In this issue of Wildlife News Round-Up, we start with news that male chimpanzees seem to be home-bodies, rarely venturing far from familiar turf. There are also several headlines that focus on the threats of global warming to cold-climate species such as walruses, seals, bears, and penguins—it seems such headlines are becoming all too familiar. And there is also news of a discovery that suggests a possible ancestor to whales—and it's not hippos.

• Adult Male Chimpanzees Don't Stray Far from the Home (Science Daily) — December 30, 2007. Research suggests that male chimps tend to spend most of their time close to familiar ground, often near the area where they grew up.
• Largest Fish in the Sea Appear to Thrive Under Regulated Ecotourism (Science Daily) — December 29, 2007. Populations of whale sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park, a marine reserve located off Western Australia, show signs of increasing. This rare shark, a docile giant that feeds on plankton, is believed to be benefiting from ecotourism in the area.
• Documenting Wildlife Across the Globe (NPR) — December 28, 2007. Acoustician Bernie Krause, photographer Frans Lanting, and scientist Alan Rabinowitz talk about how they documented wildlife around the world through sound recordings, photographs, and observation.
• New Zealand Builds a Nest Big Enough to Save Kiwis (New York Times) — December 28, 2007. An alarming fraction—nearly three quarters—of New Zealand's birds have disappeared during the past thousand years. Now conservationists are working to save the national bird, the kiwi, from extinction as well.
• Photos Document Coral Forest Annihilation (NPR) — December 26, 2007. Tens of thousands of underwater photographs taken in the 1970s and 1980s have revealed the decline in coral reefs off the coast of Florida.
• Melting Sea Ice Threatens Walruses, Seals, Bears (CNN) — December 24, 2007. Polar bears are not the only species threatened by the disappearance of sea ice throughout the Arctic. Walruses and ice seals also face a grim future if global warming trends continue.
• A New National Park for Russian Tigers (WWF) — December 21, 2007. The Russian Government has set aside valuable land to protect the endangered Siberian Tiger. The 429,000-hectare reserve is located in the Russian Far East in the province of Khabarovsk.
• Whales May Have Descended from Small Deer-Like Critter (CNN) — December 19, 2007. A recent study suggests that whales are descendants of a raccoon-sized, deer-like creature. This research attempts to dislodge the pre-existing theory that whales descended from hippopotamuses.
• Fitting Tribute to Animal Heroes (BBC News) — December 13, 2007. A ceremony in an Essex graveyard paid touching tribute to animals injured and killed during wartimes.
• Penguins in Peril as Climate Warms (WWF) — December 11, 2007. A new report has revealed that four species of penguins—Adelie, Emperor, Chinstrap and Gentoo—are loosing breeding ground as Antarctic ice melts faster than expected.

About Wildlife News Round-Up

Wildlife News Round-Up is a monthly digest featuring animals and wildlife headlines from around the web. It includes headlines from well-established sources such as the World Wildlife Fund, BBC News, New York Times, National Public Radio, National Geographic, and Birdlife International. The sources are selected with care and include only those that archive articles for many years, offer top-notch science writing, and follow stories as they develop over time.

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