backing-for-vital-trans-mountain-pipeline/
• Vessel carrying coal sinks near Sundurbans: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2018/04/15/coal-laden-cargo-sinks-near-sundarbans/
• Longest-recorded mammalian migration, Doe traverses the Hole on 242-mile migration: http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/doe-traverses-the-hole-on--mile-migration/article_0b33235a-295f-501e-a586-99971cd11f91.html
• Taiwan announces ban on all plastic bags, straws, and utensils: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/taiwan-ban-on-plastic-bags-straws-utensils-contain/
• Poland broke the law by logging in an ancient forest, EU court rules: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/17/poland-broke-law-logging-ancient-forest-eu-court-rules/
• Kids are suing Gov. Rick Scott to force Florida to take action on climate change: http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/04/16/kids-are-suing-gov-rick-scott-to-force-florida-to-take-action-on-climate-change/
• Scientists have accidentally created an enzyme that eats plastic: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/16/scientists-accidentally-create-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-bottles
• Iceland to resume whale hunting: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/18/iceland-sets-target-of-191-kills-as-country-resumes-whaling
• Mexican Gray Wolves found dead in New Mexico: http://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/mexican-gray-wolves-found-dead-in-new-mexico/1122954928
• Pirate fishing tycoon hit with 8.2 million fine in Spain: https://www.seashepherd.org.au/news-and-commentary/news/pirate-fishing-tycoon-hit-with-8-2-million-euro-fine-in-spain.html
• Whalers kill 3 more orcas in St. Vincent: https://www.iwnsvg.com/2018/04/16/whalers-kill-3-more-orcas-in-st-vincent-video/
• In North Carolina, hog waste is becoming a streamlined fuel source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/04/17/601857456/in-north-carolina-hog-waste-is-becoming-a-streamlined-fuel-source
• Colombia’s highest court orders government to protect Amazon Rainforest from rising sea levels: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-deforestation-amazon/colombias-top-court-orders-government-to-protect-amazon-forest-in-landmark-case-idUSKCN1HD21Y
• Conservation group buys Rainbow Canyon land for wildlife crossing: https://temdev.com/2018/04/11/conservation-group-buys-rainbow-canyon-land-for-wildlife-crossing/
• Lahontan cutthroat trout species thought to be extinct rediscovered in Utah Creek: https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2018/lahontan-cutthroat-paper
• Boulder, Colorado is the latest city to sue Big Oil over climate change: https://grist.org/briefly/boulder-colorado-is-the-latest-city-to-sue-big-oil-over-climate-change/
• Swarms of huge sharks discovered, baffling experts: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/animals-sharks-swarms-oceans/
• Deep Sea Expedition finds 12,000 marine creatures and over a dozen new species: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/expedition-to-the-indonesian-deep-sea-finds-12000-marine-creatures-and-over-a-dozen-new-species/
• Two more of Oregon’s Pine Creek wolves were shot from helicopters: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2018/04/17/oregon-authorizes-killing-three-more-wolves-pine-creek-pack/527164002/
• Alberta lifts eight-year ban on the rehabilitation of orphaned bear cubs: https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/alberta-lifts-eight-year-ban-on-the-rehabilitation-of-orphaned-bear-cubs-1.3890776
• Beloved wild elephant was just shot dead by a hunter: https://www.thedodo.com/in-the-wild/big-tusker-elephant-killed-trophy-hunt-zimbabwe
• Coal mining reduces abundance, richness of aquatic life: https://phys.org/news/2018-04-coal-abundance-richness-aquatic-life.html
• Trudeau and Macron announce a plan to fight climate change together: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/trudeau-macron-partnership-climate-change/
• US Dept of Interior sides with trophy hunters on removing Zebra protections: https://www.missoulacurrent.com/outdoors/2018/04/zinke-zebra/
• Low-carbon investment is moving too slowly to rein in warming: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/low-carbon-investment-is-moving-too-slowly-to-rein-in-warming-u-n-warns/
• At least 5 probes underway into EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s conduct: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/at-least-5-probes-underway-into-epa-chief-scott-pruitts-conduct
• Kruger National Park screens elephants for tuberculosis: https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/1899509/kruger-national-park-screens-elephants-for-tuberculosis/
• Moke is the first gorilla born at the Smithsonian National Zoo in 9 years: https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/smithsonian-zoo-western-lowland-gorilla-birth-moke
• Native tribes on US-Mexico border block President’s National Guard troops from land: https://splinternews.com/native-american-tribe-on-u-s-mexico-border-blocks-trum-1825301911
• US President prepares for lease sale in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/trump-administration-prepares-for-lease-sale-in-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge
• Half of all coral in the Great Barrier Reef has died since 2016, and is unlikely to recover: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/the-great-barrier-reef-is-unlikely-to-recover-from-catastrophic-coral-bleaching/
• Germany to put massive restrictions on Monsanto Weedkiller: https://www.ecowatch.com/glyphosate-germany-monsanto-2561181221.html
• First Bat removed from US ESA list helps produce tequila: https://www.ecowatch.com/bat-endangered-species-tequila-2561223170.html
• Little Dodo nears extinction:
• Senate confirms Climate Change Denier to lead NASA: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2018/apr/09/little-dodo-manumea-tooth-billed-pigeon-samoa-critically-endangered-hunting
• Britain just a new record – 55 hours without using the dirtiest fossil fuel out there: http://bigthink.com/brandon-weber/britain-just-set-a-new-record-55-hours-without-using-the-dirtiest-fossil-fuel-out-there
• New study says ancient humans hunted big mammals to extinction: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/19/604031141/new-study-says-ancient-humans-hunted-big-mammals-to-extinction
• Texas official says millennials and especially students are responsible for oil and gas work shortage: https://thinkprogress.org/texas-millennials-oil-gas-wayne-christian-8e1377df903b/
• New ant species from Borneo explodes to defend its colony: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419131116.htm
• Plastic ‘berg chokes Indonesian river: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43823883
• Lyft announces carbon offset program: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/lyft-announces-carbon-offset-program-saying-it-will-make-all-rides-carbon-neutral
• Web of corruption behind SA rhino poaching: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43821674
• Migratory bird protections stripped right before Deepwater Horizon Disaster anniversary: http://blogs.trendolizer.com/2018/04/migratory-bird-protections-stripped-right-before-deepwater-horizon-disaster-anniversary.html
• US moves to reverse protections for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/compass-points/2018/04/18/us-moves-to-reverse-protections-for-atlantic-bluefin-tuna
• California can label widely used herbicide as possible carcinogen: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/State-can-label-widely-used-herbicide-as-possible-12849147.php
• One-third of forests aren’t growing back after wildfires: https://grist.org/briefly/one-third-of-forests-arent-growing-back-after-wildfires/
• Trudeau government increases spending on environment, immigration: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-government-spending-budget-1.4622518
• Hundreds of sharks and other fish discovered tangled in a ‘ghost net’ drifting across the Caribbean: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ghost-net-fishing-caribbean-sea-dead-sharks-fish-cayman-island-pollution-a8310806.html
• Exxon must turn over climate change documents: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/13/exxon-must-turn-over-climate-change-documents-mass-court-rules/515442002/
• HSBC to stop funding most new fossil fuel developments: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/article-hsbc-to-stop-funding-most-new-fossil-fuel-developments/
• Kangaroo pelted with rocks dies in Chinese Zoo: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/world/asia/china-kangaroo-zoo-death.html
• Canadian PM faced with pipeline protest in London: https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/19/headlines/canadian_pm_trudeau_faced_with_pipeline_protest_in_london​