Nearly a century ago, wildlife biologists estimated there were about 500 desert bighorn sheep in Texas. Half a century later there were none. Today there are more than 800 of these majestic animals in the state and counting.

Texas game wardens today continue searching two North Texas lakes and an East Texas reservoir for victims of three, separate, single-vessel boating accidents.

The trumpeting sound of cranes overhead is a cherished sound of spring in Texas, but as endangered whooping cranes depart Texas this spring en route for breeding grounds in Canada, fewer birds will be making the trip.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted a series of wildlife and hunting related regulations that expand special buck antler restrictions and liberalize antlerless harvest opportunities in dozens of counties. The new rules take effect during the 2009-10 hunting seasons.

Rock climbers recently noticed canyon wrens nesting at a popular climbing site at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site. Due to concerns about disturbing the nesting birds, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has temporarily closed Grenade Boulder until hatchlings fledge. It is expected to be closed for about a month.

Divers from the Texas Department of Public Safety recovered the body of Jerry King, 72, of Athens from Richland Chambers Reservoir at 9:30 a.m. today. Texas game wardens earlier had identified a return on side-scan sonar that proved to be King.