Center for Biological Diversity

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Endangered Earth

No. 1254, July 18, 2024



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Court Reverses Oil Lease Sale Threatening Belugas
The Center for Biological Diversity and allies are celebrating a major legal win this week: In response to our lawsuit, a judge just overturned an offshore oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet — the only home of a very special, critically endangered population of beluga whales.
Among other things, the court ruled that in holding the sale, the Department of the Interior failed to fully consider how blaring vessel noise might hurt belugas. These whales “see” with sound via echolocation, which they use for hunting, avoiding obstacles, and finding each other. The sale could’ve also harmed critical habitat for federally protected sea otters.
“I hope this decision makes it clear to federal officials that they can’t keep ignoring the ways offshore drilling threatens Cook Inlet beluga whales,” said the Center’s Kristen Monsell.
We’ll keep up the fight no matter what. Help us keep winning for belugas and other wildlife with a gift to the Center’s Saving Life on Earth Fund .


Rare Turtles Win Protection, Rare Tortoises Need It
Responding to a 2010 petition and 2022 lawsuit by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally protected Pearl River map turtles under the Endangered Species Act.
Although the agency postponed habitat protection for another year, this listing may be just in time to help safeguard the beautifully patterned turtles from a plan to dam their namesake Pearl River, their last home on Earth, in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Public input was a crucial part of this long-sought win. If you helped us advocate for these turtles, thank you .
Now another shelled southern reptile species — eastern gopher tortoises of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina — needs your voice. Following a different Center petition and lawsuit, in 2022 the Service denied them protection using what was just deemed a flawed population-viability model. These strong-legged, burrow-digging tortoises are in a fight for their lives as urban sprawl destroys their rapidly dwindling habitat.
Take action: Tell the Service to protect gopher tortoises too.


Suing for the Sake of the Big Sandy
Southwestern willow flycatchers, northern Mexican garter snakes, and other rare and endangered species depend on precious desert waterways like Arizona’s Big Sandy River to survive — but federal agencies have been letting cattle tear up the vulnerable streamsides. So the Center and allies just sued to make the agencies do their job and keep cattle out of delicate habitat.
As the Center’s Chris Bugbee told NPR, “What we’re trying to achieve is conservation and recovery of a variety of species that have been decimated, along with their habitat, by the cattle industry.”
Bright orange bat in a bright green tree [[link removed]]
Study Highlights U.S. Role in Imperiled Bat Trade
A first-of-its-kind scientific study says trade in painted woolly bats, largely driven by U.S. demand, is probably unsustainable and illegal. In 12 weeks, researchers found 856 listings — 62% by U.S. vendors — for dead bat decor on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, including 215 listings for painted woolly bats.
Coveted for their striking orange-and-black wings, painted woolly bats are illegally collected and killed in their native South and Southeast Asia and sold as decor globally. They’re declining, and since they have just one baby at a time, they’re especially vulnerable to trade. We’ve petitioned to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.
Researchers have also warned about bat trade’s potential to spread disease to healthy bat populations — and humans too.
Push to ban trade in wild birds and mammals (like bats) to help prevent pandemics.


Critical Habitat Proposed for Barrens Topminnows
At long last: In response to decades of Center advocacy, the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed protecting critical habitat for endangered Barrens topminnows, iridescent green fish from central Tennessee. They grow to 4 inches long and swim in clear, cold streams near the surface, where they eat mosquito larvae and other insects.
Critical habitat designation is key to federally protected species’ survival, helping make sure their homes aren’t harmed.
See what these flashy fish look like in our video on Facebook and Instagram.


Revelator: Saving Sand
Did you know there’s an increasing demand for sand? Mining for this seemingly abundant and common material harms humans, wildlife, and the environment — and fuels a lucrative and dangerous illegal industry.
Learn more in The Revelator . And if you don’t already, subscribe to the free weekly Revelator e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.


That’s Wild: How Dice Snakes Try to Trick Death
Pretending to be a corpse is a popular tactic when animals face predators who prefer their food fresh, but dice snakes go the drama queen route: When captured they thrash around squirting out (1) musk, (2) feces, and (3) blood from the mouth.
Not all of them do all three. Scientists observing dice snake fakery recently discovered that individuals who put on the most elaborate displays spent less time, in total, feigning their death throes — apparently the theatrics have an impact.
The next question, says one of the scientists, is why any would-be snake eaters are put off by these death scenes at all. After all, meat doesn’t get much fresher than “just alive and acting completely bonkers, like, one second ago.”

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