The suspension of a wildlife biologist known for his research on drowned polar bears is causing confusion and alarm in scientific circles. Charles Monnett, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, (BOEMRE) was placed on administrative leave on July 18 pending the conclusion of an Inspector General investigation…
JUNEAU, Alaska – The recent suspension of Alaska wildlife biologist Charles Monnett is unrelated both to an article that he wrote about presumably drowned Arctic polar bears and to his scientific work, a federal official said Friday. The director of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement and Regulation, told agency staff in Alaska…
A cougar hit and killed by a car in Connecticut set a record this week when it was found to hail from the Black Hills of South Dakota. While the 140-pound cat is unprecedented in its wanderings, wildlife biologists say that many wild animals have started recolonizing old habitats — or establishing new ones. From…
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Idaho will open its wolf population, now estimated at about 1,000 animals, to extensive hunting and trapping to reduce their numbers to no fewer than 150 under a plan approved on Thursday by the state Fish and Game Commission. The move came after a heated public hearing Wednesday night in Salmon,…
BOSTON (Reuters) – A pair of bald eagles in Maine did more than their part to distance themselves from the endangered species list in a rare quadruple hatching of four eaglets, wildlife officials said on Thursday. “Four eagles in one nest is quite a crowd,” state wildlife biologist Kendall Marden said, calling the hatching of…
BANGKOK – A healthy population of snow leopards, elusive big cats threatened across the mountain ranges of Central Asia, has been found in one of the few peaceful areas of Afghanistan, a wildlife group said. Camera traps documented the secretive, usually solitary animals at 16 locations across the Wakhan Corridor, a long panhandle in northeastern…
BANGKOK – A healthy population of snow leopards, elusive big cats threatened across their homes in the mountain ranges of Central Asia, has been found in one of the few peaceful areas of Afghanistan, a wildlife group said. Camera traps documented the secretive, usually solitary animals at 16 different locations across the Wakhan Corridor, a…
SAINT HELIER, Jersey (AFP) – The global forum charged with both protecting and overseeing the hunting of whales ended a four-day session Thursday with a walkout by pro-whaling nations in order to block a vote on the creation of a new sanctuary. The 63rd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), in other words,…
Thanks to the vigilant eye of camera traps stationed high in Afghanistan’s remote northeast mountains, researchers have uncovered exciting news: A population of endangered snow leopards, one of the most elusive big cats on the planet, is thriving in the region. The big cats live among the dramatic peaks of the desolate Wakhan Corridor, a…
SAINT HELIER, Jersey (AFP) – Watching and hunting whales “work perfectly together” in a look-and-cook combo of tourism and gastronomy, Iceland’s Whale Commissioner said Thursday at the global whaling forum. “Many of the tourists that go on whale watching tours go to restaurants afterwards to taste whale meat,” said Tomas Heider, speaking on the sidelines…