Iowa to revisit ban on lead shot for doves
The Des Moines Register
The use of toxic lead shot in dove hunting will be aired again in the state legislature this spring, after a turf war over the issue in 2011 ahead of Iowa's first dove season in 90 years, which attracted more than 20,000 hunters. A new debate has been expected since August, when a legislative panel reversed a decision by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission to ban lead shot, saying it poisons eagles and other wildlife. Hunters say lead shot is less expensive and more effective than alternatives.More

453 manatee deaths reported in 2011; cold weather partly to blame
Naples Daily News
Cold weather helped push the number of Florida manatee deaths in 2011 to their second highest tally on record. Manatees have had their three highest annual death counts in the past three years largely because of harsh winters, prompting researchers to take a closer look at the long-term implications for the endangered species.More

Canadian transplants bring US bald eagle back from the brink
The Gazette
The bald eagle — the U.S. national bird and a species on the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states just a generation ago — is now thriving again in the heartland of the American Revolution thanks to a series of transplants from Canada.More

Feds propose allowing wind-farm developer to kill golden eagles
MSNBC
The federal government is proposing to grant a first-of-its-kind permit that would allow the developer of a central Oregon wind-power project to legally kill golden eagles, a regulatory move being closely watched by conservationists. The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service has released a draft environmental assessment that would allow West Butte Wind Power LLC to kill as many as three protected golden eagles over five years if the company fulfills its conservation commitments.More

Fish & Wildlife Service repeals regulatory exclusion for captive-bred African antelope species under Endangered Species Act
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a final rule to eliminate a regulation that authorized certain otherwise prohibited activities under the Endangered Species Act with U.S. captive-bred animals and sport-hunted trophies of three endangered African antelope species — the scimitar-horned oryx, addax and dama gazelle. The regulation being eliminated had excluded these three species from permitting requirements as long as certain conditions were met.More

National bald eagle survey begins
OurAmazingPlanet
If bald eagles around the United States get the feeling they're being watched, they won't be suffering from paranoia or an inflated ego. The national bird of the United States will be receiving special attention from a swarm of researchers and citizen scientists in the air, on land and in the water. The 34th annual Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey kicked off Jan. 4. During the bird census, hundreds of volunteers throughout the lower 48 states will join forces with federal, state and advocacy organization scientists to collect data on these once-nearly-extinct birds along 740 established survey routes.More

Return of predator rings howls of protest
The Montreal Gazette
A lone grey wolf crossed the California state line recently, becoming the first wild wolf recorded in the Golden State since 1924. "We're not planning to reintroduce wolves," said Mark Stopher, an ecologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. "They're going to show up on their own." The return of the wolf is thrilling to conservationists but chilling to ranchers, who have lost livestock in other parts of the West. "It's going to be very high-profile, controversial," Stopher said.More

Habitat loss as farmers return land to production hurts wildlife, hunting in northern Plains
The Associated Press via The Washington Post
Hunters in the northern Plains who've grown accustomed to bringing home three pheasants or a deer are finding the years of abundance may be over. Three brutal winters and a steady loss of habitat have hurt reproduction and reduced the number of animals hunters have seen this season, wildlife and conservation experts say.More

Endangered elephants suffer 'a horrible year'
The Washington Times
Large seizures of elephant tusks made last year the worst on record since ivory sales were banned in 1989, with estimates suggesting that poachers killed 3,000 elephants, researchers said.More

South Africa rhino hunting auction sparks controversy
AFP
A decision by South African wildlife parks to auction the right to hunt white rhinoceros has stirred up controversy, with lobby groups warning that the species is already under pressure from poachers.More

Eating of sea mammals on the rise
The Daily Mail
The eating of sea mammals — including seals, sea lions and walruses — is becoming increasingly popular in poor nations across the world. Fishermen struggling to make ends meet, because of a fall in coastal fish catches, are being forced to turn to the more meaty alternatives. More