"MEXICO CITY -- The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 percent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday."

The white-nose syndrome fungus that is killing bats in their caves has now spread to 22 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces.

"Texas was ordered to temporarily stop issuing new water permits for a river system that supplies dozens of Central Texas cities, power generators and petrochemical plants to ensure enough water reaches the last migratory flock of endangered whooping cranes."

"SAN DIEGO — The California Coastal Commission on Friday rejected a Navy explosives and sonar training program off the Southern California coast that critics said could harm endangered blue whales and other sea life."

"Environmental groups and wildlife lovers near Joshua Tree National Park on Monday applauded a proposed state law that would ban trapping of bobcats for commercial purposes."

"California wildlife officials have adopted new rules aimed at protecting the public from mountain lions without resorting to killing so many of the big cats so often when they roam near humans, pets or livestock."

"A federal appeals court on Friday upheld Endangered Species Act protections for the polar bear."

"The decline of wild bees and other pollinators may be an even more alarming threat to crop yields than the loss of honeybees, a worldwide study suggests, revealing the irreplaceable contribution of wild insects to global food production."

"Super mega dolphin pod, which indulged in a feeding frenzy off the coast of San Diego over the holiday weekend, is only the latest in a recent string of odd behaviors by large creatures of the sea."

"Fresh off a wave of success in the California Capitol last year, animal welfare groups are taking aim at a new target this year: hunting with lead ammunition."

"A thaw of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean last year sent extra plant food to exotic creatures on the deep sea floor in a shift that might leave polar bears hungry at the surface, scientists said on Thursday."

"Millions of birds have descended on a small Kentucky city this winter, fouling the landscape, scaring pets and raising the risk for disease in a real-life version of Alfred Hitchcock's horror film, The Birds."

"It's legal to catch the animals outside the national park. But critics say the trappers are after bobcats that often crisscross the invisible park boundaries."

"Two new bills introduced in the Montana legislature would usher in a zero-tolerance policy for wild bison, potentially opening the way for a return to the shoot-on-sight practices of years past."

"Butterflies from the southern US that used to be rare in the northeast are now appearing there on a regular basis. The trend correlates to a warming climate report the authors of a paper in Nature Climate Change."