• Animals

Climate Change and Arctic Drilling Threaten Polar Bears’ Extinction

• Arctic
• climate change
• drilling
• endangered species
• oil and gas
• polar bears
• science

The Trump Administration finally released the results of a long-awaited study on the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic on the endangered polar bear population and, not surprisingly, it was bad news for the bears. 

Why This Matters: The head of an agency should review a major work product before it is released to the public.  But delaying the release of a scientific report for months because it does not square with the administration’s policy viewpoint is another matter altogether.

• Animals
• Ocean

500,000 Sharks May Die to Create COVID Vaccine

• conservation
• COVID-19
• endangered
• science
• shark
• shark fins
• squalene
• vaccine

Shark populations may be in danger as countries race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Conservationists fear that the demand for a cheap and accessible source of squalene, a common vaccine ingredient produced by shark livers, could lead to the killing of 500,000 sharks.

Why This Matters: Sharks are under attack across the globe. Overfishing and habitat loss have left 143 different shark species considered “endangered,” “critically endangered,” “near threatened,” or “vulnerable.”

• Animals

France Bans Big Cats, Orcas from Circuses and Marine Parks

• animal cruelty
• animal welfare
• Bears
• France
• Lions
• orcas
• tigers

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer In a news conference on Tuesday, France’s Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, announced the country will be banning the use of wild animals like lions, and tigers, and bears in circuses. The ban will also prohibit the import and breeding of dolphins and orcas in marine parks, as […]

• Animals

In Lead Up To Biodiversity Summit, Big Commitments to Nature

• #30x30
• biodiversity
• Gordon and Betty Moore
• Julie Packard
• nature
• Rob and Melani Walton
• Wyss

This morning a major global effort to finance nature gets a huge “deposit” as Ministers from Germany, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Canada, and Norway, as well as business leaders, UN leaders, and major philanthropists, promise to spend billions to safeguard biodiversity.

Why This Matters:  Last week was Climate Week and this week it is nature and biodiversity’s turn at center stage.

• Animals

Officials Blame Bacteria for Elephant Deaths, Conservationists Still Have Questions

• algal blooms
• Botswana
• elephants

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer Monday, Botswanan officials announced their findings following an investigation into the sudden and mysterious deaths of 356 elephants.  The investigation found that neurotoxins caused by an algal bloom in a large rain puddle poisoned the animals. However, many conservationists remain skeptical, largely because the government has yet to release […]

• Animals

One Cool Thing: Humpback Whales Trapped in Alligator River Find Their Way Out

• Australia
• crocodile
• humpback whales
• Kakadu National Park

A trio of humpback whales was trapped for a few weeks well inland in an Australian river crawling with crocodiles — something never witnessed before, according to CNN.  The whales caused quite a stir — they were stranded in the murky East Alligator River in Kakadu National Park in Australia and could not find their […]