An Interior Department announcement Friday that it won't list sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species opens the way for continued development of the West's wind energy and oil and gas industries.

US officials Friday stopped short of giving endangered species status to the sage grouse, an iconic bird that is at the center of a dispute over oil drilling in the western United States.

Australia and Japan have failed to reach a breakthrough in an intensifying row on whaling, but delegates in three days of intense talks say that all sides agreed to keep seeking common ground.

AP - Wildlife experts say love could be in the air for a red-tailed hawk with a penchant for dive-bombing people in a Connecticut town.

AP - State wildlife officials Wednesday ruled that the California tiger salamander deserves protection as a threatened species, subjecting landowners to more scrutiny if they want to build or farm in the amphibian's habitat.

Reuters - An animal rights group in Germany came under fire on Wednesday for saying that Berlin's celebrity polar bear Knut should be castrated because he is related to his love interest Giovanna.

AP - The human gut is a virtual zoo, full of a wide variety of bacteria, a new study found. And scientists say that's a good thing.

An animal rights group has called for Knut the polar bear, who shot to global stardom as a cub in 2007, to be castrated to avoid incest with his cousin.

Reuters - Hunger drove a wild panda to break into a Chinese farmer's pig pen and eat their food, which was meat and bone, rather than bamboo.

Japan pushed Tuesday to lift a 24-year-old ban on commercial whaling, setting up a clash at talks in Florida with implacable foes opposed to its pursuit of the giant mammals.