Africa's savannahs and the lions that roam there are disappearing at an alarming rate as ballooning human populations deprive the big cats of their natural habitat, a study released Tuesday showed.

Republican Mitt Romney told a business luncheon Wednesday one block from the White House that Barack Obama shouldn't "attack success," after the president hit out at his rival's corporate record.

A rodeo cowboy, a Chinese businessman, a Vietnamese nail salon owner and a US antiques expert are among eight people snared so far this year in the largest rhino horn smuggling bust in US history.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Some 166 wolves were killed in Montana in that state's first hunting season since federal protection of the species was lifted last year, but its population still managed to grow by 15 percent in 2011, state wildlife officials said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is going forward with a plan to protect the endangered northern spotted owl that includes removing or killing rival barred owls.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder said his team is ready to proceed with a civil trial next week to determine responsibility for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from the BP Plc well, despite settlement talks to resolve some of the matters.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A lone gray wolf known as OR-7 has made California home for only two months, but environmental groups on Monday sought to make it easier for the predator's species to reestablish a foothold in the state after an absence of more than 80 years.

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Minnesota officials on Thursday outlined plans to permit a hunting season for the gray wolf this year following its removal from federal endangered species protections, prompting opponents of the plan to consider a court challenge.

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Thousands of gray wolves in the Midwest will soon be stripped of federal safeguards under the Endangered Species Act, the government said on Wednesday, in a move that could open the animals to state-licensed hunting.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Grizzly bears roaming the Northern Rockies still require protection under the Endangered Species Act, despite their growing numbers, because of changing climate factors the government failed to consider, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Endangered Species Act protections, including habitat safeguards, should remain intact for some 600 grizzly bears roaming the area around Yellowstone National Park, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

Conservationists welcomed a US appeals court ruling that grizzly bears still need protecting, after federal authorities sought to have them taken off an endangered species list.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Endangered Species Act protections, including habitat safeguards, should remain intact for some 600 grizzly bears roaming the area around Yellowstone National Park, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Endangered Species Act protections, including habitat safeguards, should remain intact for some 600 grizzly bears roaming the area around Yellowstone National Park, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt (Reuters) - Vermont officials decided on Friday against adding the mudpuppy salamander to the state's endangered species list, capping a lengthy debate over the best legal fate for the cute but slimy amphibian.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. senators from Alaska and Washington state called on Thursday for more investigation of a contagious and lethal fish virus recently detected for the first time in wild Pacific salmon, alarming marine scientists.

Conservationists have expressed outrage over the lack of US wildlife ownership laws after the slaughter of 49 animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, set free from a private Ohio farm.

Conservationists demanded action over non-existent US wildlife ownership laws after the slaughter of 49 animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, set free from a private Ohio farm.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A federal court rejected a bid by conservationists for an immediate halt to wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana on Tuesday, but the judges said they would reconsider the request next month.

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania wind farm has stopped operating at night after the carcass of an endangered bat was found at the site last month, a spokesman for the wind farm's owner said on Tuesday.