Biodiversity

"Hunted for centuries for their pelts, sea otters had dwindled to near-extinction by the 1910s, leaving a population of about 1,000 worldwide and only about 50 in California, in small pockets on the Central Coast and Southern California’s Channel Islands."

"A spate of recent criminal indictments highlights how U.S. companies, taking advantage of a patchwork of federal and state laws, are supplying a market for fins that activists say is as reprehensible as the now-illegal trade in elephant ivory once was."

"Scientists are hoping to reduce negative and nationalistic associations with the bee-slaying insect that is turning up in the Pacific Northwest."

"Concealed behind trees near Lake Michigan, two scientists remotely manipulated a robotic owl on the forest floor. As the intruder flapped its wings and hooted, a merlin guarding its nest in a nearby pine darted overhead, sounding high-pitched, rapid-fire distress calls."

"They’ve roamed free for hundreds of years, but is that freedom harming the ecosystem they call home?"

"Scientists tallying the economic damage wrought by invasive pests across the world found two species are responsible for more harm than any other. The American bullfrog and brown tree snake have collectively caused $16.3bn (£13.4bn) in global damage since 1986."

"Toby Kiers took long strides across the spongy forest floor, felt the adrenaline rush in her veins and stopped at the spot she had traveled so far to reach. Into the ground went a hollow metal cylinder. Out came a scoop of soil."

"Sliding off the side of her small boat, seabird biologist Bonnie Slaton wades through waist-high water, brown pelicans soaring overhead, until she reaches the shores of Raccoon Island.'

"It's the Year of the Tiger, and a new population assessment offers some hope for the endangered species."