Center for Biological Diversity
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Endangered Earth
No. 1,140, April 11, 2024

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Back in Court for Northern Rockies Wolves — Take Action
The Center for Biological Diversity and allies just sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [[link removed]] for denying our petition to restore federal protection to gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
Since political interference prematurely ended their Endangered Species Act protection in 2011, these wolves have suffered under state persecution, with hundreds killed each year in some of the cruelest ways possible. Montana allows bait and strangulation snares, while Idaho hires private wolf-killing contractors and lets hunters chase wolves down with hounds and ATVs. And across most of Wyoming, hunters can kill wolves without a license, by almost any means at any time.
The Service’s own scientists admit that rampant wolf-killing under state laws could reduce the region’s wolf population by 75%. We’ve been in and out of court defending these wolves since 2003, when the agency first started trying to strip their protection.
You don’t have to be a lawyer to help. Send a letter asking the Service to protect these intelligent, social animals from merciless killing. [[link removed]]


375,000 Native Animals Killed by One Program in 2023
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s notorious Wildlife Services program [[link removed]] just put out its required tally of killings [[link removed]] for last year: 375,045 native animals. The federal extermination program targets a long list of wild creatures, chiefly at the behest of agricultural interests in states like Texas, Colorado and Idaho.
According to the report — which almost surely understates the actual numbers — more than 300 gray wolves, 68,000 coyotes, 400 black bears, 200 mountain lions, 400 bobcats, 2,000 red and gray foxes, and 24,000 beavers were intentionally killed in 2023.
“I’m horrified by both the sheer number of animals killed and the immense suffering involved,” said Collette Adkins, the Center’s carnivore conservation director.
Help us protect native wildlife from this heartless program with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund . [[link removed]] Do it now and your gift will be matched.


Suit Filed to Save Species From Oil Drilling
On Monday the Center and a scientist ally took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court [[link removed]] for failing to assess how Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas activities hurt federally protected species — a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
The agency’s own records show that greenhouse gas pollution threatens almost every endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico, including Mississippi sandhill cranes, Alabama beach mice, and loggerhead sea turtles [[link removed]] . But the Service purposefully left that out when evaluating federal oil and gas activities in the Gulf, among the largest U.S. greenhouse gas sources.
See one species at risk in t his up-close-and-personal video of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings [[link removed]] .


Center Op-Ed: The Complicated Dread of Early Spring
“These days, as spring winds toward summer, for many of us the carefree season has become a time of dread,” writes Lydia Millet, award-winning author and the Center’s deputy creative director, in a new Time opinion piece [[link removed]] . Instead of thinking about balmy weather and renewal, we await a time of massive storms and wildfires, oppressive heat, and prolonged drought made worse by climate change.
How should we respond? Fear is natural, says Lydia, and it’s not cowardice. The next step is turning fear into action — understanding the facts and uniting with our community.


Bridled Darters Back on Track for Protection
Following a Center lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service just agreed to again consider Endangered Species Act protection [[link removed]] for bridled darters, rare fish who live in Georgia and Tennessee. Named for markings that look like a horse’s bridle and reins, these tiny stream dwellers are in deep trouble and face multiple threats, from habitat destruction to climate change — yet in 2017, the Service rejected our petition to protect them. So the Center sued last September.
“We all need clean water, and protecting bridled darters will benefit people, too, by ensuring rivers are cleaner for drinking and recreation,” said Center attorney Meg Townsend.


Revelator: When Plants Are Supplanted
When humans bring new plants to an ecosystem, those nonnative species can squeeze out the original inhabitants, pushing them slowly but (eventually) surely toward oblivion. Researchers found six red flags to help identify this threat before extinction happens.
Read more in The Revelator [[link removed]] and subscribe to the free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news [[link removed]] .


Indigenous Leaders Call for Whales to Get Personhood
In the latest advancement of the Rights of Nature movement, indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga and the Cook Islands just signed a treaty granting whales the same legal rights and protections as human beings.
As conservationist Mere Takoko of New Zealand’s Māori people told NPR’s Morning Edition [[link removed]] , this step will pressure governments to better conserve whales, or, as the Māori call them, tohorā — the sacred ancestors of indigenous Polynesians.
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That’s Wild: Dancing in the Deep-Sea Dark
Dancing in the moonlight, sure — but have you heard of dancing in the deep-ocean twilight zone?
Bioluminescent sea worms do it, and thanks to researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute, now we can watch one of the most unique worm species showing off its talent.
Scientists with a remotely operated vehicle recorded a segmented gossamer worm [[link removed]] ( Tomopteris ) doing a hypnotizing “dance” in the deep-sea darkness off the coast of Chile. Marine worms of this species — one of the few known to have yellow bioluminescence — spend their whole lives in perpetual motion, using their paddle-like parapodia to undulate through the water column without ever encountering the seafloor or sunlight.
Check out the dazzling dancer on our Facebook [[link removed]] or Instagram [[link removed]] .

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