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New York Ivory Ban for Antiques Dealers Voided by US Appeals Court

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Wednesday, November 13, 2024

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a New York law that largely banned sales and in-store displays by antiques dealers of ivory and rhinoceros horns in the state.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sided with two trade groups that said the law signed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo violated antiques dealers' First Amendment commercial speech rights.The court called the law broader than necessary to promote New York's substantial interest in stopping illegal ivory sales in the state, noting that it also covered goods that could be sold legally interstate or internationally.In a joint opinion, Circuit Judges Pierre Leval and Myrna Perez said forbidding dealers from communicating "crucially important" information to lawful buyers about the quality and authenticity of ivory goods was an "excessive burden" on speech.Starting in 1973, Congress largely banned ivory sales through the federal Endangered Species Act, but has provided exceptions for goods that were less than 50% ivory.New York's law went further, providing exceptions only for goods that were less than 20% ivory, and subjecting violators to fines of $3,000 and larger.Sponsors said New York's law was needed because elephant and rhinoceros populations were declining in Africa and Asia, with 96 elephants slaughtered each day.Ivory comes from elephant tusks. Animal rights groups have estimated the global ivory trade at $23 billion annually.New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, which enforces the ivory law, had no immediate comment.The law had been challenged by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America and the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America.Their lawyer Caleb Trotter, of the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the decision showed New York went too far in restricting the marketing of "lawful antiques and works of art."Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan dissented from Wednesday's decision, saying the Endangered Species Act preempted New York's law altogether. He agreed that the speech restrictions were improper.The case is Art and Antique Dealers League of America Inc et al v. Seggos et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-569.(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

By Jonathan StempelNEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a New York law that largely banned sales and...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a New York law that largely banned sales and in-store displays by antiques dealers of ivory and rhinoceros horns in the state.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sided with two trade groups that said the law signed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo violated antiques dealers' First Amendment commercial speech rights.

The court called the law broader than necessary to promote New York's substantial interest in stopping illegal ivory sales in the state, noting that it also covered goods that could be sold legally interstate or internationally.

In a joint opinion, Circuit Judges Pierre Leval and Myrna Perez said forbidding dealers from communicating "crucially important" information to lawful buyers about the quality and authenticity of ivory goods was an "excessive burden" on speech.

Starting in 1973, Congress largely banned ivory sales through the federal Endangered Species Act, but has provided exceptions for goods that were less than 50% ivory.

New York's law went further, providing exceptions only for goods that were less than 20% ivory, and subjecting violators to fines of $3,000 and larger.

Sponsors said New York's law was needed because elephant and rhinoceros populations were declining in Africa and Asia, with 96 elephants slaughtered each day.

Ivory comes from elephant tusks. Animal rights groups have estimated the global ivory trade at $23 billion annually.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, which enforces the ivory law, had no immediate comment.

The law had been challenged by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America and the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America.

Their lawyer Caleb Trotter, of the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the decision showed New York went too far in restricting the marketing of "lawful antiques and works of art."

Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan dissented from Wednesday's decision, saying the Endangered Species Act preempted New York's law altogether. He agreed that the speech restrictions were improper.

The case is Art and Antique Dealers League of America Inc et al v. Seggos et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-569.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

Read the full story here.
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U.S. Military Ends Practice of Shooting Live Animals to Train Medics to Treat Battlefield Wounds

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act bans the use of live animals in live fire training exercises and prohibits "painful" research on domestic cats and dogs

U.S. Military Ends Practice of Shooting Live Animals to Train Medics to Treat Battlefield Wounds The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act bans the use of live animals in live fire training exercises and prohibits “painful” research on domestic cats and dogs Sarah Kuta - Daily Correspondent January 5, 2026 12:00 p.m. The U.S. military will no longer shoot live goats and pigs to help combat medics learn to treat battlefield injuries. Pexels The United States military is no longer shooting live animals as part of its trauma training exercises for combat medics. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which was enacted on December 18, bans the use of live animals—including dogs, cats, nonhuman primates and marine mammals—in any live fire trauma training conducted by the Department of Defense. It directs military leaders to instead use advanced simulators, mannequins, cadavers or actors. According to the Associated Press’ Ben Finley, the bill ends the military’s practice of shooting live goats and pigs to help combat medics learn to treat battlefield injuries. However, the military is allowed to continue other practices involving animals, including stabbing, burning and testing weapons on them. In those scenarios, the animals are supposed to be anesthetized, per the AP. “With today’s advanced simulation technology, we can prepare our medics for the battlefield while reducing harm to animals,” says Florida Representative Vern Buchanan, who advocated for the change, in a statement shared with the AP. He described the military’s practices as “outdated and inhumane” and called the move a “major step forward in reducing unnecessary suffering.” Quick fact: What is the National Defense Authorization Act? The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is a law passed each year that authorizes the Department of Defense’s appropriated funds, greenlights the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs and sets defense policies and restrictions, among other activities, for the upcoming fiscal year. Organizations have opposed the military’s use of live animals in trauma training, too, including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA, a nonprofit animal advocacy group, described the legislation as a “major victory for animals” that will “save countless animals from heinous cruelty” in a statement. The legislation also prohibits “painful research” on domestic cats and dogs, though exceptions can be made under certain circumstances, such as interests of national security. “Painful” research includes any training, experiments or tests that fall into specific pain categories outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For example, military cats and dogs can no longer be exposed to extreme environmental conditions or noxious stimuli they cannot escape, nor can they be forced to exercise to the point of distress or exhaustion. The bill comes amid a broader push to end the use of live animals in federal tests, studies and training, reports Linda F. Hersey for Stars and Stripes. After temporarily suspending live tissue training with animals in 2017, the U.S. Coast Guard made the ban permanent in 2018. In 2024, U.S. lawmakers directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to end its experiments on cats, dogs and primates. And in May 2025, the U.S. Navy announced it would no longer conduct research testing on cats and dogs. As the Washington Post’s Ernesto Londoño reported in 2013, the U.S. military has used animals for medical training since at least the Vietnam War. However, the practice largely went unnoticed until 1983, when the U.S. Army planned to anesthetize dogs, hang them from nylon mesh slings and shoot them at an indoor firing range in Maryland. When activists and lawmakers learned of the proposal, they decried the practice and convinced then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger to ban the shooting of dogs. However, in 1984, the AP reported the U.S. military would continue shooting live goats and pigs for wound treatment training, with a military medical study group arguing “there is no substitute for the live animals as a study object for hands-on training.” In the modern era, it’s not clear how often and to what extent the military uses animals, per the AP. And despite the Department of Defense’s past efforts to minimize the use of animals for trauma training, a 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency charged with providing fact-based, nonpartisan information to Congress, determined that the agency was “unable to fully demonstrate the extent to which it has made progress.” The Defense Health Agency, the U.S. government entity responsible for the military’s medical training, says in a statement shared with the AP that it “remains committed to replacement of animal models without compromising the quality of medical training,” including the use of “realistic training scenarios to ensure medical providers are well-prepared to care for the combat-wounded.” Animal activists say technology has come a long way in recent decades so, beyond the animal welfare concerns, the military simply no longer needs to use live animals for training. Instead, military medics can simulate treating battlefield injuries using “cut suits,” or realistic suits with skin, blood and organs that are worn by a live person to mimic traumatic injuries. However, not everyone agrees. Michael Bailey, an Army combat medic who served two tours in Iraq, told the Washington Post in 2013 that his training with a sedated goat was invaluable. “You don’t get that [sense of urgency] from a mannequin,” he told the publication. “You don’t get that feeling of this mannequin is going to die. When you’re talking about keeping someone alive when physics and the enemy have done their best to do the opposite, it’s the kind of training that you want to have in your back pocket.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Animals
Activism
Energy

Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs

In a world where conservation news often appears grim, let’s celebrate the animals who made a difference. The post Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs appeared first on The Revelator.

Welcome to The Revelator’s annual Wildlife MVPs, where we celebrate animals who left their mark in the previous year. Some of our 2025 most valuable players earned a mention for reclaiming historical habitat, like certain salmon and wolves in California. Others, including elk and dolphins, made our list for turning up in unexpectedly large groups that wowed onlookers. And some simply did something new, like the orcas in Washington who made tools and the deer-moose pair in Alaska who just seem to enjoy each other’s company. The stories show that wildlife, like humans, use determination and their own innate skills to thrive, often despite the odds. They also show that we still live in a world of remarkable abundance. And many of the stories reveal big successes from conservation measures — something that’s critically important as the Trump administration takes aim at the Endangered Species Act. So let’s celebrate those successes: Sit back and enjoy some of this year’s good news. Making the Klamath Great Again Klamath River salmon won’t stop winning. In 2024, after removal of four fish-blocking dams in California and Oregon, Chinook salmon surged up over 200 miles of newly open river, reclaiming habitat that had been inaccessible to them for over a century. During their 2025 spawn, they again rocketed upstream and beyond the expectations of biologists. This time they swam 360 river miles from the ocean, climbing past the Klamath’s remaining dams and into more watersheds that hadn’t seen salmon in over 100 years.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) (@epic_wildcalifornia) The fish enliven their habitats with ocean nutrients and baby salmon, but they also spread joy, including among Klamath and other Indigenous groups who had pressed for dam removal for years, based on 1864 treaty rights. In July more than 100 Indigenous youth from Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, and other groups completed a 30-day paddle down the river to honor salmon’s return and the people behind it. Tribal and government biologists are also on the river, trying to keep up with salmon to understand their movement. Fishing is not permitted, but salmon still face threats from agricultural runoff, pollutants, and warming waters. Wandering Wolves Hats off to the female gray wolf who explored 1,230 miles of Colorado between January and April. Wildlife officials called it an “extraordinary display.” The wolf was translocated from British Columbia as part of a voter-approved reintroduction program. Maps show most of the wolves are in Colorado’s mountains, while some are pushing toward busy Front Range communities and the borders of Wyoming, Utah, and Mexico. Wolves also stretched their legs in California this year. Three new wolf packs established themselves in the north-central part of the state, bringing the total to 10 packs since their 2015 migration back into California. A 2025 report also showed Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, reintroduced in 1998, increased by 11% the prior year. They total 286 animals in 60 packs. By nature wolves are valuable landscape players. Since their 1995 reintroduction to Yellowstone, research shows their presence influences elk and other prey species in ways that positively reshape habitats. Although resilient, wolves still face a hard road. In October Colorado reported the 10th death of a reintroduced wolf, dropping their survival rate to 60%. Also in 2025, Colorado paid record compensation for reported wolf-related livestock predation. New federal rules further complicate the Colorado program, and a move is underfoot for a ballot initiative to stop reintroduction. Turtle Recovery Speeds Up This July crowds in Cocoa Beach, Florida, cheered as a giant loggerhead turtle named Bubba crawled into the ocean after three months of rehab at the Brevard Zoo. People shouted, “Go Bubba!” as the 375-pound guy eased himself into gently lapping waves. Estimated at 75 years old, Bubba had been treated for anemia, leeches, and injured flippers, likely from a shark. Thought to be a great-grandfather, the breeding male went home at the tail end of mating season, perhaps in time to contribute to ongoing Atlantic turtle recovery. Speaking of mating season: In Florida, loggerhead, leatherback, and green turtles dug a whopping 170,000 nests in 2025. They included over 2,000 endangered leatherback nests, a new state record, and 66,000 green turtle nests, second only to the 2023 season. It comes amid news that conservation efforts have reduced sea turtle threats in over half of sites monitored around the world. Green sea turtles have especially benefitted: This year the IUCN changed their conservation status from “endangered” to “least concern.” Scientists credit decades of conservation work, including bans on commercial harvest, reduced bycatch, and thousands of volunteers who raise awareness and restore beaches. Sea turtles, whose herbivorous diets help important underwater seagrass meadows, still face global threats. But current numbers are worth at least a slow clap. Miles of Dolphins A super-pod is a marvelous thing to behold, and in 2025 Californians saw two. In January biologists near Carmel encountered a miles-long group of Risso’s dolphins, estimated at over 1,500 animals. Drone footage showed the cetaceans, who grow to 13 feet and over 1,000 pounds, breaching, tail-slapping, and “having fun,” according to one biologist. A month later an even larger super-pod swam near Monterey Bay. Estimated at more than 2,000 animals, it included the smaller northern right whale dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins. Experts say whales and dolphins form superpods to socialize or when food is abundant. A River (of Elk) Runs Through It Is there such a thing as a super-herd? If so, that’s what a Montana woman filmed south of Bozeman in January. Estimated at 2,000 animals, the herd undulated across snowy fields and a rural road. Montana biologists, who had tagged some of the animals earlier, said the elk are using conservation easement lands specifically established for their protection. Orca Tools and Hats In 2025 scientists reviewing drone footage found that orcas in the Salish Sea repeatedly cut kelp into similar sized lengths, which they used to massage or scrub each other. Each piece was just the right size for an orca to press and roll along the body of a pal. They’re the only orcas known to do this. The same orcas, known as the Southern Resident pod, made waves in late 2024 when some were seen balancing dead salmon on their heads. It recalled the salmon “hats” that they took to wearing in the 1980s. And in November 2025, all 74 Southern Residents gathered into a rare super-pod near Port Townsend, Washington, delighting ferry passengers. While the Southern Residents are revered in the Pacific Northwest, their endangered population faces threats from pollution and declining salmon. Legacy MVP for Utah Bison In the past two decades, roughly 25 bison wandered into Colorado from Utah’s 600-member Book Cliffs herd, who Utah officials manage as big game. Unfortunately, each was killed after entering Colorado. Now, following years of objections from Native Americans, conservationists, and others, a new Colorado law gives the bison freer range. It grants them “dual status” as both livestock and wildlife and directs state biologists to prepare a free-ranging bison plan, which will address possible competition with livestock. Our MVP goes to the wandering bison of yore who prompted the change. Summers at the Cape With Right Whales Here’s a wave out to all those Atlantic right whale moms nursing newborns this year. In the 2024-2025 calving season, they included 32-year-old Monarch and 44-year-old Grand Teton. Across their breeding careers, these moms have so far had five and nine calves, respectively. And although this year’s count of 11 calves for the entire species is lower than past years, biologists express cautious optimism about a slowly growing population. The critically endangered species has 386 members. Whales also made news in April, when 30 right and humpback whales amassed in Cape Cod Bay to feed on zooplankton. They briefly closed Cape Cod Canal ship traffic. The gatherings, typical for spring, show a functional marine food chain that connects its largest and smallest creatures. Ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and climate change are chief threats. But officials credit rising awareness among boat captains and better fishing gear for recent progress. Of Moose and Deer For over a year, residents of Seward, Alaska, have seen a moose and a Sitka black-tailed deer hanging around with each other. The pair have grazed and traveled together through the seasons. Unconfirmed rumors are also flying of a separate pair to the north. Deer are extremely rare in the region, with some occasionally migrating over snowbound mountains from Prince William Sound. But moose are common. The buddies make our MVP list simply because any tales of conviviality are welcome news these days. She Loves New York On April 14 a wild turkey named Astoria spread her wings and jetted across the East River from Roosevelt Island to the east side of Manhattan. It’s not a lot of air time for a turkey, but Astoria’s “movin’ on up to the East Side” is her latest surprise for her many fans. And it reflects one of America’s most successful conservation stories. The turkey first arrived in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in 2024, before relocating to Roosevelt Island, where she strutted and pecked among brush for months. Although midtown Manhattan presents more noise and traffic, she appears to have figured out city life. Local authorities have even lent a hand by shooing her away from traffic. So New York has her back. While Astoria appears to be flying solo, she’s not the city’s only turkey. Several flocks live on Staten Island. They also live in Boston and other cities. By the 1930s deforestation and overhunting had extirpated America’s native turkeys from much of their habitat. But they rebounded over decades, responding to hunting regulations, reforestation, and translocation programs. In recent years recovering coyotes, bobcats, and raptors have decreased turkey populations. As Astoria struts about New York, she’s a reminder of these successes. Sisterly Love We’ll wrap with Shadow and Jackie, two California bald eagles about 30 miles from Los Angeles who gained millions of online fans this year as they raised sister eaglets Sunny and Gizmo. A nest cam livestreamed their straight-up adorable upbringing, including the moments they fledged. Jackie and Shadow have used their nest overlooking Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains since 2018, when they first started dating.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by CA Natural Resources Agency (@canaturalresourcesagency) Biologists believe that Jackie, who hatched in 2012, was the first bald eagle born in the basin in decades. Between Shadow and an earlier mate, she has helped raise five eaglets — her contribution to ongoing eagle recovery across the United States. This is the first time the pair fledged two eaglets in one season. A third hatchling died after a March snowstorm, one of several that dumped inches of snow on the parents as they shielded their young. Their nest is 145 feet up in a Jeffrey pine that sways in strong wind. Every day for months, the parents brought fresh fish to their young, reflecting an intact local food web. Sunny and Gizmo also get credit for impressively peaceful cohabitation, with minimal bonking or other competitive conflict, even as they endured snow, rain, high winds, aggressive owls, and being couped up in the same tiny pad for two months. So love wins and puts this family among our most valuable players — for reflecting conservation and species recovery, showing off an abundant basin, gathering people together, and raising good kids. *** Although we live in an era of alarming losses in biodiversity, it’s good to note the encouraging stories. Each reminds us of the resilience of wildlife and the value of conservation. Happy New Year. Republish this article for free! Read our reprint policy. The post Eagles, Wolves, and Whales: Announcing the 2025 Wildlife MVPs appeared first on The Revelator.

Animals
Conservation
Food

With thousands of feral horses gone, Kosciuszko’s fragile ecosystems are slowly recovering

With feral horses gone, fragile alpine areas are no longer being trampled by hard hooves. But Kosciuszko’s landscapes will take decades to recover.

Author supplied , CC BY-NDIn Kosciuszko National Park in Australia’s alpine region, the landscape is slowly changing. Patches of native vegetation cropped bald by horses are regrowing. Some long-eroded creek banks look less compacted along the edges. Visitors come across fewer horses standing on the roads, a real traffic hazard. In 2023, New South Wales authorised the aerial shooting of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park. And in late November, the government passed a bill to repeal the law that recognised feral horses as having “heritage status” in the park. This change removed the legal protections on horses in Kosciuszko that had set them apart from other introduced species such as deer, pigs, foxes and rabbits. Now horses will be treated the same way as other invasive species across Australia, restoring consistency to managing their impact on the landscape. The latest survey estimates around 3,000 horses remain in Kosciuszko National Park, down from roughly 17,000 a year ago. More than 9,000 horses have been culled since 2021. The current management plan is designed to retain 3,000 horses – a compromise between ecological protection and perceived heritage values. It will remain in place until mid-2027. So what are the environmental effects of having fewer horses in Kosciuszko? And what could the park look like in the future? Stallion standing in an alpine sphagnum bog. Author supplied, CC BY-ND The damage For decades, feral horses have been a major source of ecological damage in Kosciuszko’s alpine landscapes. Their impacts have been especially pronounced in the past decade, as horse numbers within the fragile high country grew largely unchecked. Empirical studies and analyses of satellite imagery show horses reduce vegetation cover, break down soil structure, and damage streambanks, peat beds and alpine bogs – carbon-rich soils built over tens of thousands of years. Some of this damage results from their feeding on slow-growing alpine grasses and herbs. Horses typically eat 2% of their body mass daily, which equates to about 8 kilograms each day. Compare this to the largest native herbivore in the high country, the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, which eats roughly 600 grams per day, a 13-fold difference. But the real damage is done by their feet. Feral horses walk up to 50 kilometres a day, and their hard hooves collapse the sphagnum moss layers and compact the deep peat soils. This plants and soils normally act like slow-release water sponges, storing snowmelt and feeding streams throughout summer. And unlike wombats, kangaroos and other native wildlife, feral horses follow each other in single file, making deep walking paths that crisscross alpine meadows, draining them dry. Read more: Feral horses in Australia's high country are damaging peatlands, decreasing carbon stores Those changes affect the whole ecosystem. Alpine skinks, broad-toothed rats, corroboree frogs, mountain pygmy possums, and native fish all depend on dense vegetation, intact moss beds or sediment-free streams — the very features horses degrade. A mob of feral horses crossing a river in Kosciuszko National Park. Author supplied, CC BY-ND Waterways have been hit especially hard. The Australian Alps supply nearly a third of the surface water that enters the Murray–Darling Basin, yet horse trampling around waterways muddies clear streams and destabilises the slow, steady inflows on which these catchments rely. These impacts aren’t confined to the park. In recent years, large numbers of horses have moved into adjoining areas, including state forests, where their disturbance compounds the effects of commercial logging and endangers visitors and overnight campers. Although most attention about horse impacts have focused on Kosciuszko and alpine ecosystems more generally, almost half a million feral horses affect landscapes Australia-wide, with tropical woodlands and semi-arid rangelands hardest hit. An alpine creek bank, its peaty soil eroded from horse tracks. Author supplied, CC BY-ND What we’ve seen so far We have spent a lot of time working in the park over the past year. And we’ve begun to notice small shifts in the high country that align with what we’d expect from feral animal control. We’ve spotted fewer horses during our days in the field. In areas that were repeatedly trampled, tiny pockets of vegetation are creeping into bare patches. Even some long-eroded banks look softer at the edges. These impressions are strictly anecdotal, not formal evidence. But they hint at a landscape starting to breathe again as the pressure eases. And there’s a safety element too. Anyone who drives the alpine roads knows the shock of rounding a bend among the snowgums to find a horse, or an entire mob, standing on the bitumen. Fewer horses mean fewer of those dangerous encounters for researchers, National Parks staff, and visitors alike. The slow return With far fewer horses in the high country, these pressures are beginning to ease. As trampling declines, bogs and fens are expected to start recovering and hold water for longer. Moss beds will start to regrow and other peat-forming plants will be able to regain a foothold in soils that aren’t constantly compacted and overgrazed. Less grazing means alpine herbs, sedges and snow-grass have room to return. Bare ground stabilises. Stream edges settle. Creeklines begin to clear. A rocky alpine stream beneath the main range in Kosciusko National Park. Author supplied, CC BY-ND Those improvements flow upwards: more stable soils and denser vegetation creates better habitat for the frogs, skinks, small mammals and invertebrates that rely on cool, wet, structured alpine environments. Recovery will take time – decades, not months. Long-term empirical studies will be essential to show what is changing and identify parts of the park where targeted restoration efforts will be needed to hasten recovery. Finally, a real chance None of this will happen quickly. Alpine ecosystems heal slowly, and decades of damage can’t be undone overnight. Short growing seasons mean plants return gradually, not in sudden flushes. Many slopes and creeklines still show the scars of cattle grazing more than 60 years after livestock were removed. Disturbance lingers here for generations. Lower horse numbers are only a beginning, but they’re the essential first step. And now — with fewer horses on the ground and the legal barriers removed — Kosciuszko finally has a realistic path to recovery. The coming decade will determine how much of its fragile alpine heritage can be restored. The delicate alpine ecosystem of Kosciuszko National Park. Author Supplied, CC BY-ND David M Watson receives research funding from the Federal Government (through ARC, DAFF, DCCEEW), and is on the board of the Holbrook Landcare Network and the Great Eastern Ranges. He served two terms on the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee, prior to resigning when the Wild Horse Heritage Act became law in June 2018.Patrick Finnerty is the current director for early career ecology at the Ecological Society of Australia, the Early Career Coordinator at the Australasian Wildlife Management Society, and a council member for the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Animals
Forests
Government

Louisiana town fights for relief after a billion-dollar oil disaster

Federal and state officials have sued the company behind the blast, but Roseland, Louisiana, residents say the case won’t bring relief to their town.

Four months have passed since a Louisiana oil facility burst apart, spewing a dense black sludge that drifted across homes, farms, and waterways as far as 50 miles away.  Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice and Louisiana environmental regulators have filed a sweeping lawsuit against Smitty’s Supply, the company that ran the facility storing oil and vehicle lubricants. But residents in the majority-Black town are skeptical that they’ll benefit from the $1 billion federal lawsuit.  Much of that belief stems from the fact that despite repeated calls for help, the black goo still clings to walls, roofs, and soil of more than half of the town’s properties, according to Van Showers, the mayor of Roseland, Louisiana.  “People want to know when they’re going to receive help, and there is nothing to make them think that this process would lead to that,” said Showers, who works at a local chicken processing plant and has struggled financially through the clean-up process.  That skepticism is rooted in hard experience — and in a broader history of environmental racism that has left Black communities shouldering disproportionate burdens. The gap has left residents in a state of prolonged uncertainty about their water, their health, and whether the legal action unfolding in distant courtrooms will ever reach their homes. It is a familiar pattern, particularly in Louisiana, where environmental disasters have consistently hit Black and low-income communities hardest while leaving them last in line for recovery. Read Next How government shutdowns give polluters a free pass Naveena Sadasivam Initially, residents in the town, where the average person earns just $17,000 per year, were told to clean up the mess themselves.  The explosion had sprayed the community of 1,100 residents with dozens of chemicals, including cancer-causing ones known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” One resident living on a fixed income told Capital B that in the weeks after the event she went over $1,000 in credit card debt to replace the stained panels on her trailer.  However, in October, after sustained pressure from residents, the tide seemed to turn. Federal and state agencies ramped up their presence in the disaster zone, canvassed the community, brought the lawsuit, and began testing wildlife — including fish and deer — for contamination. But even with the increased governmental response, attorneys, residents, and local officials warn that it is not nearly enough. The lawsuit compensation, if ever paid out, will most likely not trickle down to residents, Showers and local lawyers said. Civil penalties collected from federal lawsuits are generally deposited into the U.S. Treasury’s general fund and are often used exclusively to fund environmental cleanup costs, not to support residents.  “As far as the lawsuit, I don’t think it’s going to benefit the community,” Showers said. Read Next They survived the hurricane. Their insurance company didn’t. Zoya Teirstein The government’s suit alleges that for years, Smitty’s knowingly violated safety rules and pollution permits. The company failed to maintain basic spill-prevention and emergency response plans, regulators said.  The complaint says millions of gallons of contaminated firefighting water, oil, and chemicals flowed off-site into ditches, and seeks more than $1 billion in fines and penalties tied to the explosion and spill. In response to the lawsuit, a representative of Smitty’s wrote, “Smitty’s has been and remains committed to following all applicable laws and regulations, and to operating as a responsible member of the Tangipahoa Parish community.” The disaster was the “result of an unforeseen industrial fire,” the representative added, and the company is “implementing measures to help prevent future incidents and protect our waterways and neighbors.” Yet even since the lawsuit was brought, according to state documents, Smitty’s was caught pumping unpermitted “oily liquids” into local waterways.  Meanwhile, a recent Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality report shows a state contractor has recovered at least 74 live wild animals from the disaster zone and 59 of them had either digested the oily substance or were covered in it. At least eight animals were found dead, including four turtles and an alligator. Dozens more pets and livestock, including cattle and horses, have been coated in the residue. Many residents, including Showers, have seen their animals die. Those findings, combined with reports of stillborn calves, underscore how deeply the contamination has seeped into daily life, residents said.  The explosion has not only unleashed lasting environmental and health threats — the kind that, as Showers worries, “can lay dormant for years and then all of a sudden … you start getting a lot of folks with cancer” — it has also shuttered Roseland’s largest employer, Smitty’s Supply, indefinitely. Millie Simmons lives less than a mile from the explosion site. She has felt lingering health effects from the disaster. Adam Mahoney / Capital B For weeks after the explosion, Millie Simmons, a 58-year-old child care worker, had difficulty being outside in Roseland for longer than 10 minutes without respiratory irritation. Even when inside her home, she felt “drained” and “sluggish” for weeks.  Showers said she is not alone. The biggest complaints he is still receiving are that “people are still sick” and “want to know when they’re going to receive help as far as getting their property cleaned.” “Most definitely, we deserve something,” Simmons said.  A nation’s environmental divide In October, the federal government delegated the cleanup process entirely to the state and Smitty’s. Some residents say they have seen Smitty’s contractors cleaning a few properties, but others, including the mayor, say their claims have gone unanswered. Showers said the company reimbursed him for just one night in a hotel when he was forced to leave the town after the explosion and never responded to his request for compensation after a litter of his dogs fell ill and died in the weeks after.  Advocates with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, or LEAN, who have notified Smitty’s and federal and state environmental regulators of their intent to sue, said residents continue to approach them about contaminated crops and water wells. They’re unsure if their water is safe, even months later.  “There’s so many unanswered questions that bring such huge anxiety to the communities,” said Marylee Orr, LEAN’s executive director. “People don’t feel safe in their homes.”​​ A litter of dogs owned by Roseland’s mayor, Van Showers, in 2023. His most recent litter died after the explosion, he said. Courtesy of Van Showers Orr said she is especially worried that the courtroom path now unfolding will repeat familiar patterns from other environmental disasters.  In places like Grand Bois in south Louisiana and in Flint, Michigan, she noted, residents waited years for historic settlements to turn into actual checks they could cash — only to see large portions of the money eaten up by legal fees. In Flint, residents have waited over a decade for compensation for the country’s most notorious water crisis that caused clusters of neurological and developmental issues among children. When it is all said and done, only a portion of the impacted residents will receive checks for about $1,000. In Roseland, Showers has found himself operating in an information vacuum. He is relying more on outside news reports than official briefings to learn the full extent of contamination in his own town. In fact, he did not know about the state report showing the harms to local animals until Capital B shared it with him.  “No one from the government has ever told me anything,” he said. “It’s aggravating.” That lack of transparency makes it harder, he added, to answer the basic questions residents bring to him at the grocery store, at church, and outside town hall: “Is my water safe? What’s happening to the animals? Am I going to be OK?” In October, Showers and residents of Roseland organized a town cleanup. Courtesy of the City of Roseland This is a dynamic that reflects both the long-standing political dynamics of Louisiana and deepening uncertainty under the Trump administration.  His position as a Black Democrat leading a majority-Black town in a state dominated by white, conservative leadership has only intensified that isolation, he told Capital B in September.  Historically Black communities have received less recovery aid than white areas with comparable damage during environmental disasters. Now, experts warn that federal support for environmental disasters in Black and Democratic areas is poised to weaken even further under the Trump administration, which has slashed EPA and DOJ enforcement to historic lows. During the first 11 months of Trump’s second term, the EPA and DOJ have filed just 20 enforcement actions against polluters, imposing $15.1 million in penalties. During the final 19 days of the Biden administration last January, the EPA and DOJ imposed $590 million in penalties.  The current administration has also instructed EPA officials not to consider whether affected communities are “minority or low-income populations” when prioritizing enforcement actions. Showers estimates that fewer than three-quarters of properties have been cleaned and that many residents who dutifully called the claims hotline are still living with stained roofs, sticky yards, and lingering health problems. “There’s just not enough information being put out or work being done to make people feel at ease about what’s going on.” This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Louisiana town fights for relief after a billion-dollar oil disaster on Jan 3, 2026.

Animals
Chemicals
Crisis

Are you a hellraiser mite or a knobbled weevil? Take the quiz and vote for NZ’s Bug of the Year

Take the personality quiz to match with one of NZ’s larger-than-life little creatures, then cast your vote.

The black tunnelweb spider. Samuel Purdie, CC BY-NCThe New Zealand velvet worm’s reign as Bug of the Year is coming to an end, with voting now open for the 2026 competition. This year, 21 nominees are vying for the crown in the competition’s fourth year. Nearly 100 bugs have so far featured, representing an incredible range of rich invertebrate diversity – from insects and arachnids to crustaceans, worms and molluscs. The term “bug” was chosen deliberately. While not scientifically precise, it acts as an easily understood umbrella definition of Aotearoa New Zealand’s sometimes overlooked littlest animals. As relatively large organisms ourselves, we humans tend to notice and celebrate larger and more charismatic fauna and flora, such as birds and trees. But they comprise only about 5% of New Zealand’s estimated 70,000 native land species. The rest are small and often unseen, but absolutely vital. Aotearoa is home to over 20,000 insect species – and those are just the ones we’ve identified. Around 6,000 beetle species alone crawl, burrow and fly across our landscape. Bugs are the tiny critters that run the world. Forming the base of many food webs and ecological interactions, they underpin much of our freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity. They pollinate food crops, decompose waste and recycle nutrients. Owing to their fast response to environmental changes, they also serve as key indicators of environmental health. Master of camouflage: the double-spined stick insect. Dougal Townsend, CC BY-NC And the nominees are … This year’s nominees are the most diverse in the competition’s history. There are repeat candidates, such as the endangered Canterbury knobbled weevil (Hadramphus tuberculatus), as well as new contenders such as the tadpole shrimp (Lepidurus apus viridis) which reproduces without males, or the double-spined stick insect (Micrarchus hystriculeus), which is an incredible master of camouflage. Some nominees, such as the sapphire spider fly (Apsona muscaria) – a fly that eats spiders – are relatively unknown. And there are more familiar species such as the impressively large black tunnelweb spider (Porrhothele antipodiana). Others are known for their outstanding features or behaviour, including the hellraiser mite (Neotrichozetes spinulosa), which looks like a walking pin-cushion, and a critically threatened avatar moth (Arctesthes avatar), named for the movie series with its themes of environmental destruction. We even have the ancient and gigantic glow-in-the-dark North Auckland worm, and the Otago alpine cockroach (Celatoblatta quinquemaculata) that can survive being frozen solid. There is also one of the world’s only marine insects, the intertidal caddisfly (Philanisus plebeius), whose nymph lives on the rocky shore. Like a walking pin-cushion: the hellraiser mite. Shou Saito, CC BY-NC Many are endemic and found only here. But like bugs and insect populations around the planet, they face mounting threats – described in one study as “death by a thousand cuts” – from climate change, agrichemical use and habitat loss or modification. Aotearoa is not exempt from these threats, but many of our bugs are data-deficient, understudied, underappreciated and often out-competed for attention by other wildlife. This summer, keep an eye out for the tiny things around you: the bugs that soar in our skies, scamper in our forests, settle in our rivers and lakes or even hide underground. As humans continue to expand urban landscapes into natural ones, the Entomological Society of New Zealand hopes its Bug of the Year contest will help build public support and appreciation for more research into these unsung heroes of the natural world. How to vote Not sure what to vote for? Take the personality quiz to see which bug you most align with. Voting closes on February 16 2026, with results announced on February 18. Nominees are suggested by the public, so if your top pick isn’t featured this year, you can make recommendations by July 1 for the 2027 contest and beyond. Connal McLean is affiliated with The Entomological Society of New Zealand and The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust. Jacqueline Theis receives funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (grant number UOWX2101). She is affiliated with the Entomological Society of New Zealand.

Animals
Business
Chemicals

Suggested Viewing

TO SEE THE SNOW LEOPARD

“To see a snow leopard is to see God.” It’s a film about the search of the snow leopard - a beautiful and rare animal. There are only a few thousand of them left on the planet. Most of the animals have been given names but almost no one has seen them. This is a story about the mystery of human’s contact with another life, with wild nature, and the search for the lost source of inner strength. Scientists, hunters, shamans, tourists - the leopard sees them, but they do not see him.

Animals

In Praise of Insects [Sandbox]

Insects were here before humanity, but often we eliminate them as a nuisance. They are a fundamental element of this world. Without them, most of the plants would not be pollinated and birds would lose their food and become extinct. Despite their vital role, they are silently disappearing at a rapid rate.... without us noticing. ‘In Praise of Insects’ is a project to help us rethink the tiny subtle lives that are so entwined with our own. The common Bluebottle is one of the few butterflies that can be seen in central Tokyo. Even if you occasionally see the butterfly flying between buildings, you can see the miracle of life by closely observing its appearance and growth.

Experimental
Animals
Nature

Jetty Cats

Jetty Cats explores contemporary animal rights issues through a focus on a feral cat colony that has survived on a rocky, seaside jetty in Southern California for decades. There is an ongoing debate over feral cat colonies involving advocates who support the trap, neuter, and return -- or "TNR" -- model of management, and those who argue that trapping and euthanizing the cats is more humane. This documentary’s point-of-view supports the TNR model and the related “no-kill” animal shelter policy, and features an exclusive interview with Richard Avanzino, the "Father" of the no-kill movement.

Animals
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The Custodians of the Andean Gold

In the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, more than 3 800 meters above sea level, live alpaca and vicunia breeders. Quechua and Aymara families protect their animals live off of the sale of the animals’ fiber. Gold mining is another activity that predates the Conquest and is widespread among families living in the border area between Peru and Bolivia. The difficult compatibility on the same territory of these two production activities increases the need for environmental protection and workers' rights. It has become indispensable to support producers so that this activity does not disappear with the migration of native peoples, abandoning traditions and animals.

Animals
Indigenous
Business

The Connection Between Bats and Coronavirus: Wildlife is not to blame

What exactly is the connection between bats and coronavirus? And how has sheltering-in-place disrupted field research in California and beyond? State and local governments have set restrictions on bat research and rescue in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Winifred Frick, chief scientist of Bat Conservation International, describes how the new restrictions have affected conservation efforts.

Animals
Science
Health

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