Biodiversity

"A genetically engineered pig recently approved for limited production in Canada makes urine and feces that contain up to 65 percent less phosphorous, officials have announced."

"Mass death among baby right whales has experts scrambling to figure out the puzzle behind the largest great whale die-off on record."

"Scientists surveying the area near a planned Navy training range said Tuesday they witnessed an endangered right whale giving birth off the Northeast Florida coast."

"The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says 431 manatee carcasses have been documented in state waters so far this year. The agency on Tuesday said this preliminary data shows manatee deaths has exceeded the highest number on record for an entire calendar year."

Delegates at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) neared the March 25 close of the 13-day meeting. They rejected proposals to regulate trade in three shark species, but accepted regulation of a fourth shark species. They held off sales of stockpiled elephant ivory for another three years. They rejected  ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna and polar bears.

"The Supreme Court on Monday rejected another request by the state of Michigan for an order to close two Chicago-area waterway locks to keep Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes."

"A study by the National Academy of Sciences declared Friday that the efforts to save endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by restricting water delivery are 'scientifically justified.'"

An invasion of Asian carp is threatening to overwhelm native Tennessee fish species depended on by the state's $1.3 billion sports and commercial fishing industries.

"A two-year study now provides evidence indicting one likely group of suspects [as a cause of beehive die-offs]: pesticides. It found 'unprecedented levels' of mite-killing chemicals and crop pesticides in hives across the United States and parts of Canada."