(Credit: Ansgar Walk / Wikimedia)

US Will Push for Ban on Trade of Polar Bear Parts
(Los Angeles Times)
Faced with growing concerns about the hunting of polar bears in Canada, the Obama administration announced it will again support a ban on the commercial trade of polar bears, whose hides fetch up to $16,000 each on the international market. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a position paper that advocates including the polar bear on the list of species that are subject to the most stringent constraints on international trade. MORE

Feds Opt Not to Extend Special Protection to Mexican Gray Wolf
(Cronkite News)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that it will not extend special protection to Arizona’s gray wolf population, known as the Mexican gray wolf. The announcement was a response to petitions from conservationists who sought to reclassify the Mexican gray wolf as an “endangered subspecies” or “distinct population segment.” The request was aimed at protecting Mexican gray wolves should the government decide to take all other wolves off the endangered species list. MORE

Cougar Study Finds Old Toms More Stable for Wildlife
(Billings Gazette)
Overharvest of cougars can increase negative encounters between the predator and humans, livestock and game, according to a 13-year Washington State University research project. Based on this, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing a new cougar management plan. Starting in January, Washington will employ equilibrium management – hunters will remove no more than the surplus of animals that would be generated through natural reproduction. MORE

Idaho Voters Asked to Make Hunting, Fishing, Trapping a Right
(The Spokesman-Review)
Idaho voters in November will consider whether to upgrade hunting, fishing and trapping from traditional privileges to rights protected by an amendment to the state’s constitution. Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, who crafted the amendment, said it’s time to protect Idaho’s heritage, especially against the steady pressure from animal rights groups. He says the amendment will protect the hunting, fishing and trapping heritage from future attempts to erode Idaho’s wildlife management laws. MORE

Isaac’s Flooding Killed Many Fawns in SE Louisiana
(The Associated Press via North Jersey.com)
Hurricane Isaac killed so many fawns in parts of southeast Louisiana that Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is shortening the fall deer season in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes and the Lake Maurepas Basin. The archery season remains the same, but others are shortened and limited to bucks. Dates also were changed in several wildlife management areas. The areas worst hit by Hurricane Isaac have long had poorer habitat and fewer deer per acre than other parts of the state. MORE

Scientists Call Plan to Log Spotted Owl Habitat ‘Giant House of Cards’
(The Chattanoogan)
The recent proposed Critical Habitat designation for the Northern Spotted Owl does not protect the threatened species, according to the Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society, American Bird Conservancy, and other groups. Comments submitted by the groups find that, by encouraging controversial and unproven logging practices in owl habitat, the draft plan fails to provide adequate habitat protection essential for the owl’s survival. MORE

USDA Program Expansion to Aid Wildlife Rests on Farm Bill
(Omaha World-Herald)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expanding a program that pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive land out of crop production and use it instead to restore wildlife. However, the USDA cannot allocate the acres until a new farm bill is passed. Congress let the 2008 farm bill expire Sept. 30 without passing a new one. “It is our hope when Congress returns after the election they finish the work they started,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in announcing the allocation. MORE

Study: Mountain Lions Moving from Nevada into California
(Latinos Post)
A recently released seven-year study shows Nevada mountain lions are migrating west toward California. The study used genetics to identity distinct populations of mountain lions in Nevada’s Great Basin, according to RGC.com. The article says the main goal of the study was to determine which areas serve as places animals move to at a greater rate than those that leave, and which places serve as population “sources,” or places from which animals disperse to other locations at a greater rate. MORE

Train Kills Two Young Grizzly Bears in Banff National Park
(Calgary Herald via The Gazette)
Two young grizzlies may have been walking on train tracks for sturdy footing in a boggy area when a train struck and killed them, a Parks Canada wildlife specialist said. And in the pitch mountain darkness, the engineer likely couldn’t see the members of Banff National Park’s beloved and threatened species, of which only around 60 are believed to exist. The two yearlings were struck and killed west of Banff townsite, marking the 12th and 13th grizzlies to be killed by trains in the national park since 2000. MORE

Will North Dakota’s Oil Boom Lead to a Duck Bust?
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Not many years ago, the town of Crosby in extreme northwest North Dakota was considered a sleeper assignment by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials. Ducks in particular – but also sharp-tailed grouse, golden eagles, bitterns, hawks, falcons and countless other species – were bountiful, nurtured in part by quality habitat on the region’s nearly 100 waterfowl production areas. Offering still more protection to wildlife were thousands of acres of private wetlands and grasslands under federal conservation easement. MORE

Report: British Zoos ‘Failing’ on Animal Welfare Standards
(Mail Online)
British zoos are failing to meet minimum animal welfare standards, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Bristol examined reports by Government-appointed zoo inspectors and found that only a quarter of zoos met the criteria regarding welfare, conservation and education. Since 1981, zoos in the U.K. have been licensed under the Zoo Licensing Act, which requires them to meet certain standards of care. MORE

India’s Supreme Court May Allow Tiger Tourism in Core Reserve Areas
(The Times of India)
With the season of festivals and holidays drawing near, India’s Supreme Court served some good news for wildlife enthusiasts by indicating that it would lift the two-and-a-half month old ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves next week.  After additional solicitor general Indira Jaising informed that National Tiger Conservation Authority would notify new guidelines permitting regulated tourism in core areas within a week, the court fixed a further hearing on Oct. 16. MORE

Cameroon Arrests One of Central Africa’s Most Notorious Poachers
(WWF Global)
Cameroon has arrested Symphorien Sangha, one of Central Africa’s most notorious elephant poachers and ivory smugglers, a significant step in the region’s fight against wildlife crime. WWF strongly urges relevant authorities to follow up on this important step and prosecute Sangha to the fullest extent of the law. According to local officials, Sangha was arrested by the Cameroonian Gendarmerie in the town of Yokadouma in South East Cameroon, where he is currently being held. MORE