National Geographic has an interesting report on predator-prey issues in national parks: apparently pregnant moose in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park tend to shift their activity closer to roads before giving birth, in order to avoid predation by grizzly bears. According to the results of the study, bears tend to be much more wary of roadways than moose. Grizzlies usually give keep at least a 5000 meter clearance, while moose have been recorded giving birth within a... Read more

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Apparently the hunting season for wolves opens on September 1 (next Tuesday), and the state of Idaho is charging residents $11.75 a head for kills. Wolves have bounced on and off of the Endangered Species list for years now, with their status often more a result of the political environment than anything else. Currently, populations of wolves in the Great Lakes Region are protected, but those in the Rockies are not. Idaho has set a season quota of 220 individuals,... Read more

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I did my undergraduate degree at Auburn University, which is both a fantastic research institution and (in my exceedingly biased opinion), the crown jewel of Southern college football. I have spent many autumn Saturdays crammed in Jordan-Hare Stadium with 87,000 other people (keep in mind that the entire population of the town is around 40,000), and never ceased to be amazed at such a huge aggregation of humans, all there just to watch a game. The conservation biologist in me... Read more

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