Conservation News ~ February 1 2019

• New fossil spiders with glowing eyes found in South Korea: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/01/new-fossil-spiders-with-glowing-eyes-found-south-korea/
• Monarch butterfly population wintering in Mexico increases 144%: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/mexico-monarch-butterflies-wintering-population-increase
• Brook the sea otter, an original inhabitant of Aquarium of the Pacific, dies at 21: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-aquarium-of-the-pacific-brook-20190131-story.html
• The contiguous United States just lost its last wild caribou: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/contiguous-united-states-just-lost-its-last-wild-caribou
• House Democrats just told the Pentagon to redo its climate change report: https://grist.org/article/house-democrats-just-told-the-pentagon-to-redo-its-climate-change-report/
• More than half of US coal mines open in 2008 now closed: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38172
• Federal government discloses it already shipped plutonium to Nevada: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/federal-government-discloses-it-already-shipped-plutonium-to-nevada-without-states-knowledge-or-consent
• STILA cancels oil and gas lease sale within original boundaries of Bears Ears: https://canyonechojournal.com/2019/01/29/sitla-cancels-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-within-original-boundaries-of-bears-ears-national-monument/
• Threatened shark served to UK diners: https://nation.com.pk/01-Feb-2019/threatened-shark-served-to-uk-diners
• Octopus farming unsustainable, unethical, and unnecessary: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/octopus-farming-unsustainable-unethical-and-unnecessary-scientists-warn/
• Wildlife rangers in DRC park report waning motivation and job satisfaction: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/wildlife-rangers-in-drc-park-report-waning-motivation-job-satisfaction/
• Deadly disease and warming ocean are wiping out a key starfish species: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/deadly-disease-and-warming-ocean-are-wiping-out-a-key-starfish-species/
• Bill to ban snowmobile coyote whacking is run down: https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/article_4d30e8f4-4623-5d33-a9e5-3ba459b64563.html
• Invasive species dying off because of cold snap: https://kbjr6.com/news/2019/01/30/invasive-species-dying-off-because-of-cold-snap-2/
• Rights of Nature at stake as Ecuador’s high court to review the case of a Chinese vessel: https://seashepherdlegal.org/newsroom/blog/breaking-rights-of-nature-at-stake-as-ecuador-s-high-court-will-review-the-case-of-a-chinese-vessel-caught-in-galapagos-with-6-000-sharks-on-board
• Namibian Desert lions spotted hunting and eating marine creatures: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/namibian-desert-lions-spotted-hunting-and-eating-marine-creatures/
• Environmental degradation exacerbates Indonesia flooding, landslides: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/environmental-degradation-exacerbates-indonesia-flooding-landslides/
• Gordodon kraineri: fossil of reptile dating back 300 million years rewrites known evolution: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-24/new-mexico-reptile-fossil-rewrites-known-evolutionary-timeline/10551670
• Indo wants to shut down Komodo for one year because the dragons are too scrawny: https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/7xnpmy/indonesia-wants-to-shut-down-komodo-for-one-year-because-the-dragons-are-too-scrawny
• Sonar makes beaked whales suicidal: https://news.sky.com/story/sonar-makes-beaked-whales-suicidal-and-now-we-know-why-11622201
• Elephant Seals took over a Pt. Reyes beach during shutdown: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Point-Reyes-Drakes-Beach-elephant-seals-13570578.php
• California’s Gray Wolves still protected, Court rules: http://time.com/5515146/california-gray-wolves-protection-upheld/
• Volvo develops 3D-printed living seawall to save the world’s oceans from plastic pollution: https://www.designboom.com/design/volvo-3d-printed-living-seawall-ocean-plastic-pollution-01-25-2019/
• NZ ditching plastic packaging of fruit and vegetables in supermarkets: https://albertonrecord.co.za/198508/food-nude-nz-ditching-plastic-packaging-fruit-vegetables-supermarkets/
• Legislators push for Bobcat hunting season in Indiana: https://www.centerforwildlifeethics.org/wildlife-advocacy-blog/2019/1/29/defying-strong-public-opposition-legislators-push-for-bobcat-hunting-season-in-indiana
• Joshua Tree National Park fans rally, decry impact from shutdown: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2019/01/26/joshua-tree-national-park-rally-against-shutdown-impact/2689866002/
• Scientists thrilled to report Hawaii’s Coral Reefs have made a miraculous comeback: https://themindunleashed.com/2019/01/hawaii-coral-reefs-comeback.html
• It’s now legal to kill sea lions that are threatening salmon in the Pacific Northwest: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/28/us/sea-lions-killed-save-salmon-trnd/index.html
• Some 85% of key fish species in Arabian Gulf are wiped out: https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/some-85-of-key-fish-species-in-arabian-gulf-wiped-out-uae-study-finds-1.818543
• Hoopa Valley Tribe wins dam removal victory in Federal Court: https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/hoopa-valley-tribe-wins-dam-removal-victory-in-federal-court/
• New Crayfish species named after West Virginia biology professor: http://www.wvpublic.org/post/new-crayfish-species-named-after-wva-biology-professor
• Kayla the Killer Whale dies at SeaWorld Orlando: https://www.care2.com/causes/another-orca-has-died-at-seaworld-orlando.html
• Ontario reverses course on bill that could have opened Greenbelt to development: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-reverses-course-on-bill-that-could-have-opened-greenbelt-for/
• With just sickles and sticks, Adivsi women save a forest: https://dgrnewsservice.org/resistance/direct-action/violence/india-with-just-sickles-and-sticks-adivasi-women-save-a-forest/
• Death Valley playas damaged by offroaders during shutdown: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/25/death-valley-national-park-damage-offroaders-shutdown
• Over 1,000 abandoned Flamingo chicks rescued in Kimberly, South Africa: https://www.sapeople.com/2019/01/25/over-1000-abandoned-flamingo-chicks-rescued-in-kimberley-south-africa/
• Researchers discover record-breaking salamander: https://phys.org/news/2019-01-record-breaking-salamander.html
• Former UN leader Ban Ki-moon just endorsed Democrats’ fight for a Green New Deal: https://grist.org/article/former-u-n-leader-ban-ki-moon-just-endorsed-democrats-fight-for-a-green-new-deal/
• Rare sharks living off Wales: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46972070
• Australia calls for emergency action plan as myrtle rust pushes plants to extinction: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/24/calls-for-emergency-action-plan-as-myrtle-rust-pushes-plants-to-extinction
• Egyptian authorities ban fishing in the Red Sea for the next 7 months: https://scoopempire.com/egyptian-authorities-ban-fishing-in-the-red-sea-for-the-next-7-months