California wildlife - Human Crisis News

The state has revived the California Wildlife Coexistence Program, a statewide service for handling run-ins between people and wild animals, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1135 on Tuesday, September 29. The program sits inside the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and is meant to help residents, ranchers and communities prevent conflicts with wildlife without killing the animals. The earlier version lost its funding and ended in 2024. The law was written by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, whose office says it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027. That office also says she helped secure $5 million in this year's state budget for the effort. Defenders of Wildlife, which co-sponsored the bill with the National Wildlife Federation, says it passed both chambers of the Legisl...

On 16 September, an olive ridley sea turtle crawled out of the Pacific near Seal Beach in Orange County, dug a hole in the sand and laid her eggs, something no sea turtle has ever been recorded doing on the US West Coast. The Huntington Beach Fire Department filmed it, and the footage was later shared by NOAA Fisheries. Three days afterwards a turtle came ashore again near the Huntington Beach Pier, a few miles to the south, and laid a second nest. Both spots are now fenced off and signposted, and each is thought to hold between 50 and 100 eggs. NOAA Fisheries describes it as the first-ever recorded natural nesting of any sea turtle species on this coast. The bigger questions come after that: why an olive ridley sea turtle turned up in Southern California at all, whether these eggs have...

Tag: California wildlife

California Brings Back Statewide Wildlife Coexistence Program After 2024 Funding Lapse

A Tropical Turtle Nested in California for the First Time. Will the Eggs Hatch?