A black bear famously photographed falling from a tree while tranquilized last month was struck and killed by cars near Boulder, Colorado, on Thursday. The 280-pound bear, which had been relocated to a wilderness 50 miles west of Boulder, attempted to cross U.S. 36 near Boulder when it was hit by two cars. Wildlife officials say the bear was likely trying to return due to food scarcity. "It's a bummer. It's so hard to go through this and not be able to give these bears a good place to live," s... Read More
Photographer: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture/Flick
The Brazilian military this week launched an 8,500-soldier strong effort to stop illegal logging, mining, and drug trafficking in the Amazon rainforest. The operation will target Brazil's 3,000-mile border with Suriname, Venezuela, and Guyana, a sparsely populated region that is home to a growing trade in drugs and minerals. On Thursday, the operation uncovered 10 airstrips likely used for cocaine trafficking. Brazil's government is also hoping to signal its commitment to biodiversity in the a... Read More
Klaus Lenhart, the owner of the ski-pole company Leki, died on Monday in a plane crash in Kirchheim/Teck Germany, according to a statement released Wednesday. Lenhart, 56, was traveling with a 24-year-old pilot in a single-engine private plane that crashed shortly after take-off. The pilot is believed to have survived. Leki, one of the world's top makers of ski and trekking poles, was founded in 1948.
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Canadian police confirmed on Wednesday that William Orders, the British Columbia hang-glider pilot involved in a fatal accident on Saturday, swallowed a memory card that may contain video evidence of the tragedy. Investigators say X-rays show the memory card inside Orders, who was charged with obstruction of justice for withholding evidence. Video from the camera mounted on the glider's wing, part of the promised experience on Vancouver Hang Gliding tandem flights, may reveal what led 27-year-... Read More
A study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests that warming temperatures are causing plants to flower much faster than expected by scientific models. The study, led by Dr. Elizabeth Wolkovich, observed the timing of flowering and leafing in 1,634 plant species across the world. It found that timing estimates underestimated the speed of flowering by as much as eight times and leafing by four times. Earlier plant growth could require more irrigation worldwide, increasing demand f... Read More
