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Pets & Wildlife

In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. The park holds an annual contest in which people logging on to live webcams in park pick the fattest bear of the year. Grazer had 108,321 votes to handily beat Chunk, who has 23,134 votes, in the Oct. 10, 2023, finals. (F.

Don’t mess with this mama bear: Grazer easily wins popular Fat Bear Contest at Alaska national park

In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. The park holds an annual contest in which people logging on to live webcams in park pick the fattest bear of the year. Grazer had 108,321 votes to handily beat Chunk, who has 23,134 votes, in the Oct. 10, 2023, finals. (F.

October 13, 2023, 6:02am Life

When it comes to packing on the pounds to survive an Alaska winter, this year’s undisputed champ is Grazer. Read story

Steve Platt, right, and Steve Williams prepare to catch a swan for medical examinations on Lake Morton during the 43rd annual swan roundup Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in Lakeland, Fla. The late Queen Elizabeth II of England gifted the original pair of swans to the city back in 1957.

Swans in Florida that date to Queen Elizabeth II gift are rounded up for their annual physicals

Steve Platt, right, and Steve Williams prepare to catch a swan for medical examinations on Lake Morton during the 43rd annual swan roundup Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in Lakeland, Fla. The late Queen Elizabeth II of England gifted the original pair of swans to the city back in 1957.

October 10, 2023, 3:40pm Life

A flock of swans that grew from a gift nearly 70 years ago from Queen Elizabeth II has been rounded up in Florida to ensure they are all healthy. Read story

An infant pygmy rabbit is released May 18, 2012, near a man-made burrow it was captured in under a protective net in the sagebrush of remote Douglas County.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to acquire 650 more acres near Mansfield for pygmy rabbits

An infant pygmy rabbit is released May 18, 2012, near a man-made burrow it was captured in under a protective net in the sagebrush of remote Douglas County.

October 9, 2023, 12:29pm Latest News

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission recently approved acquiring about 650 acres in the Chester Butte Unit of the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area in Douglas County to promote the recovery of the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, Columbian sharp-tailed and greater sage-grouse. Read story

Giant panda Mei Xiang eats bamboo in his enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023.

Pandas could be gone from America’s zoos by the end of next year

Giant panda Mei Xiang eats bamboo in his enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023.

October 8, 2023, 6:00am Life

Wearing an “I Love Pandas” T-shirt and clutching a panda-covered diary, Kelsey Lambert bubbled with excitement as she glimpsed the real thing. She and her mother, Alison, had made a special trip from San Antonio just to watch the National Zoo’s furry rock stars casually munching bamboo and rolling around… Read story

FILE - A red wolf crosses a road on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Thursday, March 23, 2023, near Manns Harbor, N.C. The endangered red wolf can survive in the wild, but only with "significant additional management intervention," according to a long-awaited population viability analysis released Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.

Study: Red wolves will need help to survive in the wild

FILE - A red wolf crosses a road on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Thursday, March 23, 2023, near Manns Harbor, N.C. The endangered red wolf can survive in the wild, but only with "significant additional management intervention," according to a long-awaited population viability analysis released Friday, Sept. 29, 2023.

October 6, 2023, 6:20am Life

The endangered red wolf can survive in the wild, but only with “significant additional management intervention,” according to a long-awaited population viability analysis released Friday. Read story

Chad Kremer, the bison herd manager for Custer State Park, left, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem ride alongside the bison as they are pushed to the corrals during the 58th annual Custer Buffalo Roundup on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at Custer State Park in Custer, S.D. Cowboys and cowgirls in South Dakota are rounding up a herd of more than 1,500 bison, sometimes called buffalos in the U.S., as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the once-threatened species.

Rare U.S. bison roundup rustles up hundreds to maintain health of the species

Chad Kremer, the bison herd manager for Custer State Park, left, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem ride alongside the bison as they are pushed to the corrals during the 58th annual Custer Buffalo Roundup on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at Custer State Park in Custer, S.D. Cowboys and cowgirls in South Dakota are rounding up a herd of more than 1,500 bison, sometimes called buffalos in the U.S., as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the once-threatened species.

October 6, 2023, 6:20am Life

South Dakota cowboys and cowgirls rounded up a herd of more than 1,500 bison Friday as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the species, which has rebounded from near-extinction. Read story

John Cossel, Biology Department chairman at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, holds a rarely seen Idaho giant salamander. The salamanders are mostly found in north-central Idaho under rocks and logs.

Giant salamandar is Idaho’s state amphibian

John Cossel, Biology Department chairman at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, holds a rarely seen Idaho giant salamander. The salamanders are mostly found in north-central Idaho under rocks and logs.

October 6, 2023, 5:00am Pets & Wildlife

Idaho has 15 official state emblems, from the wacky, such as the Oryctodromeus as the state dinosaur, to the more mundane, like the state vegetable (no points for guessing the vegetable). But did you know that the Gem State even has a state amphibian? Read story

Longtime volunteer and birder Roger Windemuth peers through his spotting scope at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Windemuth has been visiting the refuge and compiling a weekly bird-sighting list there for 17 years.

Hockinson’s Roger Windemuth keeps an eye on fine feathered friends at Ridgefield wildlife refuge

Longtime volunteer and birder Roger Windemuth peers through his spotting scope at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Windemuth has been visiting the refuge and compiling a weekly bird-sighting list there for 17 years.

October 5, 2023, 6:03am Clark County Life

Black Phoebe, a plump gray-and-white songbird, is somewhere up in a tree. Roger Windemuth can’t spot it, but he recognizes its quick little chirp. Read story

FILE - This image provided by the Horry County Sheriff's Office in Conway, S.C., shows Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, wild animal trainer featured in the popular Netflix series "Tiger King", who has been convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Antle was accused of illegally buying endangered lion cubs in Frederick County, Va., for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo,.

‘Tiger King’ animal trainer ‘Doc’ Antle gets suspended sentence for wildlife trafficking in Virginia

FILE - This image provided by the Horry County Sheriff's Office in Conway, S.C., shows Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, wild animal trainer featured in the popular Netflix series "Tiger King", who has been convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Antle was accused of illegally buying endangered lion cubs in Frederick County, Va., for display and profit at his South Carolina zoo,.

October 4, 2023, 9:08am Nation & World

An animal trainer featured in the popular Netflix series “Tiger King” has received a suspended two-year sentence after being convicted of wildlife trafficking in Virginia, the state attorney general’s office announced. Read story

Restoring northwestern pond turtle populations will take time.

Feds propose protections for turtles that nearly went extinct in WA

Restoring northwestern pond turtle populations will take time.

October 3, 2023, 7:42am Latest News

A small and once-prominent species of turtle, endangered by invasive bullfrogs, human development and climate change, might soon see a boost in efforts to rebuild its populations throughout the West. Read story