Wildlife

A previous analysis of an ancient jawbone led scientists to believe that polar bears survived a period that was warmer than today — a time when the planet was warm enough that hippos lived where London is now.

The federally protected animals were killed in mid-May, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is offering up to $5,000 for information.

It appears that a lone female opossum that arrived in Alaska in a shipping container from Washington state gave birth, with wildlife officials hoping to prevent further spread.

The opossum, nicknamed Grubby by Homer locals, is not native to Alaska and presents an opportunity for the zoo to educate people on invasive species.

The lawsuit says the moose hunt would violate the Alaska Constitution because it would grant “exclusive or special privileges to hunt and fish for Alaska wildlife to a specific group.”

Weeks before the landscape greens up for the summer, birds begin to return in breathtaking numbers. Anchorage is a good place to see a lot of them.

The threat to many species of wild birds and backyard poultry flocks is the same or greater than it was last year, said Dr. Bob Gerlach.

An Ohio scientist dug into the question and found it likely that it allows moose to feed in water without getting their nostrils flooded.

Beavers are building dams and expanding waterways in the region. Researchers traveled from Nome to Kotzebue by snowmachine recently to more closely examine the animals’ impacts.

It was at least the second time in the past month that a moose wandered into a building in Southcentral Alaska.

In Utqiaġvik, a team has used sterilized trowels to scrape a thin layer of snow from fresh polar bear footprints. Methods like that help scientists learn more about the animals without bothering them or taking extreme risks.

The mammal, considered an invasive species in Alaska, turned up in a shipping container from Washington state.

The team at Providence Health Park tried a variety of tactics to guide the moose back outside on Thursday, including using a bit of plant as a lure and creating a human wall.

Ravens almost always congregate together at night, and that often means flying dozens of miles away from food sources only to return the next day.

With sea ice declining, bowhead whales are staying longer in the waters north of Bering Strait. A change in migration patterns could affect the health and safety of bowheads, as well as access to the subsistence resource for hunters in Arctic Alaska.

Bohemian waxwings are a wintertime fixture in Anchorage, darting in large flocks from one berry-filled tree to another.

The state of Alaska filed suit Wednesday against the National Marine Fisheries Service, claiming the agency drew overly large protection areas for two kinds of seals in the Arctic.

One researcher is recording the vocalizations of the birds 24 hours a day at the landfill in Fairbanks.

Analysis by a state wildlife veterinarian indicates the bear was probably older and in poor physical health, but tests for pathogens that affect the brain and cause aggressive behavior came back negative.

The endangered population continues to slip and calf numbers are few, but no single factor has been identified as the cause.

Those who win a permit — $30 applications are due online or by mail by March 1 — will be able to watch bears sometime between June 7 and Aug. 25.

Several communities above or near the Arctic Circle rely on patrols where people use vehicles, lights, beanbag shotguns or other nonlethal measures to scare bears out of town. The bear patrol program in Wales, where Tuesday’s attack occurred, had lapsed, though it’s unclear that it could have prevented the mauling even if it had been active.

Questions linger over what factors may have contributed to Alaska’s first fatal polar bear mauling in more than 30 years. An administrator said some employees at the Wales school hit the bear with shovels in an attempt to get it to leave.