Wildlife

"Their desperate mission: to attempt the first artificial insemination ever of a softshell turtle, saving the species from oblivion."

"The foul-smelling carcasses of whales are attracting a veritable swarm of marine biologists to California beaches in what has so far been a futile effort to figure out why so many of the blubbery beasts are washing ashore."

"If honeybees are busy pollinating large, blooming croplands, farmers wanting to spray toxic pesticides will soon have to buzz off, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing."

"Stephanie Mutz makes a living plucking sea urchins from the Santa Barbara coast and selling the prickly treasure to upscale restaurants in Southern California. Now, she needs new hunting grounds."

"An avian flu outbreak is sweeping across the Midwest at a frightening pace, ravaging chicken and turkey farms and leaving officials stumped about the virus's seemingly unstoppable spread."

"Lung and adrenal lesions found in dead bottlenose dolphins stranded along the Gulf of Mexico between June 2010 and December 2012 are consistent with the types of damage that marine mammals sustain from exposure to petroleum products after an oil spill, according to a new study published on Wednesday by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"The White House on Tuesday outlined its strategy to restore the nation’s struggling honeybee and monarch butterfly populations to some semblance of health, mostly by expanding the acreage devoted to the wildflowers and milkweed that are crucial to their survival."

"Wrongdoers are profiting from their deadly exploitation of Northwest wildlife, from elk and deer to sturgeon and shellfish. But law enforcement and private citizens are out to stop these crimes against nature."

"There are signs of hope for American salamanders in the face of a potential biological catastrophe — a fungus that could be carried here through the global trade in exotic pets. Federal wildlife officials have signaled a crackdown may be coming on imports of amphibians."

"Conservationists decried a proposal on Monday by U.S. wildlife and marine animal managers to tweak rules tied to the federal Endangered Species Act, saying the plans would place "crippling" impediments to citizens petitioning to save imperiled creatures."