Two red wolf pups perched on a rock in a forest

No. 1263, September 19, 2024

Sad News From Red Wolf Country

After a car hit and killed their father soon after they were born, five red wolf pups in eastern North Carolina have also died. Their mother, Chance, was unable to care for them without the support of her mate. Five more red wolves have been killed by vehicles in the past 14 months.

With fewer than 20 of these highly endangered animals left in the wild, this is painful and dangerous for all red wolves — and the people who love them.

“One vehicle collision ultimately killed six red wolves,” said Will Harlan, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This critically endangered species can't afford to lose any more animals to vehicle strikes.”

Take action: Tell the Federal Highway Administration to support wildlife crossings in red wolf country.

Speckled-skinned turtle swimming toward the camera

Protection Sought for Diamondback Terrapins

This week the Center led 20 partner organizations in petitioning NOAA Fisheries to protect diamondback terrapins under the Endangered Species Act. These charming aquatic turtles have freckled bodies and gorgeous diamond-shaped shell patterns, and they live mainly in coastal marshes and estuaries from Massachusetts to Texas. Their lifespans can be 40 years, but only 1% of hatchlings survive to adulthood. And in the past 50 years, diamondback terrapins have declined by 75% across most of their range and disappeared completely in many places.

One of the main reasons? They’re dying painfully and needlessly in crab traps. Every year at least 60,000 diamondback terrapins drown in those traps — and that’s not counting tens of thousands more killed in traps that have been abandoned or lost. Terrapins are also threatened by habitat loss, pollution, poaching, predators, car and boat strikes, and climate change.

Help the Center’s fight for terrapins and other rare wildlife with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.

Photo collage showing trees and a wolverine, with play button

Help Keep Old-Growth Forests Standing Tall

Mature and old-growth forests are vital to the planet’s health. They store massive amounts of climate-heating carbon, support healthy watersheds and clean drinking water, survive wildfire better than young forests, and shelter imperiled species like spotted owls and wolverines.

Most such forests have already been cut down, and what remains is at high risk. The U.S. Forest Service has proposed amending 122 national forest management plans to protect old growth — but its current plan isn't good enough.

Sept. 20, tomorrow, is the deadline to demand the Forest Service protect the country's oldest forests and trees.

If you haven’t taken action yet, tell the agency that old-growth trees are worth more standing.

If you have, thank you — now show your support for old forests by sharing our video on Facebook and Twitter.

Female sage grouse seen from the back, with the beak pointing toward the right

Agreement: Mining Dollars to Help Sage Grouse

Following our 2021 suit, the Center and allies have made an agreement with a mining company, P4, that will yield over $8 million for the conservation of sage grouse and other wildlife.

The company, whose parent is Bayer AG, will also take measures to reduce the harms of its Caldwell Canyon phosphate mine, in southeast Idaho, on sage grouse.

“This case helped make clear that the government can’t just ignore the environmental harms of phosphate mining,” said the Center’s Lori Ann Burd. “And it’s a good start, but we’ve got to do a lot more to confront the mining industry’s threats to endangered plants and animals.”

Art and Joshua Trees

This month a major Getty-sponsored exhibit on the art, science, culture, and conservation of Joshua trees opened at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History in Los Angeles County. Desert Forest: Life With Joshua Trees features works from more than 50 artists and runs through Dec. 29. The Center is a cosponsor of the exhibit and contributed materials; a new book accompanying the exhibit features an essay by the Center’s Conservation Director Brendan Cummings and a map by our GIS Specialist Kara Clauser.

Check out the book and learn more about Joshua trees.

Four brown cattle walking near a pond with sand, trees, and mountains in the background

Revelator: Anthrax and Authoritarianism

The Revelator’s series on how authoritarian governments harm the environment continues, this time with a story from Zimbabwe, where anthrax may have once been deployed as a bioweapon. Today climate change, drought, and political isolation are making anthrax outbreaks worse.

If you don’t already, subscribe to the free weekly Revelator e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.

Cute fish with a black stripe looking at a mirror image of itself

That’s Wild: Fish v. World

Primates, dolphins, and elephants have famously succeeded in recognizing their reflections when given the “mirror self-recognition” test, a key tool for gauging nonhuman animals’ visual self-awareness. Yet five years ago, when a tiny fish recognized itself in a mirror — a cleaner wrasse, native to the tropics — scientists thought the test must be broken.

People tend to deny the capacity of fish for cognition and feeling, sometimes not even considering them animals. A new study, following up on the one from five years ago, suggests that not only do cleaner wrasses have public self-awareness (the ability to understand how others perceive them) but also private: They can carry around a mental image of themselves after a single look into the mirror, for example, and use that self-image to decide whether to fight a bigger fish (no) or a smaller fish (yes).