A Serbian bird-watching group uses crowdfunding to buy woodland habitat

PLANDISTE, Serbia (AP) – The merry chirping of birds echoed through towering trees in a small woodland in northeastern Serbia. Down on the ground, animal tracks could be seen imprinted in the moist grass and moss.

Baby on board: Paramedics deliver baby just before Delta flight lands

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta gave birth to a healthy 5-1/2 pound (2.5-kilogram) girl just before the Boeing 737 landed at Portland International Airport in Oregon on Friday night. Two paramedics who happened to be on the flight assisted, borrowing blankets from other passengers and using a shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord.

Chonkers the sea lion draws crowds to San Francisco's Pier 39

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – An intrepid sea lion nicknamed Chonkers is waddling his way into the hearts of tourists and locals who have flocked to San Francisco’s Pier 39 for a glimpse of the massive pinniped.

Humpback whale 'Timmy' released in the North Sea

BERLIN (AP) – A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.

Oakland attributes 6-decade low in homicides, in part, to life coaches

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Young men at risk of succumbing to gang violence slump over tables in an Oakland church. With them are prosecutors, clergy and survivors of shootings determined to show them they have more to look forward to than incarceration, injury or death.

Did you find an animal nesting near your house? Here's what to do

For four years, a mallard has nested behind a bush near the front door of Caitlin Deal’s home in a Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb, offering an up-close glimpse of nature for her young son and lessons for how people can coexist with wildlife.

How a surgeon kept Sudan hospital functioning on war's front line

OMDURMAN, Sudan (AP) – For three years, Dr. Jamal Eltaeb made excruciating choices. Who should live and potentially die? Should he operate without the right medicines if it might save someone’s life? How would he find fuel to keep the hospital’s lights on?

Sumatra orangutan uses canopy bridge to cross a public road in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday. Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species.

Citizen 'Frog Patrol' helps amphibians survive dangerous journey in Poland

OTREBUSY, Poland (AP) – On rainy spring nights in a forest near the Polish capital, a citizen “Frog Patrol” springs into action – humans helping amphibians survive dangerous road crossings for a chance to enjoy millennia-old mating rituals.