Whale remains left by the Arctic Alaskan town of Kaktovic after the annual hunt drew record numbers of polar bears to the small community last month. Researchers who use the town to monitor bear populations counted 80 bears in a single day, besting the previous record of 65, set in 2004. The sharp increase has been attributed in large part to the record retreat of Arctic sea ice, which reached an all-time low in August. The bears, who traditionally rely on fat reserves during the summer months... Read More
Photographer: Damian Cromwell/Bella Coola Heli Sports
Washington's Methow Valley Ranger District has issued a notice of noncompliance to a heli-skiing company that cut more than two dozen trees on a high ridge in the North Cascades. Mazama-based North Cascade Heli-Skiing illegally cleared and topped the trees in at least two areas in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in order to create better landing sites. Backcountry skiers took pictures of the stumps of whitebark pine, subalpine larch, and fire trees, some of which were around 300 years o... Read More
Several trails in Banff National Park are closed following a fatal attack on a dog by a grizzly bear last week. Leo Mitzel was hiking with his Jack Russell terrier on Thursday when the adult bear approached them and killed the dog, which was on a leash at the time of the attack. Mitzel, who runs the nearby Skoki Lodge, was not harmed. In response, officials immediately closed Merlin Meadows and Red Deer Lakes campgrounds; they have since closed additional trails and campgrounds at Hidden Lake ... Read More
Geoffrey Mutai edged out his training partner Dennis Kimetto by one second to win the 2012 Berlin Marathon in what was one of the closest races of the season—maybe. The Kenyan pair matched each other stride-for-stride for the first 26.2 miles, but over the closing straightaway it didn’t appear that either Mutai or Kimetto gave a final kick. Mutai finished with a time of 2:04:15, and Kimetto came in at 2:04:16. Race announcers questioned whether the finish had been pre-planned and L... Read More
Virginia zoo director Meghan Mogensen has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for animal cruelty after drowning an adult wallaby named Parmesan in January. Parmesan was being treated for a minor eye injury when another zoo employee found the animal’s body soaking in a plastic bag inside a dumpster.
Mogensen initially said that she had humanely euthanized the wounded animal on orders of a senior zoo official, a claim that was disproved when a necropsy of the animal showed clear signs of d... Read More
