"The number of gray whales migrating along the Pacific Coast of North America has steadily declined by nearly 40% from a 2016 peak, and the population produced its fewest calves on record this year, according to U.S. research released on Friday."
"An apex predator has been quietly hunting interlopers in Death Valley, and for the first time, the deadly encounter has been captured on camera."
"Hibernating bears stay healthy despite being very fat and sedentary. New research is focusing on what humans can learn from them."
"Fat bear week starts today, that glorious autumn tradition when anyone with an internet connection can vote for the plumpest brown bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. Last year, more than 800,000 people weighed in during Fat Bear Week, crowning Otis, an enormous, dimpled ursine, Fat Bear champion for the fourth time.
"Wildlife agencies in the U.S. are finding elevated levels of a class of toxic chemicals in game animals such as deer — and that’s prompting health advisories in some places where hunting and fishing are ways of life and key pieces of the economy."
"In many ways, it's a model election. The campaign runs for only one week, and all the candidates are well-grounded and devoid of hypocrisy."
"California’s drought has become the state’s driest three-year period on record, surpassing that of 2013-15 — and a fourth dry year is looking increasingly likely, officials said Monday."
Concerns about seaborne plastic waste go back decades, but science writer Juli Berwald suggests that myths and disinformation about sources and solutions continue to cloud the waters. From lentil-sized nurdles to sprawling fishing nets, 200 million tons of plastic now fill the ocean and, for her, it has become evident that the ocean plastics story is really a land story. But will the newly signed international treaty on plastics offer relief?
"As temperatures rise and habitats shrink, hundreds of thousands of plant and animal species around the world are at risk of vanishing. For the first time, the United States is designating a special diplomat to advocate for global biodiversity amid what policymakers here and overseas increasingly recognize as an extinction crisis."
"Cases of monkeypox are on the rise in the U.S., with about 67,600 global cases, including about 25,500 in the U.S. Simultaneously, the world is still facing a COVID-19 pandemic, despite the number of cases tapering off. Researchers say these types of viruses, known as zoonotic diseases, or ones that spread between humans and animals, will become increasingly commonplace as factors such as the destruction of animal habitats and human expansion into previously uninhabited areas intensify."
"Many wildlife species are thriving in Europe thanks to protection and re-introduction, a new report finds. Grey wolves, Eurasian beavers, grey seals, and European bison have seen some of the strongest recoveries in numbers and geographical range."
