Wildlife

Among listings for fraying couches and used television sets, the Craigslist ad stood out — $2,800 for a prized Asian arowana fish, believed to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. A grammatically challenged buyer from Las Vegas sent the seller an email expressing interest: "Is she a super red asian arowana? I all ready have all the other species and I need the endangered one to finilize my collection. " The seller responded cautiously — "Are you a cop?" she allegedly wrote in one text message — but ultimately agreed to meet the buyer at Laguna Hills Mall for the handoff.

A lone gray wolf that authorities have been tracking for months in southern Oregon crossed the state line into northern Siskiyou County earlier this week, becoming the first wolf known to be at large in California since 1924. The radio collar on the young male, known to biologists as OR7, indicated the animal crossed into the state around noon Wednesday. Authorities say the animal is in "dispersal" mode, wandering the rugged California-Oregon border to define a home range and searching for other wolves to establish a pack.

Artist Dugald Stermer, who died Dec. 2 at age 74, was known for his work on Ramparts magazine and most famously for his update of the Olympic medals for the 1984 Games. But as a onetime member of the Los Angeles Times' Outdoors section, I will always cherish the stunning and detailed color illustrations of animals and flowers that he created starting in 2003 for the section, a former part of the newspaper. Each illustration ran weekly and was accompanied by a field guide entry written by naturalist David Lukas.

As the art director of the influential counterculture magazine Ramparts, artist Dugald Stermer had already left an imprint on popular culture when he was asked to update the design of the Olympic medals for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At their unveiling, Stermer recognized the historic reach of the project by saying he was delighted that "the medals will last a lot longer than I will. " Known for treasuring classic typography, he brought the same eye to the medallions.

Burbank animal control officers Tuesday rescued two malnourished mountain lion cubs that were hiding under a parked car — but not before residents reportedly tried hitting them with a broomstick. The cubs weigh 5 pounds each and were taken to a refuge in Calabasas. Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said residents called in the cubs' location in the 600 block of East Orange Grove Avenue about 10:30 a.m. The cubs were so small, they were initially reported as baby bobcats. Some residents were using brooms to try to hit the cubs or shoo them away, Ryburn said.

For years, the federal agencies that helped the U.S. wolf population recover under the Endangered Species Act have also quietly killed hundreds of wolves that threaten livestock or prized game. They've even taken to the skies - and are considering doing so again. Officials in Idaho said Wednesday they would consider deploying federal sharpshooters in helicopters across north-central Idaho in the coming weeks to kill up to 75 wolves threatening elk near the Montana border. But a photograph published by an Idaho conservation blogger this week is raising questions about how quietly and professionally the job is being carried out by the little-known agency that acts as the hired guns for problem wolves in the Northern Rockies.

Conservationists touted a major victory Tuesday in their battle to protect Yellowstone grizzly bears when a federal appeals court ruled that wildlife managers erred when they removed Endangered Species Act protection from "one of the American West's most iconic wild animals. " The ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2007 decision to remove the bears from the endangered species list. The court cited climate change as having accelerated a beetle infestation that destroys the bears' vital white-bark pine food source, making the grizzly only the second wildlife species, after the polar bear, to earn protection in recognition of harm caused by global warming.

ARGENTINA AND CHILE Slide show Wayne Bernhardson will discuss the capital cities of Buenos Aires and Santiago, the gateway cities to Patagonia, and will offer a visual tour of the Chilean and Argentine lakes district, Argentina's wildlife-rich coastline, Chile's forested fjords and Tierra del Fuego. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. EUROPE Slide show Mort Loveman will present "Journey to Asia - Borneo, Toraja and Bali.

The Big Horn Mine, perched on a mountainside overlooking the headwaters of the San Gabriel River, still holds an estimated 262,000 ounces of gold in its quartz bedrock. At current prices, that haul would be worth more than $430 million. The wild country surrounding the mine, framed by alpine peaks and watered by snowmelt running through wrinkled canyons and ancient pine forests, is a refuge for bears, mountain lions and endangered Nelson's bighorn sheep. Within a few days, preservation will trump economics when the 277-acre parcel is handed over to the public.

Jarron Lucas tromped through waist-high brush at the Chatsworth Nature Preserve, flipping over weathered boards. "Let's see if anyone's home," he said, lifting a plank. Coiled underneath was a reddish snake with dark brown cross bands on its neck. Lucas reached down and snatched the young red racer. "It's just a baby," he said as the slender 14-inch snake writhed in his hand. Male, too, he said, judging from the long tail. A few yards away, he found a 4-foot adult female red racer thick as a broom handle.