Biodiversity

"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.

"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."

"The snail darter, a tiny Southeastern fish that derailed a federal dam during an epic battle over Endangered Species Act protection in the 1970s, is no longer considered imperiled, officials announced Tuesday."

"The federal government has set a goal to prevent any new extinctions of Australian wildlife. It is the first time a federal government has announced a zero extinctions target for the country’s plants and animals."

"The old, epic story of agriculture in North America had two heroes, long sung and much venerated. One was human ingenuity. The other was corn."

"A ruling against the state’s Prop 12 animal welfare law could affect a range of regulations across the country".

"The greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado’s state fish, was declared extinct over 50 years ago. But last week officials found the first confirmation that the trout are once again reproducing in the wild."

"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."

"Wearing a navy-blue polo neck emblazoned with the Florida Aquarium logo, Keri O’Neil hugs a white cooler at Miami International Airport. “Coral babieeeeees,” she says, before letting out a short laugh. Relief. The container holds 10 plastic bottles teeming with thousands of tiny peach-colored specks."