Santa Clara County Animals Articles

California may have more than a million fighting birds, according to the Center for a Humane Economy.

By Dan Bacher Gavin Newsom continued his “California Jobs First” tour last week with a press event at a farm in Colusa in the Sacramento Valley where the...

Bluffs, beach, and amazing tidepools.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing protection for one of the nation's most beloved species the monarch butterfly and is encouraging the public to be part of its recovery. The Service is seeking public input on a proposal …

A critical city report highlighting deteriorating conditions at the San Jose animal shelter echoes concerns advocates and former volunteers have raised for years.
San Jose’s Animal Care Center is the city-run adoption center that also serves residents in neighboring cities …

More than 60 people, some who traveled all the way to Los Altos from San Martin and Woodside, piled into a packed meeting, decked out in multi-colored plaid, cowboy hats and boots. They anxiously wrung their hands and wiped away …

By Dan Bacher Hundreds of fall-run Chinook salmon are now spawning on the Klamath River and its tributaries both above and below the former sites...

In Dec. 2022, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District agreed to a $100,000+ deal with Nomad Ecology of Martinez, Calif., to study the population of the “critically imperiled Santa Cruz Kangaroo Rat,” which had just reappeared on the Santa Clara County …

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk Giant Dipper has drawn over 60 million thrill-seekers to scream while careening around the roller coaster’s hairpin turns. But more than 65,000 motorists a day know that roller coaster ride pales compared to the high-speed, white-knuckle …

A “significant threat” to the Delta has been discovered in the Port of Stockton.The golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), an invasive, non-native freshwater bivalve, was recently discovered in the port by California Department of Water Resources staff while conducting routine operations, …

A non-native Aedes aegypti mosquito—an aggressive species that can spread certain diseases—has been discovered in a residential area of Gilroy, according to the Santa Clara County Vector Control District. A mosquito of the same species was also found recently in …

A proposal to strengthen Santa Clara County's electrical grid could become an environmental hazard and threaten efforts to protect Coyote Valley wildlife from being killed along busy roads south of San Jose.
That's the warning from local environmental advocates, who …

During the past year, Valley Water biologists and other people spotted numerous Chinook salmon, juvenile steelhead and other fish species in waterways across Santa Clara County. Many of these fish were swimming and spawning in sections of creeks and rivers …

Every summer, members of the North Pacific whale tribe feed off the coast of Northern California and put on a show that can feed your soul.

More than 40 feet long and weighing up to 40 tons, adult humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are formidable giants. But their immensity doesn’t hinder their athleticism.

Humpback whales return to our waters just in time for Earth Day and WhaleFest in Pacifica, while whale watchers in Monterey Bay are seeing cetaceans in droves.

Beavers create unburned islands where plants and animals can shelter from megafires, research has confirmed. A movement is afoot to reintroduce the rodents to the state's waterways.

Traces and remains of ancient creatures—from whale-ribs to a famous mastodon tooth—frequently surface on Santa Cruz beaches and in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Spiky proteins called mucins allow banana slugs to crawl over all kinds of ground cover.

Find out what the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count is all about and learn how to participate in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Silicon Valley.