Johannes Fritz, a biologist, needed to come up with a plan, again, if he was going to prevent his rare and beloved birds from going extinct.

To survive the European winter, the northern bald ibis (朱鹭)- -which had once disappeared entirely from the wild on the continent-needs to migrate south for the winter, over the Alps, before the mountains become impassable. But shifting climate patterns have delayed when the birds begin to migrate, and they are now reaching the mountains too late to make it over the peaks, locking them in an icy death trap. Determined to save them, Mr. Fritz decided he would teach the birds a new, safer migration route by guiding them himself in a tiny aircraft. And he was confident he could succeed in this daring, unconventional plan because he had done it before.

Mr. Fritz was his young pupils’ sole provider of food, love and cuddles since they’d been just a few days old, and the ibises eagerly followed their teacher. He learned to fly, modifying an ultralight aircraft so it would cruise at speeds slow enough for his winged students to keep up. In 2014, three years after some initially bumpy experiments, Mr. Fritz led the first flock from Austria to Italy, and has since led 15 such migrations. Over that time, he has rewilded 277 young ibises, many of which then started to pass the route on to their own young. For now, however, the main worry is getting the birds to follow the aircraft. “While they have a strong bond with their ‘mothers’ and follow them around on the ground, flying is more difficult, ” Fritz said.

“Fly Away Home was a huge hit with us biologists, ”Mr. Fritz said, recalling the 1996 movie in which characters lead the migration of orphaned Canada geese in a hang glider. When Mr. Fritz proclaimed he’d do the same with the ibises, he was initially ridiculed. But through years of trial and error, he succeeded. He even learned to fly like a bird, he said, soaring with ease. Mr. Fritz’s two sons, both now teenagers, followed their flying father and the migrating birds on the ground, and his family and colleagues witnessed the risks he was taking. But the inevitable risks are “necessary”, Mr. Fritz said.

“It’s not so much a job, ” he added, “but my life’s purpose. ”

The golden eagle — a large, powerful bird — is at the center of an effort to balance environmental protection and energy in the United States. Government policy protects golden eagles. But it also supports the building and growth of wind farms. Wind farms are groups of huge windmills that produce electricity from the wind. The problem is that windmills are often responsible for killing golden eagles.

Wyoming is a state where many golden eagles live. It is also home to a lot of large wind farms. Bryan Bedrosian is the conservation director at the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, Wyoming. He said, “We have some of the best golden eagle populations in Wyoming, but it doesn’t mean the population is not at risk.” He added, “As we develop wind energy across the U. S., that risk is increasing.”

Golden eagles do not reproduce until they are about five years old. They have one baby bird or chick every two years. As a result, adult eagle deaths have large effects on the population, Bedrosian said.

USGS scientists said in a recent study that increased turbine-caused (涡轮机导致的) deaths could cut golden eagle populations almost in half over ten years. That could happen if wind energy continues to grow, the scientists predicted. But the lead writer of the study, Jay Diffendorfer, said no population-wide decreases have been seen in recent years.

Climate change is also a great threat to golden eagles. The National Audubon Society warns rising temperatures could reduce golden eagle breeding areas by more than 40 percent within about 80 years. The federal government estimates that the shootings without permission by law kill about 700 golden eagles each year. More than 600 die each year in crashes with cars, wind turbines and power lines. About 500 are electrocuted (触电致死) and more than 400 are poisoned.

Brian Millsap, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s eagle program, said, “This sounds crass (愚蠢而无同情心的) but it’s realistic. Eagles are going to be incidentally killed at wind farms. We’ve got to reduce other things that will allow wind energy development.”

A growing demand for turtles(乌龟) as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching. Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally. Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles. Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.

More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

Tara Easter, a doctoral student, studies the trade. She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She found that the business export trade for mud turtles in the United States increased from 1,844 in 1999 to nearly 40,000 in 2017 and that the trade in musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.

The United States and several Latin American countries have suggested stopping or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species. In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate means to take something away from someone to carry out laws or rules.

The illegal trade has also led governments to suggest listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES, including North American musk turtles. A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.

Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama. He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles “really, really important”.

“We’ve seen this pattern of turtles being depleted in one place, and then poachers and traders moving to another place,” Strickler said. “Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas.”