Background Articles

Two men in Montana have been indicted for killing approximately 3,600 birds, including protected bald and golden eagles, to sell their parts on the black market.

An executive order issued by President Biden extends the ban on Russian seafood imports to include products processed in other countries, closing a loophole from previous sanctions.

Experts use measuring sticks and tanks in regular intervals to monitor snowfall as this season’s total approaches an all-time high.

Since 2020, members of a small group of killer whales have rammed into at least 673 vessels off the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Morocco — causing some to sink. The Spanish and Portuguese governments responded by tasking a group of experts with determining what was causing the whales to strike rudders, which are used to steer ships, and how to stop it.

Ben Rich looks back at a month in which an air frost has been seen somewhere in the UK every single morning. In fact, provisional data from the Met Office suggests it has been the frostiest April for at least 60 years - with the lowest average minimum temperatures since 1922.

For the residents of Tuluksak, breakup means that they will once again be losing their source of running water.

Colorado Springs' housing boom is expanding into nearby cities, like Fountain. But new homes require water — and there are currently fewer than 9,000 taps to Fountain’s water supply.

Once believed extinct, Alaska’s wood bison have survived their first winter, and new calves represent a huge milestone for the state’s experimental project.

An endemic High Arctic bumblebee subspecies, Bombus glacialis, has been discovered by Arkhangelsk researchers on the Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean.

Biologists were able to collect valuable data on these rare animals during a special whale survey in August.

Alaska Wildlife News is an online magazine published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Fish traps have a long history around the world, and a vast network in a Vancouver Island estuary reveals generations of ecological wisdom.

“Our results suggest that warming is both increasing freshwater habitat and improving early marine survival of pink salmon in the northern Bering Sea,” said Ed Farley, NOAA Fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, who led the study.

Nunavut's chief public health officer says Iqaluit residents complaining about skin irritations should get checked out by their doctors, but so far, Dr. Michael Patterson said he hasn't heard of any formal diagnoses.

Most of Alaska sits atop permafrost. But the ground is thawing, leading to unexpected and sometimes catastrophic outcomes — what scientists have called a “slow disaster.”

An amount of shoreline roughly the size of central Moscow now collapses into the sea every year.

A major source of pollution comes from wood-burning stoves. Other sources are vehicle exhaust systems, power plant emissions and heating oil. The air pollution can permanently harm respiratory function and cause other health problems.

An aerial survey of the moose population in Zone 17 and the southern part of Zone 22 carried out in 2021, shows a 35 per cent decline in moose populations, a moderate and concerning decline, says Cree Grand Chief Mandy Gull-Masty.

Pacific pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) were introduced in the Kola Peninsula for their valuable eggs in the 1950s. Since then, the species has spread along the entire Norwegian coast and will probably remain. This sudden increase in pink salmon numbers in Norway, thought to be linked to favourable climate conditions for pink salmon reproduction and survival, is expected to continue as water temperatures rise with climate change and large numbers of fish continue to arrive from Russia.

“While many factors, such as weather, climate change and changes to the historical extent and timing of caribou migration may be contributing to lower harvests by federally qualified subsistence users, the board should act to help ensure that rural residents are able to meet their subsistence need, and to provide for a subsistence priority,” said Thomas Heinlein, acting Alaska director for the Bureau of Land Management, during the board meeting.