Siberian tiger, once shot by Vladimir Putin, goes missing despite tracking collar

A rare Siberian tiger fitted by Vladimir Putin with a radio-tracking collar has vanished, a Russian environmentalist said Wednesday, dramatizing the plight of a species some conservationists fear may be approaching extinction.

Russia's prime minister drew worldwide publicity in 2008 when he shot the five-year-old female tiger with a tranquilizer gun and helped place a transmitter around her neck. That allowed visitors to his Web site to follow the animal's prowlings through Russia's wild Far East. A video of the episode is on YouTube.

But the satellite tracking device has been silent since mid-September, which could be due to battery failure, a broken collar or poachers, Vladimir Krever of the World Wildlife Fund said Wednesday.

Tigers are rapidly disappearing from the far-eastern regions of Russian due to poaching and the loss of habitat, conservationists say.

 Their number may have declined by 40 per cent since 1997, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a report released Tuesday, although another major conservation group, the World Wildlife Fund, disputed the figure.

District Court judge: Yellowstone's grizzly bears must stay on endangered species list

Billings, Mont. — A judge says the government must keep Yellowstone-area grizzly bears on the list of threatened and endangered species, denying an attempt by federal officials to reverse an earlier court ruling.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service two years ago said grizzlies in and around Yellowstone National Park had recovered from near-extermination and no longer needed protections under the Endangered Species Act.

But in September, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said climate change and lax regulations threatened to undermine the bears' recovery. After Molloy ordered the animals back onto the threatened list, government attorneys asked that he reconsider, saying the bear would thrive without sweeping federal protections.

In an order Tuesday, Molloy rejected the government's argument and confirmed his earlier ruling.

-- Associated Press

Photo: A family of grizzly bears in the Cougar Flats area of Yellowstone National Park. Photo credit: Steve Ard / Associated Press

Your morning adorable: Elephants canoodle at new Thai elephant retirement home

Thailand's new Pang La Elephant Rehabilitation Center officially opened over the weekend, becoming the first facility of its kind in the country known for its love affair with elephants. 

The center, in Thailand's Lampang province, plans to care for up to 200 elderly and disabled Asian elephants; currently, about 30 elephants call it home, including several that are partially or completely blind, according to the Bangkok Post.  It's staffed by veterinarians and mahouts and run by Thailand's Forest Industry Organization. 

Pang La will care for elephant residents, like the two elderly pachyderms above, "until their last breath," Forest Industry Organization chief Manoonsak Tantiwiwat told the Bangkok Post.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Elephants at the Pang La Elephant Rehabilitation Center use their trunks to pet each other Nov. 21.  Credit: Pongmanat Tasiri / European Pressphoto Agency

Your morning adorable: Three bumps -- er, Siberian tiger cubs -- on a log

Germany's Nuremberg Zoo welcomed Rangar, Khan and Domur, Siberian tiger cubs, back in August. Since Siberian tigers (also called Amur tigers) are endangered -- it's believed that only about 400 to 500 animals remain in the wild in eastern Russia and parts of China and North Korea -- these three healthy cubs have given the zoo great cause for celebration.

Siberian tigers are the largest of the tiger subspecies still in existence today. There were once eight subspecies, but three (the Caspian tiger, Javan tiger and Bali tiger) became extinct during the 20th century.  The five remaining subspecies are all considered endangered.

More photos of Rangar, Khan and Domur after the jump!

San Diego Zoo's giant panda cub gets a name

The suspense is over: In a ceremony Tuesday, San Diego Zoo officials announced the recently selected name of the giant panda cub born there in August. (In accordance with Chinese tradition, the cub couldn't be officially named until he was 100 days old.)

The zoo held a contest to allow members of the public to submit name suggestions for the cub, a healthy male born to mother Bai Yun and father Gao Gao.  Once the submission period closed Oct. 19, zoo staff members selected their five favorite names from more than 6,000 offered by panda fans, which then had to be approved by the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Assn. 

That done, the zoo turned once again to the public to decide on the cub's name, allowing visitors to its website and Facebook fan page to cast their votes for one of the five  finalists: Xiao Long ("Little Dragon"), Xiong Wei ("Extraordinary Bear"), Fu Sheng ("Blissful San Diego"), Yong Xiang ("Eternally Blessed") and Yun Zi ("Son of Cloud"). 

According to the zoo, nearly 18,000 votes were received during the voting period, and the winning name received 28% of the vote.  That name is...

Your morning adorable: Walk like a man, giant panda

How do you prepare giant pandas for mating season?  Well, if you're the staff of the Shaanxi Wild Animal Rescue and Research Center in China's Shaanxi province, you start by strength-training.

So how do you strength-train a panda?

Apparently, you teach him to walk on his hind legs, a mode of locomotion he probably wouldn't try on his own. The method may seem strange, but we're not inclined to scoff -- after all, giant pandas are so endangered that it's believed there are fewer than 2,000 of them left in the wild, so any effort to help the species survive seems worthwhile (even if it does look a little odd).

After the jump, check out more photos of this fellow, an 18-month-old male, getting the hang of walking upright!

Deal to limit Atlantic bluefin tuna catches not good enough, say environmentalists

BRUSSELS – Environmentalists on Monday said an international deal to reduce catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna didn't go far enough to protect the species from extinction.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas decided at a meeting Sunday in Brazil to limit 2010 catch quotas to 13,500 tons to prevent overfishing of the much sought-after tuna, the European Union said.

The commission sets annual fishing limits in an effort to save the fish stock from extinction.

Signatory countries had previously agreed to cut catches from 28,500 tons to 22,000 this year, but scientists and environmental groups argued a total ban was needed to salvage a viable tuna stock.

"Only a zero catch limit could have maximized the chances that Atlantic bluefin tuna could recover to the point where the fishery could exist in the future," said Susan Lieberman, from the Pew Environment Group.

Raul Romeva, who sits on the European Parliament's fisheries committee, said European delegates to the Brazil meeting "deserve to be condemned" for agreeing to continue fishing the sushi favorite.

It's the time of the season for manatees: Florida boaters are urged to watch out for gentle giants

Florida wildlife officials are urging boaters to be on the lookout for manatees that are migrating to warmer waters for the winter.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says boaters should stay in marked channels and obey speed zone signs during the winter migration period. Kipp Frohlich, a leader of the FWC's Imperiled Species Management Section, says boaters should also give a manatee plenty of room in the water because it might not be traveling alone.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website, manatees generally travel along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts during the fall and spring.

-- Associated Press

Photo: A manatee and her calf lounge in western Florida's Crystal River. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Delisted: Brown pelican is no longer an endangered species, say federal officials

With all the unsettling animal news that crosses our desks, we're always pleased to be able to share a bit of good news. Our colleague Jim Tankersley reports from New Orleans on the progress that's been made on behalf of the no-longer-endangered brown pelican. Here's an excerpt:

Federal officials announced today that they are removing the brown pelican from the endangered species list, capping a century-long recovery that started under President Theodore Roosevelt.

The brown pelican is an avian fixture in Southern California and along the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida, where Roosevelt established the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island to protect the bird from human slaughter.

It is an icon in Louisiana, where it is the state bird and where Interior Department officials assembled today at the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge near New Orleans to proclaim the brown pelican "fully recovered" and no longer in need of federal protection.

"In many ways, the brown pelican stands as a symbol of our nation's struggle to protect and conserve our wildlife," said Tom Strickland, assistant Interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, adding that "it's been a long, long steady climb back . . . from the brink of extinction."

Brown pelicans were first imperiled by hunters who prized their feathers. Later the bird suffered heavily from the effects of the pesticide DDT, sprayed for mosquito control, which weakened pelican eggs so that they cracked prematurely.

THERE'S MORE; READ THE REST.

Photo: A California brown pelican flies over La Jolla Cove in La Jolla, Calif. Credit:  David McNew / Getty Images

Pepper for pachyderms: Africa's Elephant Pepper Development Trust helps farmers and animals

For many residents of Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, elephants don't seem majestic so much as menacing. Elephants are largely protected from poachers in these nations, but many people whose crops and homes the animals have destroyed wish they weren't. Enter the Elephant Pepper Development Trust, which aims to help both the people and the elephants survive -- through elephants' culinary nemesis, pepper. Here's an excerpt from our colleague Robyn Dixon's story:

The Zambia-based trust trains African farmers to repel elephants by using chile peppers. Elephants hate chiles.

African farmers often burn chiles as a repellent, but it's not enough. The trust's method involves four simple steps, but takes a lot of work and commitment.

The method: 1) Leave 5 yards of cleared space between the forest and the fields. At night, smelling humans around, crossing the gap into a field makes the elephants nervous. 2) Plant a thick barrier of chiles around the field. 3) Put up a fence with rope that has jangling cans (which gives them a fright) and cloth flags coated with thick chile-spiked grease. 4) Burn chiles, making pungent smoke.

The trust guarantees to buy chiles grown from farmers and manufactures its own Elephant Pepper brand of chile spices and sauces, sold in southern Africa and soon to hit the U.S. market. (They are already available to U.S. customers via the group's website.) The profits go back into the trust.

"We say, 'We are not here to give you food or money,' " Osborn said. " 'We're here to give you an idea. It's up to you to take it up.' "

THERE'S MORE; READ THE REST.

Photo: Women sort chiles grown by local farmers for the Elephant Pepper Development Trust. Credit: Robyn Dixon / Los Angeles Times