The Act has encountered obstacles and outright attacks, in an atmosphere where climate change and environmental havoc are growing problems.
An oxygen-devouring algae bloom that is causing a 5,840 square-mile dead zone - and growing - in the Gulf of Mexico is part of the tightly woven web of climate change disasters.
Experiments on chimps have been conducted in the U.S. for more than 90 years, despite consistent pressure on the government and corporations by animal welfare groups.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Africa's western black rhino is now officially extinct.
Dumping of drugs into water, flushing medicines down the toilet, or passing through people's bodies in an un-metabolized form are ways pharmaceuticals enter rivers and streams.
As a result, some 400 chimps will be moved to a national sanctuary, where they will have room to live and play in peace.
As a result, the 77 workers there will keep their jobs, and the 104 bears living there will continue to have a home.
Most factory farms are controversial enough in the way that animals are handled there.
Both surveillance technology and Google have generated controversyt. But in opposition to the growing international threat of poaching, however, many feel they can be put to good use.
Costa Rica officially banned hunting on December 10, becoming the first Latin American country to outlaw the sport.