Your weekly roundup of wildlife news from across the country

Great News for Imperiled Russian Belugas!
This week the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) made a historic first by officially designating the Sakhalin Bay-Amur River population of beluga whales as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. These beleaguered whales face a number of severe threats, including far too many being captured and sold into captivity. Since the whales don’t live in U.S. waters, the U.S. can’t put the same kinds of protections in place that we could for native species. But this new designation makes a powerful difference: It is now officially illegal to import any whales from this population into the U.S. for display in marine parks or aquariums. This is the first time NMFS has made such a designation for any species that lives completely outside U.S. waters, and sends a powerful message that the U.S. will not be complicit in pushing these belugas to the brink extinction.

Learn about the Sakhalin Bay-Amur River belugas and how this designation can help >

The Northeast Gets a New Wildlife Refuge
On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized approval of Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge, the latest addition to our National Wildlife Refuge System, and the 18th refuge created under this administration. Spanning thousands of acres across six states, this refuge protects important forest and shrubland habitat (often called “thickets”) that many species depend on, including the New England cottontail rabbit, blue-winged warbler, and more.

Learn more about the newest addition to your public lands >

Go Batty for Bats
Bats aren’t just decorations for your Halloween party; they’re incredibly important animals to ecosystems around the world! But they often get a bad rap. What can we do to help these insect-eating, plant-pollinating, ecosystem superheroes out?

Ten tips on how to help bats any time of year >

Report Reptiles and Amphibians in Distress
Recently, the threat of the chytrid and Bsal diseases, which have devastated salamanders and frogs in other countries, possibly spreading to the U.S. has encouraged wildlife advocates to be on the lookout for salamanders in trouble. Now, the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) have a new way to report sick animals.

Get the details >

Take Refuge: The “Last Great Habitat” for Ocelots and Other Wildlife
Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge has been dubbed the “last great habitat” in coastal south Texas. But now three liquefied natural gas terminals may be built right next to it.

Find out more about this threat, how it impacts local wildlife, and what’s being done to stop it >

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