WILDLIFE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042209

Wildlife news leads off with a story about a $5,000 bounty that has been placed on a hunter who shot an immature bald eagle in Tennessee. In a barbaric practice, bears are being harassed by dogs while caged in South Carolina wildlands, a practice decried by Humane Society of the US, and worse may follow. With a bear population expanding from 100 to over 3,000 in the region, Salem, Massachusetts, residents have begun to see incursions by their furry neighbors; and in a sign that the bear population in Florida is expanding, wildlife officials received a third sighting of one in Broward County, an area that has not reported any sightings in over 30 years. A South Carolina couple finds rescuing baby skunks to be their calling; while Pennsylvania wildlife officials are fine-tuning their deer hunting program to maintain a healthy population. With an eye towards co-existence with a minimum of culling, Centennial, Colorado, is implementing a balanced response to coyote incursions; and a wildlife expert in Florida will be conducting some public education about coyotes as encounters with people increase. Wildlife officials in Wyoming are looking for a pair of wolves who killed a calf; and a series of seminars decrying the influx of wolves from Canada, with consequent increases in livestock deaths, is taking place in Idaho. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has received reports of a cougar sighting near a middle school in Astoria; and wildlife officers aim to trap a juvenile cougar that has been prowling neighborhoods in Corvallis, Oregon. The Cougar Network provides some details on the ecology of cougars in the next article; which is useful when one considers an Associated Press article that details the expansion of cougars across the heartland. The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, in Arizona, is continuing efforts to restore a struggling Desert Bighorn Sheep population; but a cougar captured in a Montana neighborhood had to be euthanized when no home could be found for the 120-pound cat. And finally, a very old wildlife specimen was unearthed in Canada's arctic that may show the switch from land to sea for some creatures millions of years ago.

$5,000 Reward for Eagle Poacher

Confining of bears stirs furor

Middleton backyard was bear's buffet

Bear spotted in Broward County a 3rd time

Summerville family raises skunks as pets

PGC allocates same number of doe licenses

City making progress implementing coyote plan

Pinellas County launches information campaign on coyotes

Officials hunt for pair of wolves south of Casper

Anti-Wolf Group Spreads Message in Idaho Falls

Police reveal details of cougar sighting in Astoria

Neighbors watch for cougar after weekend sightings

Some facts about the cougar

Sightings show cougars expanding into central US

Arizona Game and Fish extends moratorium on lethal removal of mountain lions

Without Home in Zoo, Mountain Lion is Killed

Otter-like fossil reveals early seal evolution