Wildlife Management

Federal wildlife officials asked a judge to put gray wolves in the Northern Rockies back on the endangered species list -- a sharp reversal from their prior contention that the animals were thriving. Lawyers for the Fish and Wildlife Service asked U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula to vacate the agency's February finding that more than 1,400 wolves in the region no longer needed federal protection. The government's request follows a July injunction in which Molloy blocked plans for wolf hunts this fall in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

More than 370 penguins that mysteriously washed up on Brazil's equatorial beaches were flown south on a huge air force cargo plane and released closer to the frigid waters they call home, advocates said. Onlookers cheered as the young Magellanic penguins were set free on a beach in southern Brazil and scampered into the ocean, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said in a statement. It called the penguin release the largest in South America. The penguins were among nearly 1,000 that have washed up on Brazil's northeastern coast in recent months, said group spokesman Chris Cutter.

The Army's National Training Center at Ft. Irwin on Friday suspended its effort to move California desert tortoises off prospective combat training grounds and onto nearby public lands because the animals are being hit hard by coyotes. The first phase of the $8.7-million translocation effort began in March, when about 670 tortoises were airlifted by helicopter out of the southern portion of the desert base northeast of Barstow to new homes in drought-stricken western Mojave Desert areas.

The tiny Devil's Hole pupfish, found only in a small, deep pool in the desert near Death Valley, has been teetering on the brink of extinction for years. In the spring of 2006 there were only 38 of them, down from roughly 500 in the mid-1990s. The reasons for the decline are unclear. But government scientists trying to reverse the trend appear to be enjoying a bit of success.

Ever since the beavers arrived here in John Muir's adopted hometown, the human residents have been divided. Some wanted to save them. Others wanted to kill them. The first two beavers swam up from the delta in 2006 and began building lodges and dams in the creek that runs through downtown. Their construction work has caused some property owners along the creek to worry that all that burrowing will undermine their buildings and cause major damage.

A federal judge on Monday upheld protections for wild steelhead trout in California rivers, rejecting an argument by forestry groups that the success of hatchery-raised steelhead has made the population sufficiently robust. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno disagreed. In his 168-page ruling, he said hatchery-raised fish are no substitute for wild steelhead. Steelhead are listed as either threatened or endangered in different parts of California. In a related claim, the judge also rejected a bid by Central Valley farmers to remove steelhead trout from the federal Endangered Species Act. The farmers pointed to an abundance of resident rainbow trout, steelhead that do not migrate to the ocean.

They roam freely over the grassy hills, American royalty in a most unusual setting. Nearby, young Marines are being tutored in the controlled application of violence, but the 147 bison of Camp Pendleton, shaggy, rust-colored and majestic, are protected by federal law. Their piercing dark eyes, powerful appearance and sharp horns seem to warn intruders to their realm to stand clear. If they sense a threat to their young, they will charge.

Pulling into the parking lot on West Campus Drive at Cal State Long Beach, Dorothy Burstein figured that the cats would recognize the rumble of her Honda Accord. If that didn't perk up their ears, the sound of her popping open the car trunk surely would. "That means food," she said. Burstein is a volunteer with a small nonprofit group that for the last 10 years has been quietly feeding the dozens of feral cats that live on the fringe of the university campus.

Beavers that took up residence in a downtown creek here are staying put despite a noisy three-week construction project to shore up the bank near their lodge, relieved beaver supporters say. The eight beavers that live in Alhambra Creek near the city center have been spotted entering and leaving their lodge at dusk, even though workers drove 25-foot-long metal sheet piles into the ground a few feet from their burrow.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will round up fewer wild horses and try to shuffle funds within the agency to hold off killing large numbers of the animals to control herds and spiraling costs. Deputy Director Henri Bisson said maintaining the wild horse and burro program for another year would allow a search for possible solutions and let "cooler heads prevail." About 33,000 roam the open range in 10 Western states.