"BOISE, Idaho -- It takes a lot to shock and sicken seasoned wildlife advocates, but the deliberate torture and shooting of a trapped wolf in northern Idaho by an employee of the U.S. Forest Service has. The incident in mid-March has triggered calls for both federal and state investigations leading to dismissal of the employee involved."

"GULFPORT — NOAA Fisheries has responded to the cry for information in this year’s string of dolphin deaths in the northern Gulf that includes 59 stillborn or infant calves."

"A page on its website now details the plight of dolphins and whales in the Gulf since February 2010 with graphs and charts comparing the deaths to previous years. The numbers update weekly.

"Using a canoe or her 10-foot-Zodiac boat, Martha Jordan has scooped up hundreds of sick or dead trumpeter and tundra swans from Judson Lake in northwestern Washington state, the site of one of the worst known cases of lead poisoning among wildlife."

"The Department of the Interior [Friday] released voluntary guidelines aimed at helping wind energy project developers avoid and minimize impacts of land-based wind projects on wildlife, particularly birds."

"Wildlife activists sued on Monday to stop the killing of sea lions that have been eating endangered Columbia River salmon, seeking a reprieve for the animals a day before three Pacific Northwest states are authorized to begin executing them."

"A group of 100 environmental organizations has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate lead in ammunition as a toxic substance."

"COLUMBUS -- Ohio lawn and garden care company Scotts Miracle-Gro has pleaded guilty to breaching federal pesticide laws by using an unapproved insecticide on bird seed sold nationwide for two years."

"A federal appeals court finds that Congress acted legally when it ordered a federal agency to remove Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves from the endangered species list."

"YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon -- Three African countries - Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya - are taking up arms against elephant poachers, who have killed hundreds of elephants within the past few weeks."

"GENEVA -- John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, Tuesday expressed 'grave concern' over the recent poaching of close to 450 elephants in Bouba Ndjida National Park in northern Cameroon."

"The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it has selected a location for the nation's first wild horse ecosanctuary - a privately owned ranch in southeastern Wyoming 30 miles west of Laramie."

"After being brought back from the brink of extinction, the mammal is again in peril. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that 335 dead, sick or injured otters were found in 2011, a record high."

"Wildlife officials don't usually base hunting policies on how the public feels about an animal. But the black bear seems to be different. The revered king of the forest has bounced back from near-extinction to being a nuisance in some areas. Some states are trying to figure out if residents can live at peace with bears, or if they'd rather have hunters keep numbers in check."

"In a new package of policies criticized even by some hunters, the Alaska Board of Game on Tuesday opened the door to aerial gunning of bears by state wildlife officials. It also debated a measure that would allow more widespread snaring of bears — including grizzlies, which are officially considered threatened across most of the U.S."

"The devastating drought in Texas is raising worries that the parched conditions could harm the only self-sustaining flock of whooping cranes left in the wild.

The lack of rain has made estuaries and marshlands too salty for blue crabs to thrive and destroyed a usually plentiful supply of wolfberries, two foods that the cranes usually devour during their annual migration to the Texas Gulf Coast. The high-protein diet is supposed to sustain North America's tallest bird through the winter and prepare it for the nesting season in Canada.