Study: Even With Population Density Increase, Food Decline, Climate Change, Human Impacts, Yellowstone Grizzlies Maintaining Body Fat For Hibernation
June 8th, 2023
Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have been able to gain the body fat they need for hibernation even as population densities have increased and as climate change and human impacts have changed the availability of some foods, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners.
Read the Full Article
Washington Predator-Prey Project: New Research Shows Coyotes, Bobcats Move Into Human Inhabited Areas To Avoid Cougars, Wolves
May 24th, 2023
Since their protection under the Endangered Species Act, wolf populations have been making a comeback in the continental United States. Conservationists have argued that the presence of wolves and other apex predators, so named because they have no known predators aside from people, can help keep smaller predator species in check.
Read the Full Article
Inslee Signs Legislation Creating 1000-Yard Mandatory Vessel Buffer Around Endangered Orcas, Effective Jan. 2025
May 18th, 2023
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed new legislation to create a mandatory 1,000-yard vessel buffer around Southern Resident killer whales to protect the endangered population from vessel noise and disturbance. The expanded buffer requirement goes into effect January 2025.
Read the Full Article
Southern Resident Orca Buffer Bill Clears Washington Legislature; All Boats Must Stay 1,000 Yards From Killer Whales
April 20th, 2023
A bill to create a 1,000-yard buffer around the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas is headed to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk for his signature after clearing a final legislative hurdle this week. Senate Bill 5371 requires that boaters stay 1,000 yards away from Southern Residents, beginning in 2025.
Read the Full Article
Oregon Wolf Report Shows Increase Of Three Wolves Last Year, Four Breeding Pairs In Western Oregon; ‘Illegal Take Unacceptably High’
April 20th, 2023
The minimum known count of wolves in Oregon at the end of 2022 was 178 wolves, an increase of three wolves over the 2021 minimum known number of 175, according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management annual report released today.
Read the Full Article
Washington Wolf Report Shows 5 Percent Increase In State’s Population; A Minimum 216 Wolves, 37 Packs, First Pack In South Cascades
April 14th, 2023
The Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2022 Annual Report released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shows a 5% increase in wolf population growth from the previous count in 2021. WDFW also documented Washington’s first pack to recolonize the south Cascades this winter.
Read the Full Article
Why Are Southern Resident Killer Whales Not Recovering? Ground-Breaking Study Shows Inbreeding Major Contributor To Decline Of Endangered Orcas
March 22nd, 2023
The small size and isolation of the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have led to high levels of inbreeding. This inbreeding has contributed to their decline, which has continued as surrounding killer whale populations expand, according to research published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Read the Full Article
Northwest Washington Study: With Less Salmon To Eat, Bald Eagles Showing Up On Dairy Farms To Get Food From Farm By-Products
March 22nd, 2023
Bald Eagles and dairy farmers exist in a mutually beneficial relationship in parts of northwestern Washington State. According to a new study, this "win-win" relationship has been a more recent development, driven by the impact of climate change on eagles' traditional winter diet of salmon carcasses, as well as by increased eagle abundance following decades of conservation efforts.
Read the Full Article
UW/NOAA Study Looks At Why Northern Resident Orcas Doing Better Than Southern Residents; They Hunt Differently
March 16th, 2023
In the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, scientists have been sounding the alarm about the plight of southern resident orcas. Annual counts show that population numbers, already precarious, have fallen back to mid-1970s levels.