AP - At the National Governors Association conference where she first met John McCain, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had other business: making her case to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne against classifying the polar bear as a threatened species.

AFP - Environmental and animal rights activists dressed as dolphins Wednesday staged a die-in in Washington to protest what they called the "horrific butchering" of thousands of dolphins by Japanese fishermen every year.

AFP - Officials at Taiwan's biggest zoo said Wednesday they hoped to welcome a pair of giant pandas from rival China as early as November, a move expected to draw millions of tourists to the capital.

AP - After meeting with animal rights activists, the British military said Tuesday that it will study alternative materials to replace the bearskin hats worn by the soldiers who guard Buckingham Palace.

LiveScience.com - Black-footed ferrets at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have birthed two kits sired by males who died in 1999 and 2000.

Reuters - Young men who die suddenly after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday.

AFP - In the Lofoten Islands, the main base for Norway's whaling industry, whalers adamantly defend the harshly criticised practice and reject claims that consumers are not buying whale meat.

AP - The only panda born at a U.S. zoo so far this year was placed in an incubator on Monday for closer monitoring by zookeepers after visitors flocked to watch mother and child on a live video feed at Zoo Atlanta.

AFP - In the Lofoten Islands, the main base for Norway's whaling industry, hunters insist that their tradition has a future despite decades of criticism -- and reject claims that consumers aren't buying whale meat.

AP - Visitors flocked to welcome the only panda born at a U.S. zoo so far this year and watch mother and child on a live video feed at Zoo Atlanta Monday.