A September 14 memo from Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik instructs staff to only enforce ESA prohibitions when an action specifically intends to target an animal, exempting incidental deaths like a ship striking a whale or a tree-felling that kills roosting bats. This follows an earlier 2024 rule change that removed habitat destruction from the ESA's definition of harm, which officials said was meant to reduce costs for landowners.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-22
A study found Seattle hosts roughly nine times more coyotes per area than nearby wild lands in Washington state. Researchers attribute the surge to the abundance of easy food sources in urban environments, which reduces the need for coyotes to hunt as extensively as their rural counterparts.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-11
New research challenges the long-held assumption that hyenas scavenge off lion kills by choice. Instead, evidence shows hyenas actively steer clear of lions, whose aggression toward them is a major threat rather than a beneficial arrangement.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-09
Three sister African wild dogs were flown from Mozambique's Karingani Game Reserve to South Africa's Waterberg region as part of the Endangered Wildlife Trust's decades-long range expansion program. They'll spend weeks in a newly designed boma built specifically for the species before being fitted with tracking collars and released into the wild to help form a genetically diverse new pack.
smithsonianmag.com
· 2026-08-28
SpaceX is pursuing exemptions from federal environmental rules to speed construction of what would become the largest spaceport in the world. Wildlife advocacy organizations are pushing back, arguing the waivers would bypass protections meant to safeguard sensitive habitats and species near the site.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-08-26
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