HESPERIA, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters have rescued a very big cat — a mountain lion — from a tree outside a home in the Southern California desert.

The homeowner called authorities Saturday after spotting the animal near the edge of the San Bernardino Mountains.

San Bernardino County ...

NEW YORK (AP) — A fleet-footed hound that hails from West Africa is the latest dog in the American Kennel Club’s pack of recognized breeds.

The club announced Wednesday that the Azawakh (AHZ’-ah-wahk) became the 193rd breed in its roster. That means Azawakhs can now compete in many dog ...

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — A parcel of land that is prime habitat for the so-called teddy bear cactus has been purchased for a Mojave Desert conservation organization.

An anonymous donor bought the 599 acres (242 hectares) of Southern California land for $140,000 and deeded it to the ...

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona transportation worker Zach Moralez knew something wasn’t right when he saw a damaged fence along a highway.

Tracks went off the edge of the road and through the fence on the edge of the hill. Moralez, a highway operations technician, knew there had to be a car at the ...

ALMOG, West Bank (AP) — An Israeli farmer has cashed in by making exotic honey from a rare tree that produces frankincense — the resin once worth its weight in gold and venerated in the Bible. But the farm’s location in a far-flung West Bank settlement has left a bitter taste in at least one ...

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona clergy are calling activists to gather this weekend at the state’s border with Mexico and leave large jugs of water on remote trails for migrants who continue to cross the desert during the dangerously hot summer.

The Sunday gathering organized by faith leaders and ...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest on Pioneer Day in Utah (all times local):

9:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is recognizing Mormon pioneers who journeyed across the west to build a new home in Utah.

Trump said in a statement issued Tuesday by the White House that the families ...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis urged governments on Friday to make good on their commitments to curb global warming, warning that climate change, continued unsustainable development and rampant consumption threatens to turn the Earth into a vast pile of “rubble, deserts and ...

RENO, Nev. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials have agreed to consider Endangered Species Act protection for a rare toad in northern Nevada’s high desert where one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in the nation wants to build a power plant.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said ...

ASSAMAKA, Niger (AP) — From this isolated frontier post deep in the sands of the Sahara, the expelled migrants can be seen coming over the horizon by the hundreds. They look like specks in the distance, trudging miserably across some of the world’s most unforgiving terrain in the blistering ...

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The colors of Tunisia’s landscape change hourly with the light of the Mediterranean sun. Vermilion, sapphire, olive green, white, gold and ocher can all be seen in the sky, sea and sand.

Visitors may be surprised by the varied hues of these contrasting landscapes: ...

MATMATA, Tunisia (AP) — There’s a reason the original “Star Wars” movie was filmed here in the deserts of southern Tunisia. This stark, remote landscape looks like another planet.

One of Tunisia’s vast desert regions is even called Tataouine, like Luke Skywalker’s home planet, ...

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Federal officials say a rare desert wildflower that only grows in Death Valley National Park is no longer endangered.

The U.S. Department of the Interior says the Eureka Valley evening primrose is no longer in need of protection.

The large ...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It’s not quite Noah’s Ark, but Springs Preserve in Las Vegas is gradually becoming an urban lifeboat for some of the Mojave Desert’s most threatened species.

Before the end of the year, the Las Vegas Valley Water District-owned attraction will be home to three types of ...

PHOENIX (AP) — When I moved to Phoenix last summer, I was bewildered by all the bright green grass I saw smack in the middle of the Sonoran Desert — in residential yards, on golf courses, at community parks.

While the temperatures were hitting nearly 120 degrees, these perfect lawns sucked ...

DHOFAR DESERT, Oman (AP) — Two scientists in spacesuits, stark white against the auburn terrain of desolate plains and dunes, test a geo-radar built to map Mars by dragging the flat box across the rocky sand.

When the geo-radar stops working, the two walk back to their all-terrain vehicles ...

MANSOURA, Egypt (AP) — A skeleton has been unearthed in Egypt’s Western Desert, where ancient sands have long helped preserve remains, but unlike most finds this one isn’t a mummy — it’s a dinosaur.

Researchers from Mansoura University in the country’s Nile Delta discovered the new species ...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Outdoor enthusiasts looking for wildflowers in the Mojave Desert this year are likely to encounter the blossoms only along the path of a storm that moved through Las Vegas last month.

Should wildflowers bloom at all in the coming months after a dry fall and winter, experts ...

CORDOBA, Argentina (AP) — Media helicopters buzzed over bikers at the starting line in Peru’s desert. The motorcyclists became almost invisible roaring across the dust bowls of Peru, while cars in the four-wheel competition plowed nose first into the sand as they flew over dunes.

Bolivian ...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It all began with the tortoise.

In 1990, federal officials listed the Mojave Desert species as threatened across its range, touching off a series of new regulations and initiatives aimed at saving the long-lived reptile.

One of the people caught up in the effort to ...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — How does a bighorn sheep say “cheese?”

Some charismatic critters caught by motion-detecting wildlife cameras seem to know how to strike a pose. But it’s not just show business. As these devices get ever smaller, cheaper and more reliable, scientists across the U.S. ...