Design Studio17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDTThe Wildlife Society NewsBriefhttp://multibriefs.com/briefs/TWS/TWS.xmlenA federal judge blocked Montana officials from driving wild bison back into Yellowstone National Park with a helicopter after wildlife advocates argued hazing from the air could harm grizzly bears in the area. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell grounds plans by the Montana Department of Livestock to hire a helicopter to haze about 70 bison out of the Hebgen Basin west of the park before cattle are moved into the area to graze.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb56075a56dd1Thirty-five Canadian wildlife species, from whales to mosses, were assessed as at risk at the recent Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta. Once again, habitat loss emerged as the most common threat to Canadian wildlife, underscoring that all species need a healthy home in order to thrive.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb561c062d4e2Utah's public lands director says the state should come up with its own scientific studies on sage grouse habitat that could be used to refute federal wildlife agencies should they seek to protect the bird under the Endangered Species Act. Kathleen Clarke told a legislative committee that science can be "slippery," and she cast doubt on the studies that have been conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb560939a2c13Responding to frustration over the inability to reduce the wolf population through last winter's hunt, Montana wildlife officials have given approval to loosening some restrictions on hunters and to allowing trapping of the predators for the first time. The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission vote puts the proposal out for comment until June 25, giving the public a chance to weigh in on the plan to eliminate most quotas, expand the season to Feb. 28 and allow trapping. The agency will also ask state legislators to rewrite laws to increase the number of wolves a hunter can kill from one to three and to allow the use of electronic calls.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb5613a6d7034In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that sage grouse warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, but held off from actually listing the species. A year later, a federal judge approved a settlement that would require federal officials to make final listing decisions for 250 candidates for protection. The deadline for the sage grouse is 2015. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has responded to the new deadline with a national strategy that would require improving its conservation efforts across the Western states.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb560fde72165Nine beavers were given a new home in a southern Utah stream that biologists hope will improve the surrounding habitat and regulate sometimes severe runoff. The relocated rodents are the first group to be moved from private land under a management plan adopted in 2010 by the state Division of Wildlife Resources. The primary goal is to protect the animals, which DWR biologist Dustin Schiable said could previously be trapped and killed with a permit by landowners who considered them a "nuisance species."17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb560d50d6ff6Alberta Premier Alison Redford is combining the environment and sustainable resource development departments, joining the ministry responsible for environmental monitoring and protection with the one that manages land use, wildlife, hunting and fishing licenses, and forestry.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb560b655b977Nearly 900 dead dolphins have washed up on the beaches of northern Peru since February. Autopsies have revealed air bubbles and blood in their sinuses, indicating they suffered from "the bends," or decompression sickness, after a panicked, rapid ascent to the ocean's surface. Complicating the picture, thought, the carcasses of some 1,200 pelicans and other seabirds have also washed ashore.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb561e1855ee8For the first time, an international team of researchers has used satellites to track the movements of manta rays, providing valuable new information about the massive rays, which are considered "vulnerable" to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb5611c0de189It's been hundreds of years since the Tasmanian devil last lived on the Australian mainland but, in the misty hills of Barrington Tops, a pioneering group is being bred for survival. The burrowing, tree-climbing animals are in a battle for survival against an aggressive and contagious facial cancer which experts fear could see them become extinct in the wild in as little as five years.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb5621644d9b10Elephants and rhinoceroses are essential to keeping biodiversity levels high, new research suggests. In areas where these large seed-dispersing animals have disappeared, like the tropical forest of Southeast Asia, researchers found that biodiversity dropped off. Other herbivores like the small pig-looking tapir can't replace these large grazers.17 May 2012 16:13:38 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fb561fad5a3411