The steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found.
Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are thestart of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said.
The Permian-Triassic extinction event, known as the “Great Dying” occurred 252 million years ago. It was driven by global heating resulting from huge volcanic eruptions and wiped out 95% of life on Earth.
1of3This image provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections shows Jeff Titus. The state of Michigan asked a judge Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, to immediately release Titus, who has served nearly 21 years in prison for killing two hunters, saying evidence about an Ohio serial killer’s possible role was never disclosed to the defense before trial. (Michigan Department of Corrections via AP)APShow More
DETROIT (AP) — A man was released from a Michigan prison Friday after nearly 21 years, freed from a life sentence after state authorities acknowledged that an Ohio serial killer could have been the person who killed two deer hunters in 1990.
“A state of shock,” Jeff Titus, 71, told The Associated Press moments after walking out of a prison in Coldwater. “Not having handcuffs on or prison blues. I can’t wait to get…
The brass doors outside the Calgary Courts Centre. Gavin Young/Postmedia
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Tsuut’ina resident Rylen Heavenfire will face an April 21 sentencing hearing for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his brother during a drunken hunting outing.
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Off-Road Comparison: Ford Bronco Sasquatch vs Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xtreme Recon
Off-Road Comparison: Ford Bronco Sasquatch vs Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xtreme Recon
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Defence counsel Steve Wojick appeared in Calgary Court of King’s Bench Friday to set the half-day hearing before Justice Michele Hollins.
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Heavenfire, who is free on bail, was not present in court for the scheduling appearance.
“We are setting a date for sentencing,” Wojick told Hollins.
Argument resulted in Rylen Heavenfire shooting his brother in the face
In September, a Calgary jury found Rylen, 23, guilty of manslaughter in the Oct. 25, 2019, fatal shooting of his brother, Randen.
Rylen had been hunting and drinking with his brother in woods near their grandparent’s home on the Tsuut’ina Nation not far from Bragg Creek, with his brother’s girlfriend and an uncle.
At some point the brothers got into an argument and Randen was shot once in the face with a shotgun blast from close range.
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Wojick had argued his client didn’t intend to fire the fatal shot and the killing shouldn’t have been deemed a criminal act.
But jurors accepted submissions from Crown prosecutor Vince Pingitore that Heavenfire’s actions amounted to manslaughter.
‘Firearms and alcohol do not mix well’
In his final argument, Pingitore said jurors didn’t have to find Rylen intended his brother’s death.
“You may conclude that the accused intentionally shot Randen Heavenfire, but that is not something that you have to decide in this trial,” he said.
But Pingitore told the jury that they should find the accused‘s severe intoxication, along with his careless use of the loaded shotgun he’d taken into the woods while drinking, amounted to manslaughter.
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“What you will distill from the evidence that you’ve heard in this case is one straightforward and clear conclusion, and that is that firearms and alcohol do not mix well,” he said.
“I will ask you to consider how a reasonable person in the circumstances of the accused would have handled a firearm on this day,” Pingitore said.
CBS12 News reporter Stefany Valderrama spoke with gator trapper, Neil Sanders, who is contracted by the state to strictly remove gators that may be a nuisance or a threat. (CREDIT: Neil Sanders)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — In light of a Fort Pierce woman losing her life in an alligator attack, CBS12 News wanted to find out what you should do if there’s an alligator living near your home or business.
CBS12 News reporter Stefany Valderrama spoke with gator trapper Neil Sanders, who is contracted by the state to strictly remove gators that may be a nuisance or a threat.
Sanders has been working as a contractor for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for just over 4 years. He tells CBS12 News he caught roughly 130 gators last year and released them into other areas of the state that are better suited for the large reptiles.
According to Sanders, any homeowner or business owner in Florida can report a gator on or near their property to the state’s nuisance hotline. It’s a free service and you just have to call 1-866-FWC-GATOR (1-866-392-4286).
After you call, FWC will call in their gator trappers.
Sanders tells CBS12 News there are less than half a dozen trappers in Palm Beach County, including himself.
The trappers will come out to your property and assess the situation after they obtain the right permits from the state, but even they have limitations.
“For example, if you live in the equestrian side [near Wellington], and you have a big canal in your backyard, we are only allowed to go 100 feet from your property line,” Sanders explained. “If that alligator is 200 feet, or even 110 feet away, we have to put our hands up and say sorry he’s not a threat to you right now.”
Sanders tells CBS12 News the permits are good for 45 days, so if the gator moves closer to your property, the trappers will return and will keep coming back until they can safely trap and remove the gator.
As Coloradans contend with the introduction of wolves into the state, conservationists criticized the U.S. Forest Service for not banning wolf hunting in Wyoming.
The Center for Biological Diversity sent a letter Wednesday to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and three other federal officials, complaining about wolf hunting in Wyoming.
The organization accused Forest Service officials of violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect wolves moving from Colorado into Wyoming from hunters in the Medicine Bow-Routt…
We typically think of bear attacks in backcountry locations when we hear news about a hunter being mauled in the wild. However, a Georgia hunter recently discovered that a vicious attack can happen anywhere and at anytime. And it’s not always the bears and big cats on the attack. In this case, it was a pack of dogs doing the damage.
The 61-year-old Georgia hunter requested to be known simply as, “Scott B.” He was attempting to relocate a treestand when the attack by 3 dogs occurred.
A trip to the deer woods to move a treestand turned ugly for this Georgia hunter, Scott B.
The man was removing straps from his ladder stand when he saw the dogs approaching.
“One of them came in and attacked me. When it did, the other two joined in. They were attacking me from three sides. It…
During a recent broadcast on Russian state-run TV, a pundit discussed the possibility of Russia using a nuclearSarmat missileto strike a volcano in Yellowstone National Park.
Russian PresidentVladimir Putinon Thursday said during an address that his country “will pay increased attention to strengthening” its nuclear missiles based on land, sea and in the air, according toReuters. He also reportedly said RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic…
But whether this will happen is not clear-cut, Bill Browder, once the largest foreign investor inRussiaand now an outspoken Kremlin critic, told Sky News.
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said he plans to deploy Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, as part of an effort to modernize the country’s nuclear forces.
The announcement, aimed in part at showcasing Russia’s nuclear arsenal, came two days after Mr. Putin said that Russia will pull back from the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S. It comes on the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has exposed serious shortcomings of capabilities of the Russian military, which has struggled to advance on the battlefield in Ukraine in recent months.
By Mark Heinz, Outdoors Reporter Mark@CowboyStateDaily.com
Regardless of whether thelatest effort to delist grizzly bearssucceeds, there’s no doubt about the overwhelming demand for grizzly hunting tags, veteran bear hunter Guy Eastman of Powell said.
“Absolutely,” he told Cowboy State Daily when asked if he intends to put in for one of the coveted hunting tags, should grizzlies be delisted.
“Me and probably 10,000 of my other friends,” he added with a chuckle.
He’s the editor-in-chief of Eastmans’ Publishing Inc., a Powell-based media company that specializes in stories and videos about fair chase Western big game trophy hunting. He’s been on several grizzly hunts in Alaska and Canada, and said it’s no easy endeavor because grizzlies are among the most intelligent animals…
