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Threatened species: court asked to compel Australian ministers to create recovery plans

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Tuesday, March 4, 2025

One of Australia’s largest conservation organisations has launched legal action alleging that successive federal environment ministers failed to meet their obligation to create recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction.The Wilderness Society (TWS) filed the proceedings in the federal court on Monday.Eleven endangered species, including the greater glider (Petauroides volans), the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) and the Baudin’s cockatoo (Zanda baudinii), will feature in the case.Recovery plans set out action needed to bring species back from the brink of extinction and put them on a better trajectory.TWS, represented by Environmental Justice Australia, will allege that the failure by environment ministers to make recovery plans for threatened plants and animals that had been identified as requiring them was unlawful.“This case will shine a light on the legal and moral duties of current and future environment ministers to do their job to help Aussie wildlife beat extinction,” said the TWS biodiversity policy and campaign manager, Sam Szoke-Burke.“For decades, government after government has failed to make recovery plans for hundreds of threatened species that are in dire need of better care.”The case is asking the court to compel the environment minister to make recovery plans for the 11 species named in the application.Under Australia’s national environmental laws, the minister decides whether a species requires a recovery plan or not. If the minister decides a species does require one, the plan must usually be made within three years.Once a recovery plan is enacted, the minister must not make decisions that would be considered contrary to its goals and actions.The legal challenge follows long-held concerns about a backlog of unfinished and undeveloped plans for species including the greater glider, which has required a recovery plan since 2016 but has no plan in place.“Recovery plans are legally required,” Szoke-Burke said.Guardian Australia has reported extensively on the failure by successive governments to make recovery plans within the required time frames. An auditor general’s report in 2022 found only 2% of recovery plans had been completed within their statutory timeframe since 2013.In 2020 the federal environment department told a Senate estimates hearing that 170 plants, animals and habitats were waiting for recovery plans.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionTo reduce the backlog, the previous Coalition government had the threatened species scientific committee reassess whether some species still required a plan and, in 2022, scrapped the requirement for almost 200 plants, animals and habitats.The golden sun moth was one of the species the minister at that time decided still required a recovery plan. The moth has been identified as requiring a plan since 2009. The government’s threatened fauna list shows that plan still has not been made.In addition to the greater glider, the ghost bat and the Baudin’s cockatoo, eight other species will feature in the TWS case: the Australian grayling, the Australian lungfish, Carnaby’s black cockatoo, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo, the red goshawk, the sandhill dunnart and the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.Some of these species previously had plans but those plans have expired and new ones have not been adopted.“Too many of Australia’s most iconic and threatened species simply don’t have recovery plans,” said an Environmental Justice Australia senior specialist lawyer, Ellen Maybery, adding: “Our client hopes this case will set a precedent that compels all future environment ministers to create recovery plans and pull these unique species back from the brink of extinction.”The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said she could not comment on details of the case because the matter is before the federal court.With an election looming, Plibersek claimed Labor had a stronger record than the Coalition when it came to protecting nature and acting on climate change.

The Wilderness Society launches legal action in hope of helping animals on brink of extinctionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne of Australia’s largest conservation organisations has launched legal action alleging that successive federal environment ministers failed to meet their obligation to create recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction.The Wilderness Society (TWS) filed the proceedings in the federal court on Monday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

One of Australia’s largest conservation organisations has launched legal action alleging that successive federal environment ministers failed to meet their obligation to create recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) filed the proceedings in the federal court on Monday.

Eleven endangered species, including the greater glider (Petauroides volans), the ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) and the Baudin’s cockatoo (Zanda baudinii), will feature in the case.

Recovery plans set out action needed to bring species back from the brink of extinction and put them on a better trajectory.

TWS, represented by Environmental Justice Australia, will allege that the failure by environment ministers to make recovery plans for threatened plants and animals that had been identified as requiring them was unlawful.

“This case will shine a light on the legal and moral duties of current and future environment ministers to do their job to help Aussie wildlife beat extinction,” said the TWS biodiversity policy and campaign manager, Sam Szoke-Burke.

“For decades, government after government has failed to make recovery plans for hundreds of threatened species that are in dire need of better care.”

The case is asking the court to compel the environment minister to make recovery plans for the 11 species named in the application.

Under Australia’s national environmental laws, the minister decides whether a species requires a recovery plan or not. If the minister decides a species does require one, the plan must usually be made within three years.

Once a recovery plan is enacted, the minister must not make decisions that would be considered contrary to its goals and actions.

The legal challenge follows long-held concerns about a backlog of unfinished and undeveloped plans for species including the greater glider, which has required a recovery plan since 2016 but has no plan in place.

“Recovery plans are legally required,” Szoke-Burke said.

Guardian Australia has reported extensively on the failure by successive governments to make recovery plans within the required time frames. An auditor general’s report in 2022 found only 2% of recovery plans had been completed within their statutory timeframe since 2013.

In 2020 the federal environment department told a Senate estimates hearing that 170 plants, animals and habitats were waiting for recovery plans.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

To reduce the backlog, the previous Coalition government had the threatened species scientific committee reassess whether some species still required a plan and, in 2022, scrapped the requirement for almost 200 plants, animals and habitats.

The golden sun moth was one of the species the minister at that time decided still required a recovery plan. The moth has been identified as requiring a plan since 2009. The government’s threatened fauna list shows that plan still has not been made.

In addition to the greater glider, the ghost bat and the Baudin’s cockatoo, eight other species will feature in the TWS case: the Australian grayling, the Australian lungfish, Carnaby’s black cockatoo, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo, the red goshawk, the sandhill dunnart and the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.

Some of these species previously had plans but those plans have expired and new ones have not been adopted.

“Too many of Australia’s most iconic and threatened species simply don’t have recovery plans,” said an Environmental Justice Australia senior specialist lawyer, Ellen Maybery, adding: “Our client hopes this case will set a precedent that compels all future environment ministers to create recovery plans and pull these unique species back from the brink of extinction.”

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said she could not comment on details of the case because the matter is before the federal court.

With an election looming, Plibersek claimed Labor had a stronger record than the Coalition when it came to protecting nature and acting on climate change.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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DNA detectives in Antarctica: probing 6,000 years of penguin poo for clues to the past

New ancient DNA research on Adélie penguin poo in Antarctica shows how several species respond to environmental change over time, including southern elephant seals.

Jamie WoodStudies of ancient DNA have tended to focus on frozen land in the northern hemisphere, where woolly mammoths and bison roamed. Meanwhile, Antarctica has received relatively little attention. We set out to change that. The most suitable sediments are exposed near the coast of the icy continent, where penguins like to breed. Their poo is a rich source of DNA, providing information about the health of the population as well as what penguins have been eating. Our new research opens a window on the past of Adélie penguins in Antarctica, going back 6,000 years. It also offers a surprise glimpse into the shrinking world of southern elephant seals over the past 1,000 years. Understanding how these species coped with climate change in the past can help us prepare for the future. Wildlife in Antarctica faces multiple emerging threats and will likely need support to cope with the many challenges ahead. A unique marine ecosystem Adélie penguins are particularly sensitive to changes in their environment. This makes them what we call a “sentinel species”, providing an early warning of imbalance or dysfunction in the coastal ecosystem. Their poo also provides a record of how they responded to changes in the past. In our new research, we excavated pits up to 80cm deep at ten Adélie penguin colonies along the 700km Ross Sea coastline. We then collected 156 sediment samples from different depths in each excavation. Six of these colonies were still active, meaning birds return annually to breed. The other four had been abandoned at various times over the past 6,000 years. From these sediments we generated 94 billion DNA sequences, which provided us with an unparalleled window into the past lives of Adélie penguins and their ecosystem. We detected the DNA of several animal species besides Adélie penguins. These animals included two other birds, three seals and two soil invertebrates. Not all of this DNA came from penguin poo. Our samples also contained DNA from feathers, hairs or skin cells of other species in the environment at the time. Sediment samples were taken from ten penguin colonies of various ages, six active (white dot) and four abandoned (coloured dot), on the coast of Ross Sea in Antarctica. Wood, J., et al (2025) Nature Communications, CC BY-NC-ND Penguin population size and diet When we took a closer look at the DNA from penguins of the present day, we found more genetic diversity in samples from larger colonies. Recognising this relationship between genetic diversity and colony size enabled us to estimate the size of former colonies. We could also reconstruct population trends through time. For example, in samples from active colonies, we found penguin genetic diversity increased as we sampled closer and closer to the surface. This may reflect population growth over the past century. The DNA also revealed changes in penguin diets over time. Over the past 4,000 years, the penguins in the southern Ross Sea switched from mainly eating one type of fish – the bald notothen – to another, Antarctic silverfish. The bald notothen lives beneath the sea ice, so this prey-switching was likely driven by a change in sea ice extent compared with the past. Examples of an active Adélie penguin colony (Cape Hallett), and a 6,000 year old abandoned Adélie penguin colony site (Terra Nova Bay). Jamie Wood Surprise! Elephant seals We made an unexpected discovery at Cape Hallett, in the northern Ross Sea. This is the site of an active penguin colony. Samples of sediment from close to the surface contained lots of penguin DNA and eggshell. But samples from further down, where penguin DNA and eggshell were scarce, contained DNA from southern elephant seals. Today, elephant seals are uncommon visitors to the Antarctic continent, and breed on subantarctic islands including Macquarie, Campbell and Antipodes Islands. Yet, bones of elephant seal pups found along the Ross Sea coast indicate the species used to breed in the area. Carbon dating of these bones indicate elephant seal colonies began disappearing from the southern Ross Sea around 1,000 years ago. Over the following 200 years, colonies in the northern Ross Sea began vanishing too. As the climate cooled and the extent of sea ice increased, elephant seals could no longer access suitable breeding sites. These sites were then taken over by Adélie penguins who expanded into areas once occupied by seals. Our DNA evidence suggests Cape Hallett was one of the last strongholds of southern elephant seals on the icy continent. But we may yet again see elephant seals breeding on the Antarctic mainland as the world warms and sea ice melts. Even more ancient DNA in Antarctica Our study spans the past 6,000 years, but our research suggests it would be possible to go even further back. The DNA fragments we found were very well preserved, showing little of the damage expected in warmer climates. So it should be possible to obtain much older DNA from sediments on land in Antarctica – maybe even 1 million-year-old DNA, as recently reported from Antarctic sediments beneath the ocean floor. Worthy of lasting protection In December 2017, 2.09 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea and adjoining Southern Ocean became the world’s largest marine protected area. Establishing the protection was a major achievement, yet it was only afforded for 35 years. After 2052, continuation of the region’s protected status will require international agreement. Knowledge of the vulnerability of local species and their risk in the face of change will play a key role in informing the decision. Our research provides a case study for how ancient environmental DNA can contribute towards this understanding. This research was part of the Ross Sea Region Research and Monitoring Programme,, funded by the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.Theresa Cole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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London exhibition explores design based on needs of nature and animals

Curator of Design Museum show says ‘human-centric’ approach to design needs overhaul amid climate crisisDesigners need to “fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world”, according to the curator of a new exhibition which argues the needs of nature and animals should be considered when creating homes, buildings and products.Justin McGuirk, the curator of the upcoming More Than Human exhibition at the Design Museum in London, said our current “human-centric” approach to design needs to be radically overhauled as the world adapts to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Designers need to “fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world”, according to the curator of a new exhibition which argues the needs of nature and animals should be considered when creating homes, buildings and products.Justin McGuirk, the curator of the upcoming More Than Human exhibition at the Design Museum in London, said our current “human-centric” approach to design needs to be radically overhauled as the world adapts to the climate crisis.Kombu Nudibranch by Julia Lohmann. Photograph: Julia Lohmann Studio/c/o The Design Museum“We’re stuck in a carbon accountancy model which is basically about doing everything exactly the same as we currently do, just a little bit less bad,” he said. “That’s not really going to cut it.”McGuirk believes there needs to be “a fundamental shift in position” for all designers.“Every design project needs to think about how it’s affecting other species, or either limiting its impact on other species, or ideally promoting the health of other species,” he said.The More Than Human exhibition, which opens on 11 July, presents ideas for how the world of design could achieve the shift McGuirk and others are calling for.There’s a pavilion that is specifically designed to encourage insects to nest in its exterior, a project in New York where a wave breaker has been built using a colony of oysters rather than concrete, and it features a “monumental seaweed installation” by the artist Julia Lohmann.Innovative design ideas that help restore damaged and dying marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, which are dying at record rates around the world, are also included.Reef Design Lab’s Living Seawalls – an artificial habitat for marine life – will feature alongside the lab’s Modular Artificial Reef Structure II, which is placed on the ocean floor to help regenerate and repopulate natural reef structures.McGuirk said there’s a sense that humans are detached from nature. “We extract what we need and then we build what we want. But actually we’re interdependent with all these living systems, so it’s really a new way of thinking that we’re trying to encourage,” he added.The More Than Human movement first emerged in the late 1990s when David Abram, the cultural ecologist, geo-philosopher and performance artist, coined the term. It has since moved from the theoretical to the real world.Micrographia by Johanna Seelemann. Photograph: c/o The Design Museum“It’s really only been around in theory for about 20 years,” said McGuirk. “But I’ve noticed among a younger generation of designers that this is becoming much more a way of thinking for them.”The exhibition is the first curatorial collaboration between the Design Museum and its national design research programme, Future Observatory, which launched in 2021 and champions new design thinking on environmental issues.Tim Marlow, director and CEO of the Design Museum said: “It’s important for museums and cultural institutions to respond to the complex issues facing our planet and society at present. It’s also important to shift perspectives from a human-centric view of the world to one closer to nature, which will make this a landmark exhibition in every sense.”

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Oregon drivers buy millions of tires every year. A controversial bill could create a tax on each one

An initial public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Tuesday evening.

The tire business has been good to Zach Hastings. He opened Hastings Tire & Offroad, a small Redmond tire supply shop, in 2018.Demand for new tires has remained relatively steady, Hastings said, even as rising manufacturing costs and trade policies have pushed prices up. And in Oregon, where residents get rid of roughly four million tires a year, replacements are a constant need, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality.But Hastings worries that he might soon have to raise his prices as lawmakers in Salem spar over a bill that would create a 4% tax on all Oregon tire sales. “A small business can’t necessarily absorb extra costs like that, and instead that just turns around and gets placed onto the purchaser,” Hastings said. “Realistically, that means that prices on tires are just going to go up 4% in the state of Oregon.”Democrats supporting the bill say the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. A quarter of the revenue would fund efforts to build highway crossings for wildlife to minimize car crashes involving animals. The remaining revenue would support programs to expand rail and public transit service in the state as well as efforts to reduce water pollution from illegally discarded tires. Recent research has shown that tires contain toxic particles that can wear off and enter streams and other bodies of water, which can harm fish and other animals that access those waters.“We have worked to keep the amount of the tax low,” said Sen. Chris Gorsek, a Democrat from Gresham and chief sponsor of the bill. “And on the other hand, we’re all contributing to an environmental problem that is a new thing, but it is something that we need to take seriously.”The bill has incensed Republican lawmakers and business groups, who frequently fight any proposal to create or raise taxes. Republican caucus leaders have pushed their constituents to rally against the proposal, prompting more than 1,000 submissions of written testimony, nearly all opposed to the bill. An initial public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Tuesday evening.“Tires are one of the most important safety features on any vehicle, and replacing them is already a financial burden for many Oregonians,” Erik Lukens, spokesperson for statewide business lobby Oregon Business and Industry, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Lukens said the tax “would make tires even more expensive, encouraging vehicle owners to make older, worn tires last longer.”Republican critics, many of whom represent rural areas, also argue that the tax would unfairly hurt rural residents, many of whom drive longer distances than urban residents and often don’t have the option to take public transit.The tax proposal comes at a delicate time for lawmakers. Legislators are in the early stages of crafting a major transportation package this legislative session, and the state transportation agency has said it needs more than $1.7 billion of additional funding each year to better maintain Oregon’s roads and bridges.Sen. Bruce Starr, a Republican from Dundee who has been tapped by Democrats to oversee the accountability portion of the package, criticized the proposed tire tax for failing to help close that funding gap. He also claimed, in a newsletter sent Friday, that the bill would not deliver positive environmental benefits.Gorsek, who co-chairs the transportation committee and appointed Starr to that role, pushed back against those claims. Many of the dollars in Oregon’s massive transportation-specific fund can only be used for road maintenance or other specific programs, he said, leaving some important needs without necessary funding. The tire tax would help solve that, he said.“There will be people who don’t like the bill. I understand that,” Gorsek said. However, he said, “We are trying to think in a bigger way than only focusing on the highway side of things.”— Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.Latest local politics stories

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They don't belong in the Med': Future of homeless orcas still uncertain

Animal rights campaigners and marine zoo official say Mediterranean is 'too warm' for killer whales.

'They don't belong in the Med': Future of homeless orcas still uncertainGeorge Sandeman and Giulia ImbertBBC NewsAFPWikie, pictured with her calf in 2011, needs to be rehoused after her marine zoo home shut in JanuaryThe uncertain future of two killer whales is no closer to being resolved despite the closure of their marine zoo home two months ago.Wikie, 23, and her 11-year-old son Keijo are still being kept at Marineland Antibes, located in southern France, after it closed in January due to a forthcoming law banning the use of orcas in shows. For months managers at Marineland have tried to send the killer whales to other marine zoos but this has angered animal rights campaigners who want them housed in a sanctuary, where the orcas won't have to perform or be used for breeding.The orcas were expected to go to another marine zoo in Spain when the French government rejected a move to a proposed sanctuary in Canada a few weeks ago.But now Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French ecology minister, said she would speak to colleagues in Spain, Italy and Greece about creating a different sanctuary together. However, her proposal has few other details and has been criticised.The ecology ministry, when asked by the BBC, had no further information on where a sanctuary might be located or who would fund its construction and running costs.Loro Parque, a marine zoo in Spain that wants to receive the killer whales from Marineland, told the BBC this week the current proposal was "wholly unsuitable" and that they were best positioned to care for them.Christoph Kiessling, vice-president of the facility in Tenerife, said whale sanctuaries were "currently unable to meet the complex physiological, social and environmental needs" of killer whales.Most designs involve cordoning off a bay and employing staff to ensure Wikie and Keijo - who were born in captivity and cannot be released into the wild - were properly fed and looked after.Kiessling did say such a solution might be possible if there was more extensive research and planning but "such a process could take years, leaving the two Marineland [orcas] in a facility that is being wound down".AFPDespite having closed to the public, Marineland is still paying the costs of looking after Wikie and KeijoCampaigners point out that several orcas have died at Loro Parque in the last few years, including three between March 2021 and September 2022.Managers at the marine zoo said scientific examination of those orcas by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria showed the deaths were unavoidable.They also fear Wikie might be used for breeding. Loro Parque announced in January that Morgan, the only female of the three orcas currently kept there, is pregnant.Katheryn Wise, from the charity World Animal Protection, said Loro Parque was ultimately an entertainment business that used orcas to make money.She added: "Morgan's pregnancy underlines the fact that Loro Parque could never be a suitable option for Wikie and Keijo and should be removed as an option."Marineland, who are still paying to look after the orcas, said a move to Loro Parque as soon as possible was in the best interests of the animals' welfare. They have asked the ecology ministry to approve the transfer.'The water is too warm for orcas'The whale sanctuary in Canada applied to the French government to take in the orcas last year but their bid was rejected in January.They were told the site they had selected in Nova Scotia was too far away and that the water there was too cold for Wikie and Keijo, who have spent their whole lives in southern France.Following Pannier-Runacher's proposal for a sanctuary in Europe, which she announced a fortnight ago in a video on Instagram, the directors of the rejected Canadian project criticised the idea of one being built in the Mediterranean.They wrote a letter to her in which they cited Dr David Perpiñán, a diplomate at the European College of Zoological Medicine, who said: "Wikie and Keijo's origin is Iceland. These two orcas do not belong to the ecotypes seen in the Mediterranean."He added: "The possibility of building a sanctuary for them in the Mediterranean is probably the worst of the possible options." The directors also said, unlike the European proposal, their sanctuary was ready to begin construction as the design had already been finalised.EPA-EFEMorgan, the only female orca at Loro Parque, is pregnant and some campaigners fear Wikie would be bred tooOther animal rights groups have been more welcoming of Pannier-Runacher's announcement, saying a European sanctuary would still be better for the orcas' welfare than life in another marine zoo.Sea Shepherd, a marine conservation society, replied to the minister on Instagram saying this was a chance to achieve what the zoo industry calls "impossible" - the building of an ocean sanctuary where captive orcas can enjoy the rest of their lives.Pannier-Runacher said in her video she was keenly aware of the strong feelings people had about where Wikie and Keijo should be rehomed.She did not rule out sending them to Loro Parque or other marine zoos, only that she would "oppose any transfer to a site that is not suitable for accommodating" orcas.Last November she blocked an application by Marineland to send the killer whales to a marine zoo in Japan, citing lower animal welfare regulations in the country.The 'Year of the Sea' is currently underway in France, a government initiative to raise awareness about the importance of the ocean, and Pannier-Runacher believes the creation of a European whale sanctuary would be a fitting testament to it."I'm not telling you that it will work," she told Instagram users. "But nothing ventured, nothing gained."

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Midwest Winters Are Changing. So Is the Ancient Sport of Falconry

For falconers who hunt small animals like rabbits and grouse with wild birds of prey, changing Midwest winters are also changing the sport they love

GREENLEAF, Wis. (AP) — Stephanie Stevens has a good reason to love the bone-numbing cold of a Wisconsin winter. Every weekend, she loads up her minivan with a large green box and drives out to rural areas, usually the edges of friends' farm fields.After she slips on a thick leather glove, out of the box and onto her wrist hops her unconventional hunting buddy, Alexie Echo-Hawk, Echo for short: a juvenile red-tailed hawk.“She's intense,” Stevens says, stroking her dappled feathers lightly. Falconers dedicate large chunks of the coldest season of the year to spending time outdoors, working together with their birds to hunt small game like rabbits and grouse. Many falconers say it's evident that climate change, development of rural areas and agricultural and forestry practices are all shaping the landscapes and the prey they rely on. The signs are everywhere, from the range of snowshoe hares moving north to patchy snow cover that doesn't last as long to new subdivisions cropping up in rural areas. That means falconers are having to hunt different prey than they're used to, start their seasons later or end earlier, and reckon with the emotions of watching the natural world change.Falconry also lends its practitioners extra motivation preserve the lands where they and their birds hunt — and a greater sense of loss as climate change and other human drivers forever alter those places.“My empathy is just as much to what I’m hunting as to the bird I have in my hand,” said Tom Doolittle, a retired Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and lifelong falconer in northern Wisconsin. Falconry, he says, is “a sport of observation and participation. And it changed dramatically.” An intimate connection to nature As Echo takes flight and perches high in the trees, Stevens and her son and daughter crunch through the snow below, looking for mainly cottontail rabbits.Ideal “rabbitat” looks like brush piles or thickets of brambles and thorns. Stevens wades right in and smacks the brush piles with a stick or jumps right on top of them in hopes of flushing something out.Then it happens — a rabbit darts. The hawk dives. Faster than a blink, the bells on her anklets tinkling, Echo reaches out her talons.She comes up with a tuft of fur. A near miss. “Even when the hawk misses it, it's always so close," Stevens' son Daniel said. ”That moment really wakes you up." Falconry has existed for millennia, but in North America, where the sport is neither indigenous nor easily accessible to the average person, it's governed by federal and state laws as well as a code of ethics developed by falconry associations.Falconers usually trap a wild bird after it’s learned to hunt on its own and eventually return it back to the wild, so it’s a temporary and practical relationship. If the birds wanted to, they could fly off and never come back. They return because humans essentially act as the falcons' version of a hunting dog, turning up prey. And if they don't catch anything, they still get a meal.In return, the humans get to “see a lot of nature that we normally wouldn’t see,” Stevens said.That gives falconers a greater feeling of responsibility to observe and preserve nature, said Hillary Neff, president of the Wisconsin Falconers Association. She said she pays more attention to weather and population shifts of animals than she ever did before; some falconers record their observations.Neff said she was frustrated that the falconry season got off to a late start this year thanks to an unusually warm fall. “When you are hunting with a raptor, you truly are inserting yourself into the circle of life all the way,” she said. “You’re on the mercy of nature’s whim.” Changing populations of small animals When Doolittle, the retired biologist, hunts at home in the woods about an hour south of Lake Superior, he uses goshawks, dappled gray birds with orange eyes.Goshawks naturally hunt snowshoe hares, and Doolittle has seen firsthand on his homestead how these small mammals that change from brown to snowy white in the winter are disappearing from his area.Last year, when the ground lay bare in the middle of winter, he watched one hare, seeking camouflage, that ran and hid in front of his hawk house — the only thing around with a white background for miles. “I felt so sad for him," Doolittle said.Snow cover is highly variable from year to year, but the consistent trend over decades has been that snow cover isn't lasting as long. Warmer temperatures on average mean that when snow does fall, it melts faster and its physical properties change. Animals that rely on snow are in trouble.When Doolittle treks out to what should be ideal hare habitat and sees nothing but one soft trail of snowshoe prints beneath the pines, “somehow you’ve lost something,” he says. “You’ve lost that one piece of the puzzle that to me represents the North Country.”That's something Jonathan Pauli, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has observed by systematically capturing, collaring and monitoring carnivores and their prey across the state and comparing their historical numbers to current-day ones. He said his team has observed a “relatively fast range contraction” of snowshoe hares, moving northward as climate change increasingly turns them into “white lightbulbs” highly visible to their predators in the winter.“That’s sad to me, that a species that has persisted for millennia are no longer going to be abundant or eventually not within our state," Pauli said.Pauli said studies have shown concerted forestry efforts can counteract the pressures of climate change on hares — though what benefits hares might have drawbacks for other species like martens. He thinks the challenge will be for federal and state forest managers, tribes and scientists to come together to strategically conserve multiple winter-adapted species at the same time. Climate change among many factors affecting falconry Falconers know that every hunt is different, and the reasons why abound.Less snow cover might make it easier to get around but lose the advantage of slowing down fleeing prey or making animals and their tracks more visible. Birds don't necessarily love hunting in polar temperatures like the ones the U.S. saw repeatedly this winter. Localized extreme weather events like floods can temporarily reshape game populations, too.Agricultural pesticides applied too liberally can kill off the insects eaten by raptors' prey. Human development like new subdivisions can shape entire landscapes in rural areas. Everything, from coyote numbers to land zoning decisions, matters.Doolittle said the changes he's observed over decades all relate to the human footprint, often to the detriment of other species. “We have to recognize that we as a species are the largest changing environmental effect on the planet, period," he said. “I know you’re supposed to get over change, but it’s very difficult when it means something to you or it’s a way of life.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

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Extinction

Wings of Hope

“Wings of Hope,” is a film chronicling the re-discovery of a population of wild Harpy Eagles in the Maya Mountains of southern Belize. It details the history of the Belize Foundation and Research and Environmental Education (BFREE) and UNC Wilmington initiative born from this discovery – the Integrated Community-based Harpy Eagle and Avian Conservation Program. Created by Emmy-award winning filmmakers, Richard and Carol Foster of Wildlife Film Productions, this 20-minute documentary is rich with breath-taking footage of adult and juvenile Harpy eagles and other wildlife and vistas found in the pristine tropical forests of the Bladen Nature Reserve. Over the seven year duration of the project, the Fosters followed local people involved as they transition from trainees to conservationists and as their lives are changed through their efforts to save this rare bird and its diminishing habitat.

Animals
Nature
Conservation

Dipsas Speaks

Dipsas Speaks is a poetic reflection on the human-wildlife conflict in the Andean Amazon cloud forest of Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Dipsas klebbai, a snake, observes changes in her world. 100% wildlife cast.

Forests
Conservation
Animals

HOME

If you visit Hawaii for the first time, you might be shocked about the wild chickens everywhere around the island. HOME explores the variety of relationship between people and wild chicken in Hawaii. People are trying to protect their community, but wild chickens become a huge part of it. Now we need to find a home for wild chickens, if it’s not already taken over by humans.

Animals
Indigenous
Nature

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