• Updated

More than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand have been safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. New Zealand’s conservation agency said four whales died. New Zealand is a whale stranding hotspot and pilot whales are especially prolific stranders. The agency praised as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod. A Māori cultural ceremony for the three adult whales and one calf that died in the stranding took place Monday.

  • Updated

Donald Trump assigned Doug Burgum a singular mission in nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.” That dictate from the president-elect’s announcement of Burgum for Secretary of Interior sets the stage for a reignition of the court battles over public lands and waters that helped define Trump’s first term. But Burgum's choice is tame compared to other Trump Cabinet picks. Public lands experts said Burgum’s experience as a popular two-term governor who aligns himself with conservationist Teddy Roosevelt suggests a willingness to collaborate.

  • Updated

In heavily forested Gabon, elephants are increasingly wandering into villages and destroying crops, angering the local population who demand the power to stop the critically endangered animals in their tracks.