Biodiversity

"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."

"Scientists and ecotourists visiting the continent are bringing in thousands of seeds, scientists say, that have a better chance of taking root as temperatures warm. Pristine ecosystems are at risk."

"Monsanto Co., the world's largest seed company, has won the dismissal of a lawsuit by growers of organic crops ... seeking to have its patents for genetically altered seeds invalidated."

"Federal wildlife investigators in California and other states say they have cracked an international smuggling ring that trafficked for years in sawed-off rhinoceros horns, which fetch stratospheric prices in Vietnam and China for their supposed cancer-curing powers."

"LONDON -- More than 145 food products derived from whales, dolphins and porpoises are for sale on Amazon Japan, the wholly owned subsidiary of Internet marketplace giant Amazon Inc., according to a new report by the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency."

"Ships entering the Great Lakes should be made to kill all the creatures that hitch a ride in their ballast tanks, environmental groups said on Tuesday, challenging as too lax a proposed government standard to combat invasive species."

New York state legislators are considering banning shark fin sales, something several other states have done.

"A slew of pathogens typically found in livestock and domestic animals is increasingly being found in marine mammals, including in the Strait of Georgia off Vancouver."

"Bird flu experts meeting in Geneva ruled that controversial research on a mutant form of the virus potentially capable of being spread among humans should be made public."