All articles tagged with #wildlife management
In August 1948, Idaho officials parachuted 76 beavers into the remote Chamberlain Basin to solve flooding issues near Payette Lake. All but one survived the drop, and the animals quickly established colonies, demonstrating the viability of aerial wildlife transport.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks euthanized 14 black bears at a residential property north of Bozeman after discovering they were dangerously habituated to humans. A 15th bear, a cub, was sent to a rehabilitation facility for potential zoo placement. The incident follows a report of intentional feeding, which is illegal in the state.
Botswana has authorized the killing of 23 elephants to provide meat for nationwide celebrations marking its 60th anniversary of independence from Britain. The decision, approved by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, has drawn sharp criticism from conservation groups and local residents who fear it normalizes poaching and undermines wildlife protection. While the government frames regulated hunting as a tool for managing population growth and funding community development, critics argue that distributing elephant meat during national festivities sends a dangerous signal about the value of these animals. The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between conservation goals and the economic and social pressures faced by communities living alongside the world's largest elephant population.
A decomposing 13-metre whale carcass has forced the closure of City Beach in Perth, Western Australia, after attracting multiple sharks to the shoreline. Authorities are preparing to remove the 31-tonne carcass using heavy machinery, while fisheries officers attempt to tag sharks lured by the decomposing remains. The incident has drawn large crowds of onlookers, prompting officials to urge the public to stay away and stop flying drones near the site.
A juvenile male mountain lion was spotted in San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood on Friday morning, leading to a multi-hour standoff involving animal control, police, and wildlife experts. The animal, weighing approximately 78 pounds, was tranquilized after evading capture for several hours. It was fitted with a GPS collar and released back into the wild. This incident marks the second mountain lion sighting in San Francisco within two weeks, though it is unclear if this is the same individual seen earlier in the Golden Gate Park panhandle.
A 63-year-old man died after being attacked by a shark at Sorrento Beach in Perth, Western Australia, on Friday. The Western Australian government has authorized the destruction of the specific shark if it is captured, citing an ongoing threat. Emergency services conducted extensive searches, but the victim's body has not yet been recovered. This incident adds to a series of fatal shark attacks in Australia this year.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) met with hunters in Georgetown to discuss new regulations aimed at containing chronic wasting disease (CWD) after a third positive case was confirmed in a white-tailed deer. The new rules focus on restricting baiting in specific zones and require hunters to leave deer heads at designated freezers for testing. While officials emphasize prevention, many attendees reported that the current guidelines lack specific definitions, leaving key questions unanswered.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) met with hunters in Georgetown to discuss new regulations aimed at containing chronic wasting disease (CWD) after a third positive case was confirmed in white-tailed deer. While the agency emphasized preventive measures, attendees reported that the new rules lacked specific details, leaving many questions unanswered.
A black bear was euthanized in Grand Teton National Park after repeatedly approaching visitors near Delta Lake. Park officials attributed the bear's behavior to visitors leaving food unattended, which conditioned the animal to associate humans with food. The bear was lethally removed on September 11 after hazing attempts failed.
A black bear was euthanized in Grand Teton National Park on September 11 after it repeatedly approached humans near Delta Lake. Park officials stated the animal was killed because visitors had fed it, creating a safety risk. The National Park Service emphasized that lethal removal was a last resort after other options were exhausted.
Utah has used small aircraft to stock over 300 remote mountain lakes with fish annually since 1956. The method involves dropping 1-3 inch fingerlings from a Cessna plane into water, relying on their small size to survive the fall. This approach replaces earlier, less efficient methods like horseback transport and ensures recreational fishing access in areas without road access.
A black bear attacked a 17-year-old girl in her bedroom in Durango, Colorado, early Sunday morning, leaving her with scratches and bruising. The incident is part of a record-breaking season of bear-human conflicts in Colorado, driven by drought-induced food shortages. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is actively searching for the bear, which also entered another home nearby, and plans to capture and remove it. A separate attack on a woman in a tent at a national forest campground occurred earlier in the week.
The 2026 epizootic hemorrhagic disease outbreak in Wisconsin has killed at least 1,100 white-tailed deer, making it the largest in state history. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed the toll as the outbreak spread across five counties, with cases first appearing in July. While the virus is transmitted by midges and poses no risk to humans, it causes rapid illness and death in deer. The DNR expects the outbreak to continue until the first hard frost, which typically halts midge activity. Residents are urged to report dead or sick deer to help track the spread, though the agency notes that Wisconsin's overall deer population remains robust despite local declines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is distributing over 2.4 million oral rabies vaccine baits across the southeastern United States in October to halt the westward spread of raccoon rabies. The operation covers parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama using aircraft and ground vehicles. While South Carolina is not currently included, officials indicate future expansion is planned as the vaccine barrier moves eastward.
A California GPS-tracking study shows invasive barred owls overwhelmingly occupy tall, old-growth stands that spotted owls depend on, with 64% overlap in home ranges and 38% in high-quality nesting habitat. Ongoing management that removed 1,171 barred owls freed more than 1,800 square kilometers of habitat (including about 1,150 km2 of prime nesting/roosting forest) for spotted owl recolonization, underscoring the need for sustained barred-owl control to protect the old-growth ecosystem.