Media Coverage
Collection of our coverage on established media institutions and outlets.
Media Coverage
2019
Conservation officials push back against changes to Endangered Species Act
08.13.2019
Increases in transparency, effectiveness and administrative modernization of the Endangered Species Act are at the heart of revisions to the 45-year-old law announced Monday, two key members of the Trump administration have asserted.
But local conservationists have expressed a sense of dismay.
“There’s nothing wrong with the Endangered Species Act,” said Lou Perrotti, who since 1994 has headed a conservation effort on Nantucket to encourage a population of the American burying beetle. “It’s not broken. It doesn’t need...
Roger Williams Park Zoo celebrates ‘World Elephant Day’!
08.12.2019
World Elephant Day is August 12th and we are heading to Roger Williams Park Zoo to celebrate! Brendan joins executive director, Dr. Jeremy Goodman, to learn more about the festivities and how we can help the conservation of elephants.
The Ghosts of Gone Birds Haunts an Odd and Endangered Beetle
08.09.2019
After centuries of losing countless birds and other small animals, a spiral of ecological consequences has taken its toll on American burying beetles.
This story isn’t about a bird; it’s about a hole that a bird once filled.
On a Monday in late June, as the Massachusetts resort island of Nantucket abounds with vacationers who use the word “summer” as a verb, a small team plants dead quails in about two dozen man-made holes on a grassy...
Celebrating National Zoo Keeper Week at RWP Zoo
07.26.2019
Every third week of July is National Zoo Keepers week.
Every third week of July is National Zoo Keepers week.
The week is meant to acknowledge and celebrate all of the professionals who care for animals at zoos.
We spoke with Laura Isaacs, a zoo keeper at Roger Williams Park Zoo for the past eleven years.
She cares for many...
R.I. state insect in middle of national debate over Endangered Species Act
07.12.2019
For a creature whose life is so entwined with death and decay, the American burying beetle has a certain charm.
Seen up close, the inch-and-a-half-long insect that raises its young on the rotting carcasses of small birds and mammals is striking in appearance: a heart-shaped orange blaze on a glossy black head, matching bands over a pair of wings, and most prominently, another fiery patch on the pronotum,...
Backyard & Beyond: There’s no reason to fear snakes in RI
06.17.2019
I’m calling 2019 my year of the snake, and early summer is the ideal time to find them.
Birds captured my imagination almost 40 years ago because of their vibrant colors, great diversity, and ease of seeing them any time of year. After observing most of the species that could be seen in the U.S., I expanded my horizons to focus on butterflies for a few years, then dragonflies,...
Man of the Menagerie
06.15.2019
A love of animals is all in a day’s work for Wakefield resident Tim French
When an 800-pound wild Himalayan goat called a takin escaped from its enclosure at Roger Williams Park Zoo last May, it smashed through a reinforced door and injured two staff members before the zoo’s recapture team, overseen by Wakefield resident Tim French, sedated the animal and returned it...
Zoo scores binturong success by saving Thistle from siblings
06.14.2019
The scratches on Matt Fugate’s arms show how the three baby binturongs at Roger Williams Park Zoo got their names: Nettle, Bramble and Thistle.
“They have strong claws,” he said. “They like to climb.”
Now about three months old, the baby bints have scored three successes already. They’re the zoo’s first binturong litter, born March 8. The smallest, Thistle, was being pushed aside by the other two, who hogged the food and warmth...
New Baby Binturongs
05.17.2019
Baby Alert! Meet Thistle, the Zoo's smallest of three healthy baby binturong born on March 8.
First-time mom Poppy is feeding and nurturing two of the triplets. As the tiniest member of the family, and being pushed away by her two stronger siblings, Thistle is being hand-reared in the Zoo's Veterinary Hospital. The animal care staff is working around the clock to feed her and make sure...
Federal and State Wildlife Agencies Release New England Cottontails on Island Refuge
05.09.2019
As part of an ongoing conservation effort to restore the rare New England cottontail rabbit to New England and eastern New York...
...the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), along with partners, released 13 wild-caught New England cottontails on Tuesday on Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge, an island off Martha’s Vineyard...