Transitions are tough. We know how hard it is to pack up belongings and move. Broken dishes, unruly movers, sorting through the junk, adjusting to a new environment. But imagine how it is for wildlife that – with no intention of moving in the first place – are uprooted and presented with a new home. […]
The problem with estimations is that, well, they are just guesses. Educated predications, sure, but still guesses. Pining for some hard empirical data, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently launched the first ever black oystercatcher survey for California. Apparently, scientists have a handle on the number of these birds with the hypnotic yellow […]
File this under: “How One Little Fish Can Raise Such a Big Ruckus.” The Santa Ana sucker has for centuries minded its own business, eating algae, surviving floods and procreating in some of Southern California’s pristine streams. Course, after humans infiltrated the landscape and removed most of the habitat for the olive-colored big-lipped beauty, Santa […]
There’s a little more traffic in Humpback Whale Land, according to scientists who recently published a report in the journal Marine Mammal Science. Back in 2008, scientists estimated about less than 20,000 humpback whales in the North Pacific; now, a new report indicates that the leviathan population to be more than 21,000 – or […]
Breaking with the Los Angeles County contract that allows the trapping and killing of coyotes, the City of Calabasas recently permanently banned coyote trapping and killing, opting instead for a plan for coexistence. Representatives from Project Coyote and the Animal Welfare Institute are expected to work with city officials to hammer out the details for a […]
It’s bad enough that urban mountain lions have freeways dissecting their territory, poisoned varmints for prey and an ever-shrinking space to roam – now this: poaching by humans. The small population of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains got a little smaller last month with the discovery of a badly mutilated lion in […]
An important reminder: wildlife doesn’t need your non-wild food.
Dozens of dead and dying ducks have been discovered at ponds and lakes around Lake Forest, apparently the victims of botulism poisoning which causes infected birds to lose muscle control and often drown.
Once again, genetics is showing its might – this time with the small 4-inch gnatcatchers. The black and blue songbirds that live up and down the California coast – and which have been on the Federally Threatened List since 1993 — shouldn’t be federally protected says a new lawsuit. Attorneys at the Pacific Legal […]
Energizing environmentalists more than the Energizer Bunny is a recent discovery of the rare and highly endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly in the Ballona Wetlands. We’re not talking just one or two of the flutterers; about 30 of the small delicate butterflies were seen in the dune restoration area, a location that volunteers have […]
It’s been almost 100 years since the California common murre chicks have hatched on the Channel Islands, but researchers have discovered the that bird species has re-established its former southern range on far oft Prince Island, a small islet off San Miguel Island. Ecologists from the USGS and NPS are gushing like proud parents about […]
A milestone was celebrated recently at the Chula Vista Nature Center with the release of 26 endangered light-footed clapper rails into local marshes — the big event marked the 300th bird released in the 10-year breeding program. The Clapper Rail Recovery Program started when biologist and clapper rail champion, Richard Zembal, along with the Nature Center, decided […]
For the second time this year, a sperm whale has been seen off the Southern California coastline – and this rare encounter was witnessed by leviathan-lovers aboard a local whale watching excursion who will NOT be asking for their money back any time soon. According to Pete Thomas Outdoors: …Natalie Booth-Massey and others aboard the […]