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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/arizona/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:54:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Arizona environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/arizona/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Students and scientists collaborate to maintain Navajo Nation forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/students-and-scientists-collaborate-to-maintain-navajo-nation-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/students-and-scientists-collaborate-to-maintain-navajo-nation-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Dec 2024 11:05:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark DeGraff]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/06031831/Cut_firewood-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forestry, Forests, Green, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Surviving desert heat, alpine cold, and meager rainfall each year, two-needle pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) are the backbone of many forests in the southwestern United States. Their stout branches offer shade for bighorn sheep and sagebrush lizards, while their yearly crop of nuts has nourished humans for millennia. But 150 years of grazing, fire suppression, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Surviving desert heat, alpine cold, and meager rainfall each year, two-needle pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) are the backbone of many forests in the southwestern United States. Their stout branches offer shade for bighorn sheep and sagebrush lizards, while their yearly crop of nuts has nourished humans for millennia. But 150 years of grazing, fire suppression, and other land-use changes have transformed these forests. In many areas, thickets of young trees are choking out woodlands once dominated by widely spaced pines more than a century old. An old two-leaf pinyon pine on the Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona. Photo credit: bloodredrapture on Flickr A two-leaf pinyon pine cone with nuts inside Northeast of Valle, Arizona. Photo credit: Curtis Clark on Wikimedia Commons On the Navajo Nation, some ranchers became concerned that the changing forests no longer have enough of the tender grasses relished by their livestock. To help restore the traditional ecology of these dry woodlands, Arizona researchers worked with undergraduate students to remove the dense growths of saplings on land used by Navajo ranchers. This project can be “traced all the way back to meetings within the community of how they can address this issue,” said Navajo researcher Lionel Whitehair, a PhD student in forestry at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff and lead author of a recent study in Trees, Forests and People. Whitehair and his colleagues conducted their experiment on a 10-hectare (25-acre) study plot at Diné College, a tribally-controlled community college in northeastern Arizona. This site, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/students-and-scientists-collaborate-to-maintain-navajo-nation-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/students-and-scientists-collaborate-to-maintain-navajo-nation-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cocopah Tribe aims to restore Colorado River habitat — and tribal culture</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/cocopah-tribe-aims-to-restore-colorado-river-habitat-and-tribal-culture/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/cocopah-tribe-aims-to-restore-colorado-river-habitat-and-tribal-culture/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2023 15:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Evan Bourtis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/22104521/Summer-Tanager-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276923</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Governance, Habitat, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Reforestation, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the southwesternmost corner of Arizona, the Colorado River weaves in between Mexico and the lands of the Native American Cocopah Tribe. Many spots along the river’s shore are lined with dense thickets of invasive reeds called phragmites that surpass 3 meters (9.8 feet) in height. With rigid, green stems and feathery heads standing high, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the southwesternmost corner of Arizona, the Colorado River weaves in between Mexico and the lands of the Native American Cocopah Tribe. Many spots along the river’s shore are lined with dense thickets of invasive reeds called phragmites that surpass 3 meters (9.8 feet) in height. With rigid, green stems and feathery heads standing high, it’s difficult to see across to the other side of the waterway. However, a 3-hectare (7-acre) stretch on the North Cocopah Reservation is nearly free of the reeds. Instead, it’s surrounded by a mix of cottonwoods (Populus), willows (Salix) and mesquites (Prosopis). Those are trees that Joe Rodriquez, a member of the Cocopah Tribe and the manager of the Cocpaph Museum and Cultural Center, remembers seeing along the river, growing up in the 1970s. Rodriquez recalls playing with his friends barefoot in the sand during summers and running underneath large mesquite trees for shade. “We picked the closest tree to run to because the ground was so hot. That&#8217;s when we grew up. We ran, we swam, we climbed trees,&#8221; he said. On Earth Day last April, the tribe’s Environmental Protection Office cut the ribbon on its two-year project to clear invasive reeds and plant more than 1,000 native trees — restoring the riverside to what it looked like decades ago. After opening remarks, tribal members explored the restoration site complete with a 1.6 kilometer (1-mile) walking trail, a labyrinth and rocks to sit on and reflect. The name of the trail, “Final Keepers of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/cocopah-tribe-aims-to-restore-colorado-river-habitat-and-tribal-culture/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/cocopah-tribe-aims-to-restore-colorado-river-habitat-and-tribal-culture/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276923</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Apache tribe decry loss of sacred site to massive copper mine at both court and the U.N.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/apache-tribe-decry-loss-of-sacred-site-to-massive-copper-mine-at-both-court-and-the-u-n/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/apache-tribe-decry-loss-of-sacred-site-to-massive-copper-mine-at-both-court-and-the-u-n/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2023 19:14:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kate Schimel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/27185603/41345147252_77fa919e63_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Deserts, Development, Economics, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Religions, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, and Native News Online. NEW YORK — The San Carlos Apache Tribe has taken its legal battle against the U.S. government to the United Nations to save its traditional territory in Arizona from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, and Native News Online. NEW YORK — The San Carlos Apache Tribe has taken its legal battle against the U.S. government to the United Nations to save its traditional territory in Arizona from a massive copper mine. Chi&#8217;chil Bildagoteel, also known as Oak Flat, is home to one of the largest sources of copper in North America, and it is also the tribe’s most sacred site. San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler told the U.N. that the destruction of sacred sites is a “major human rights violation,” although he stopped short of describing the plans to mine Oak Flat in those specific terms. “Oak Flat is a holy site, an area of irreplaceable beauty akin to a church, no different than the ‘Wailing’ Wall, Temple Mount, Australia’s Juunkan Gorge or Mecca’s Kaaba,” Rambler said in an statement also called an “intervention” before the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII. “By violating the rights of Apaches to practice our religion and maintain our spiritual health and wellbeing, the United States is failing to comply with international standards incumbent on them as signatories of treaties and declarations that protect these fundamental human rights.” The U.S. Forest Service, which oversees the mining proposal, says they are involved in consultation with the tribe and will provide two months&#8217; notice before making a decision. Oak Flat, Arizona features groves&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/apache-tribe-decry-loss-of-sacred-site-to-massive-copper-mine-at-both-court-and-the-u-n/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/apache-tribe-decry-loss-of-sacred-site-to-massive-copper-mine-at-both-court-and-the-u-n/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After 150 years of damage to people and planet, Rio Tinto &#8216;must be held to account&#8217; (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Apr 2023 22:27:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Saul Jones]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/05214319/Rio-Tinto-1024x639-1-e1680731326337-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267261</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Arizona, Australia, East Africa, Europe, Madagascar, North America, United Kingdom, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Human Rights, Mining, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For most of us, it seems quite obvious that doing harm leads to consequences. It’s only fair after all – if your actions hurt someone, you get held to account and you change. However, if you happen to be a multi-billion-dollar titan of the global mining industry, the harm-to-consequences link might not seem so clear. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For most of us, it seems quite obvious that doing harm leads to consequences. It’s only fair after all – if your actions hurt someone, you get held to account and you change. However, if you happen to be a multi-billion-dollar titan of the global mining industry, the harm-to-consequences link might not seem so clear. Our case in point here is Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian mining company, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and holds its London Annual General Meeting on 6 April. The history of the company is littered with examples of environmental pollution, dispossessing people of their lands and destroying valuable cultural heritage, but the consequences it has faced have been few and far between. It still trades shares on the London Stock Exchange, still operates in 35 countries and still has an income of over $10 billion a year. Soon, a change in UK law may mean that companies based in the UK can be taken to court for human rights and environmental harms caused in other countries. Rio Tinto would do well to pay close attention to this development, as doing damage to people, the climate and nature is not something that’s simply in the past – it is still very much a part of the company’s operations today. Communities near Rio Tinto&#8217;s QMM mine in Madagascar have recorded uranium and lead levels 52 and 40 times in excess of WHO safe drinking water standards, respectively. Shown here is mineral-rich sand that awaits processing outside&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267261</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Western monarch populations reach highest number in decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/monarch-populations-rebound-but-its-still-a-long-journey-to-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/monarch-populations-rebound-but-its-still-a-long-journey-to-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jan 2023 20:04:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/24120807/monarch-butterfly-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265139</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Butterflies, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Insects]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest numbers since the year 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted at their California and Arizona overwintering sites during the 26th annual Thanksgiving Western Monarch Count. Click here to listen to this article: “We can all celebrate this tally,” Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at the Xerces [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest numbers since the year 2000, with more than 335,000 butterflies counted at their California and Arizona overwintering sites during the 26th annual Thanksgiving Western Monarch Count. Click here to listen to this article: “We can all celebrate this tally,” Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist at the Xerces Society and western monarch lead said in a press release. “A second year in a row of relatively good numbers gives us hope that there is still time to act to save the western migration.” More than 250 individuals took part in the 2022 Western Monarch Count, in which they examined sites along the California coast and a few others in California&#8217;s interior and Arizona in November and December. The volunteers counted groups of monarchs as they came together to spend the winter in groves of trees, often made up of nonnative eucalyptus species. Monarch butterflies cluster together in treetops for protection over winter. The overwintering sites need to provide particular combinations of protection from weather, dappled sunshine, and nectar. This cluster is in Pacific Grove, California. Xerces. Photo by Isis Howard / Xerces Society. The largest gathering of butterflies, 34,180 individuals, was at a private site in California’s Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties have sites hosting more than 20,000 butterflies. The San Francisco Bay area also saw a considerable increase over the past few years, with around 9,000 individuals found. A few publicly accessible sites in California where&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/monarch-populations-rebound-but-its-still-a-long-journey-to-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265139</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humanity’s challenge of the century: Conserving Earth’s freshwater systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/humanitys-challenge-of-the-century-conserving-earths-freshwater-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/humanitys-challenge-of-the-century-conserving-earths-freshwater-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 May 2021 19:48:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Saul Elbein]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/05/10130449/banner1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=242451</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Arizona, California, Global, Libya, Middle East, Oman, Sahel, Southwest United States, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Cities, Climate Change, Conservation, Desertification, Deserts, Drinking Water, Drought, Environment, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Natural Resources, Resource Conflict, Rivers, Technology, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From Tripoli to Phoenix, the world’s thirst in great desert cities is deepening, even as agribusiness guzzles more water to feed them. Humanity’s arid urban places are colliding with a key Planetary Boundary, scientists warn.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On April 11, 2020, a band of fighters stormed and seized a water control station in the Libyan Sahara. Taking employees prisoner, they occupied a key nexus that helps move 1.2 million cubic meters (317 million gallons) of water per day — 480 Olympic-sized swimming pools — from freshwater aquifers beneath the desert down to the coast. The raiders flipped a switch and at a stroke, 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, in the capital Tripoli, 2 million people&#8217;s taps went dry. One of many such attacks, this battle in the intensifying global water wars has dire portent for Libya and the world. The country’s water system had once been a crown jewel of 20th century hydraulic engineering, part of a global constellation of megaprojects that allowed cities in water-starved regions to grow into the millions. In the 1980s, with Libya&#8217;s coastal cities outpacing the region&#8217;s sparse rainfall, and its aquifers depleted by overuse, tainted by pollution, and salted by rising seas, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi completed an enormous network of pipes — the so-called Great Manmade River — linking desert aquifers and urban coasts; it now supplies 70% of Libya&#8217;s water. Digging a trench for Libya’s Great Manmade River in the 1980s. The Great Manmade River is formed by a network of pipelines that now supplies 70% of Libya&#8217;s water — an aging infrastructure network at risk of failing. Image by Jaap Berk via Wikimedia Commons. That Manmade River today demonstrates just how fast a world-ranked freshwater supply system can fall&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/humanitys-challenge-of-the-century-conserving-earths-freshwater-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-242451</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sea temperature a critical factor in success of coral reef outplants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/sea-temperature-a-critical-factor-in-success-of-coral-reef-outplants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/sea-temperature-a-critical-factor-in-success-of-coral-reef-outplants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2020 08:45:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/17082806/anchor_large-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232581</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Coral reefs are often called the “rainforests of the sea” because they harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity of any ecosystem in the world. But as sea temperatures rise, coral reef systems are suffering mass bleaching events, leading to widespread mortality. One way to try and restore coral reef systems is coral reef [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Coral reefs are often called the “rainforests of the sea” because they harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity of any ecosystem in the world. But as sea temperatures rise, coral reef systems are suffering mass bleaching events, leading to widespread mortality. One way to try and restore coral reef systems is coral reef gardening or “outplanting,” a method of growing coral fragments in a nursery and transferring them to ailing reef systems. But like naturally grown coral, it’s hard to keep outplants alive, especially with climate change steadily raising global sea temperatures. A coral nursery loaded with detached corals in Hawai’i off the coast of O’ahu. Image by NOAA Fisheries. A new study, published this month in Environmental Research Letters, shows that coral reef outplant survival dropped below 50% when temperatures rose above 30.5° Celsius (86.9° Fahrenheit). “In normal coral reefs, an increase of one degree [Celsius, or 1.9°F] can cause bleaching and death,” Shawna Foo, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science (GDCS), told Mongabay. “But it was not actually known what temperatures were important for coral outplants to survive, maybe because they&#8217;ve been grown in different conditions, or maybe [it was thought that] they could be less resilient to temperature or more resilient to temperature.” Foo and her co-author, Greg Asner, director of GDCS, analyzed hundreds of coral outplanting projects that took place around the world between 1987 and 2018 to collect data on coral survival rates&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/sea-temperature-a-critical-factor-in-success-of-coral-reef-outplants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232581</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Those kicks were fast as lightning: Kangaroo rats evade deadly snake strikes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/those-kicks-were-fast-as-lightning-kangaroo-rats-evade-deadly-snake-strikes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/those-kicks-were-fast-as-lightning-kangaroo-rats-evade-deadly-snake-strikes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2019 12:38:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri (1965-2019)]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/04123607/snake-attack-photo_ninjarat-dog-org-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217185</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, Southwest United States, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, cameras, Deserts, Film, Predators, Research, Rodents, Technology, Tracking, Videos, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A student-led research team from three California universities has shown that desert kangaroo rats frequently avoid predation by rattlesnakes through a combination of speedy reaction times, powerful near-vertical leaps, and mid-air, ninja-style kicks. The research team tracked free-ranging rattlesnakes using radio telemetry and set up high-speed video cameras to capture potential predatory interactions when tagged [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[A student-led research team from three California universities has shown that desert kangaroo rats frequently avoid predation by rattlesnakes through a combination of speedy reaction times, powerful near-vertical leaps, and mid-air, ninja-style kicks. A desert kangaroo rat in the desert of the southwestern United States leaps over a sidewinder rattlesnake to avoid predation. Image courtesy of the research website, ninjarat.org. The research team tracked free-ranging rattlesnakes using radio telemetry and set up high-speed video cameras to capture potential predatory interactions when tagged snakes took on their ambush postures near active kangaroo rat burrows or foraging kangaroo rats. The researchers recently published their findings on the factors affecting snake predation success and potential advantages of bipedalism among small mammals. Deadly predators and athletic prey Both sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes) and desert kangaroo rats (Dipodomys deserti) are nocturnal residents of the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Rattlesnakes are ambush predators, meaning they sit still for long periods waiting until prey unaware of their presence get close enough. They eat various small mammals, including kangaroo rats, and attack by suddenly and rapidly launching themselves toward their prey and killing it with a venomous bite. Avoiding the stealthy strikes of a hunting rattlesnake at night, therefore, requires exceptional speed and athletic ability. Kangaroo rats have both: they and other bipedal small mammals frequently evade ambush predation by snakes. The seed-eating desert kangaroo rat in a quiet daytime moment. Its exceptional hearing, long tail, and long, powerful legs all contribute to its ability&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/those-kicks-were-fast-as-lightning-kangaroo-rats-evade-deadly-snake-strikes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217185</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Catch a whiff? Device aims to reveal age, gender, and identity of endangered wolves from the scent of their poop</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/catch-a-whiff-device-aims-to-reveal-age-gender-and-identity-of-endangered-wolves-from-the-scent-of-their-poop/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/catch-a-whiff-device-aims-to-reveal-age-gender-and-identity-of-endangered-wolves-from-the-scent-of-their-poop/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2015 18:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/06/catch-a-whiff-device-aims-to-reveal-age-gender-and-identity-of-endangered-wolves-from-the-scent-of-their-poop/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, New Mexico, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forests, Green, Ranching, Reintroductions, Wildlife, Wildtech, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A Mexican gray wolf waits in a pen before being released to the wild. Photo credit: Arizona Game and Fish Department. Wolves use their noses to track their quarry by its scent. Now a scientist is turning the tables, building a handheld device that analyzes the odor of wolf scat to determine the age, gender, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[A Mexican gray wolf waits in a pen before being released to the wild. Photo credit: Arizona Game and Fish Department. Wolves use their noses to track their quarry by its scent. Now a scientist is turning the tables, building a handheld device that analyzes the odor of wolf scat to determine the age, gender, and individual identity of the animal that left it. The goal is to improve estimates of the size and demographics of endangered Mexican gray wolf populations, and ultimately to help bring back the wolf and restore greater balance to the forests of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is &#8220;the smallest, southern-most occurring, rarest, and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America,&#8221; according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) website. By the 1970s the subspecies had nearly been wiped out throughout its native range. An intensive eradication effort targeted the wolves after they began attacking livestock when their natural prey populations declined as cattle and sheep ranching took hold in the region. After wolves were listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, recovery efforts led to the first reintroduction of 11 captive-bred Mexican gray wolves to the wild, in 1998. A female Mexican gray wolf, just before being transported to a release point in the Arizona wilderness. She had been brought into captivity for breeding, and was released, pregnant, with her mate, in April 2015. Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/catch-a-whiff-device-aims-to-reveal-age-gender-and-identity-of-endangered-wolves-from-the-scent-of-their-poop/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23539</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Feds: gray wolf may have returned to the Grand Canyon after 70 years</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/feds-gray-wolf-may-have-returned-to-the-grand-canyon-after-70-years/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/feds-gray-wolf-may-have-returned-to-the-grand-canyon-after-70-years/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2014 13:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/11/feds-gray-wolf-may-have-returned-to-the-grand-canyon-after-70-years/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arizona, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Carnivores, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Predators, Rewilding, Top Predators, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Obama administration proposes to remove wolves from the ESA even as the animals spread to new states A photo of what is believed to be a gray wolf sporting an inactive radio collar in forests just north of the Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. For an update on this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Obama administration proposes to remove wolves from the ESA even as the animals spread to new states A photo of what is believed to be a gray wolf sporting an inactive radio collar in forests just north of the Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. For an update on this story: Feds confirm first wolf in the Grand Canyon area shot dead Over 70 years since the last gray wolf (Canis lupus) was killed in Grand Canyon National Park, the top predator may be back. Tourists have reported numerous sightings&#8212;and taken photos&#8212;of a wolf-like animal roaming federal forest land just north of the park. Agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now intend to capture the animal to determine if it is indeed a wolf or perhaps a wolf-dog hybrid. The news of the possible wolf was leaked by an NGO, the Center for Biological Diversity, in an effort to save the animal from hunters who might mistake it for a coyote, according to Reuters. This already occurred earlier this year: the first wolf to return to Iowa after a 89-year absence was quickly shot dead by a hunter who thought it was a coyote. Gray wolves are currently protected by the Endangered Species Act in Arizona and most other states, but were removed by a legislative rider in 2011 from several wolf-range states where hunting and trapping now kills hundreds of wolves annually. Still, the Obama Administration is currently proposing lifting all protections&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/11/feds-gray-wolf-may-have-returned-to-the-grand-canyon-after-70-years/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24508</doi>				</item>
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