Atiya Wells was 22 when a walk in a park changed her view of the world. Growing up, she thought of natural areas as places for family cookouts, “not really seeing the forest for the trees,” she says. But on a date with her then-boyfriend-now-husband, Kieron, she ventured beyond the picnic areas of a...

Somewhere toward the end of the last ice age, we formed an alliance with wolves: Maybe the ancestors of dogs got food scraps while our own ancestors gained protection from predators and other humans. These social species eventually collaborated on a vast scale, possibly even hunting woolly mammoths...

WASHINGTON—Wildlife conservation organizations sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for missing its deadline to decide whether gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. The deadline was set following a May 2021 petition filed by...

Four conservation and animal protection groups today notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they plan to sue over the agency’s denial of their petition to protect gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains under the Endangered Species Act. “It’s beyond frustrating that federal officials...

In a new statewide survey of 1,500 likely Colorado voters, weighted to Republicans and Western Colorado voters, nearly two-thirds said they believed that Colorado’s gray wolves should not be trophy hunted or trapped after they are restored to Colorado. The poll comes just as Colorado Parks and...

BOZEMAN, Mont.— Four conservation and animal protection groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for denying their petition to protect gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains under the Endangered Species Act. “We’re back in court to save the wolves and we’ll win again,” said Collette...

WASHINGTON—Animal welfare and conservation non-profit, Born Free USA, working in collaboration with Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States, has today released a shocking undercover investigation exposing the cruelty of animal trapping, including for the fur trade...

Today, the New York state legislature passed a bill that ends inhumane wildlife killing contests, in which participants compete to kill the most, the heaviest and the smallest animals for cash and prizes. In 2018 and 2020, the Humane Society of the United States released undercover investigations...

WARNING: This page contains graphic content. In the spring of 2020, an HSUS investigator noticed something unusual: Just as some annual in-person killing contests for coyotes, foxes, bobcats and other animals were being canceled because of COVID-19, groups devoted to online killing contests were...

They were like moths to a flame or, more accurately, butterflies to a native plant. No sooner had I unloaded two joe-pye weed perennials from my car last August than three tiger swallowtails dive-bombed the pots, as if to validate my purchase. If only my fellow shoppers knew what they were missing...

A raccoon in the chimney, a groundhog under the shed, a skunk under the back porch … when confronted with wildlife living up-close in their own homes or backyards, well-meaning but harried homeowners often resort to what they see as the most humane solution—live-trapping the animal and then setting...

It starts out mildly enough: Heading to work on the subway, you realize you forgot your wallet. No big deal, you think. I’ll borrow money to get home. Soon the lights go out and the train hurtles toward the sky, speeding through the atmosphere. Time passes—it’s hard to tell how long. The subway is...

Many Marches ago, as I mindlessly contorted myself to pull a deep-rooted weed from the garden patch, my thoughts turned longingly to the smell of fresh basil that would eventually grace what I saw as a still-barren vegetable graveyard. This spot was not so lifeless as it appeared, I would soon learn...

WASHINGTON - The Humane Society of the United States released today the results of a disturbing undercover investigation into two wildlife killing contests in Frederick County and in Waldorf, Maryland. Investigators documented the judging portions of the events, with participants lining up rows of...

Thanks to widespread pet vaccinations, effective post-exposure treatment and the relative rarity of undetected bites by rabid animals, the number of human deaths from rabies in the United States caused has declined to an average of only one or two per year—far less than the number of human...

The suspect creeping up near my front fence was a tough character—broad-leafed and thick-stemmed and threatening to invade my property and swallow it whole if I didn’t act fast. There was no hesitation that summer morning as I headed to work: Off with his head! It was a decision made all too easy by...

Wherever you are in the U.S., a coyote may be taking up residence less than a mile away. If you live in the city, you’re more likely than your rural cousins to encounter raccoons. And regardless of geography, you probably share your home with dozens of species of insects and spiders. These facts...

Found in almost every major urban, suburban and rural habitat in the 48 adjoining states, raccoons don't know that our trash cans, vegetable gardens, bird feeders and chimneys aren't for them—they’re just trying to survive. When these clever creatures take advantage of the food and shelter we...

Maryland legislators have introduced three bills to improve wildlife management and coexistence in the state. These bills promote humane coexistence with black bears, increase the diversity of voices and scientific input in the state’s wildlife policymaking process, and improve the procedure for...