hunting

Legislation under consideration in Annapolis would force the introduction of wild black bears into each of Maryland’s 23 counties. But don’t grab your shotgun before taking the trash out just yet - the lawmakers involved admit the bill is little more than a political bluff, designed to beat back the advances of liberal legislators who would do away with Maryland’s annual black bear hunt.

There is something about an election year that makes politicians start bragging about how many furry or feathered critters they’ve killed. Otherwise, God forbid, voters might think they were interested in doing something about gun control.

Animal rights activists are angry over a scheduled bear hunt in New Jersey. Officials in Essex County say the hunt is necessary because the deer population is destroying vegetation, causing accidents and carrying ticks.

Protests are expected during a one day deer hunt at a Norristown park.

The Japanese government has confirmed that they have abandoned plans to kill humpback whales in the Southern Ocean this season.

CHANGSHA, China — Unnoticed and unappreciated for five decades, a large female turtle with a stained, leathery shell is now a precious commodity in this city’s decaying zoo. She is fed a special diet of raw meat. Her small pool has been encased with bulletproof glass. A surveillance camera monitors her movements. A guard is posted at night. 

The agenda is simple: The turtle must not die.

Earlier this year, scientists concluded that she was the planet’s last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle. She is about 80 years old and weighs almost 90 pounds.

Prince Harry and a close friend have been interviewed by police after two rare and legally protected birds of prey were killed on the royal family's Sandringham estate in Norfolk last week.

The prince is understood to have been out shooting on the estate last Wednesday evening, with a friend believed to be from the Van Cutsem family, when witnesses saw two hen harriers in flight being shot, an offence under wildlife protection legislation which carries a prison sentence of up to six months or a £5,000 fine.

More than 60 international environmental groups are today staging protests outside Japanese embassies across the world to demand an end to Japan's dolphin and porpoise hunts.

The protests in 31 cities, including London, Washington and Rio are against the whaling nation's annual slaughter of some 20,000 dolphins and porpoises. Protesters dressed in red and wearing a red flower will deliver messages to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling for an end to the slaughter.

A California lawmaker presented a bill Tuesday designed to put an end to Alaska's aerial wolf control program under which hundreds of wolves have been killed.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., introduced the House bill in the Committee on Natural Resources. He was joined by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash.

Miller said the Protect America's Wildlife Act, or PAW Act, would close a loophole in federal law that Alaska has exploited to permit hunters to shoot and kill nearly 700 wolves from aircraft in the past several years.