Center for Biological Diversity

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Endangered Earth

No. 1264, Sept. 26, 2024

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Win: Manatees Will Get More Protected Habitat
Under a legal agreement secured by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to protect 1.9 million acres [[link removed]] of critical habitat for Florida manatees [[link removed]] and about 78,000 for Antillean manatees in Puerto Rico.
These laid-back sea mammals’ critical habitat has been the same size since 1976 — and we’ve been fighting to fix that since 2008, when we petitioned the Service to revise the protected area. The agency found in 2010 that revisions were needed but failed to act, even as manatees started dying in record numbers. So in 2022 we sued to challenge the delay.
“Officials recently resorted to emergency feeding to try to keep these animals from starving to death from seagrass declines,” said the Center’s Ragan Whitlock, based in Florida. “Truly protecting manatees’ home is the most important step on their road to recovery.”
Help us keep fighting for manatees and other species with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund . [[link removed]]
Bright yellow sign with a light bulb inside a sun and the words ''Power Is a Human Right'' alongside a faucet-shaped sign with the words ''Water Is a Human Right'' [[link removed]]
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right to Power
Everyone deserves access to essential services like electricity and clean water — but with utility companies constantly raising prices, not everyone can afford them.
In the past two years alone, profit-driven electricity companies have pulled the plug on U.S. households more than 5.7 million times. Many families, especially in low-income communities and communities of color, have been forced to choose between buying food and keeping the lights on and AC running.
Power shutoffs can be deadly. As extreme heat, hurricanes — like Hurricane Helene now barreling toward the Southeast — and other climate disasters intensify, steady access to utilities is crucial to keeping people and animals alive. Corporations shouldn't be allowed to line their pockets at the expense of innocent lives.
But there's hope: A new resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to declare utility access a human right, which would make services like water, electricity, and sanitation accessible and affordable for all.
If you live in the United States, tell your representative to support this legislation and prioritize community-based, resilient solutions that lower costs and prevent shutoffs. [[link removed]]
Hippo partially submerged in a river, with play button [[link removed]]
In Court to Save Hippos
On Tuesday the Center and allies sued the Fish and Wildlife Service [[link removed]] for missing its deadline to respond to our 2022 petition to protect hippopotamuses under the Endangered Species Act.
Wild hippos are in a precarious position because of habitat loss, drought, poaching, and the international trade in their body parts — from teeth, skulls, and ivory to skins and meat — mainly driven by U.S. demand. Federal protection would help shield them from U.S.-fueled exploitation.
“These chunky icons belong in the water — not carved up for fashion, knickknacks, and trophies,” said the Center’s Tanya Sanerib.
Help hippos: Tell the Service to protect them now . [[link removed]]
Blue butterfly with yellow spots on the edges of the wings [[link removed]]
Suit Filed to Save Species From Toxic Malathion
Malathion is a neurotoxin — part of a dangerous class of pesticides that have also been used in chemical warfare. And yet, the Fish and Wildlife Service decided two years ago, it doesn’t pose an extinction risk to a single protected U.S. species. (Needless to say that decision was political, not science based.)
So the Center just sued over the Service’s failure [[link removed]] to protect more than 1,500 species of wildlife and plants from malathion.
“Vulnerable animals and plants keep being harmed by one of the worst neurotoxic pesticides on the market — and that includes nearly every endangered butterfly, beetle, and dragonfly,” said the Center’s Lori Ann Burd. “We can’t let this go on.”
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Celebrate Sea Otters
This Sea Otter Awareness Week, you otter know: Although decades of conservation efforts helped sea otters rebound, they’re still far from recovered. So while the Center defends their Endangered Species Act protection, we’re also working to get them reintroduced to California and Oregon, where the fur trade almost wiped them out.
Fun facts: Sea otters [[link removed]] often have a favorite shellfish-cracking rock, which they may keep in a built-in “pocket” under their forearms. Sometimes a group of floating otters — aka a raft — will “hold hands” to stay together and warm their paws.
Watch and share this otter-in-the-water video on Instagram [[link removed]] and Twitter [[link removed]] (and an-otter one on LinkedIn [[link removed]] ).
Black Tasmanian devil with pink ears and white chest [[link removed]]
The Revelator : Sympathy for the Devil
Did the name people gave to Tasmanian devils make it harder to protect them? In a new Revelator article [[link removed]] , author John Yunker writes that “these supposedly fearsome creatures are cute as lapdogs.” But like hellbenders and other devilishly named species, they get a bad rap.
If you don’t already, subscribe to the free weekly Revelator e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news [[link removed]] .
Rust-colored octopus with rocks and coral in the background [[link removed]]
That’s Wild: Octopuses Hunt With Fish Buddies
Octopuses are highly intelligent but often seen as solitary. A new study shows that one species, at least, has a diverse social life. [[link removed]]
Divers tracked 13 big blue octopuses who hunted with various species of fish for companions. In each group the octopus acted like the boss, punching fish who didn’t appear to be participating enough.
Of all the hunting-buddy fish, blacktip groupers got punched the most. (Groupers are ambush predators who lie in wait rather than actively pursuing their prey.) Blue goatfish tended to handle reconnaissance, starting out in a particular direction, but the other fish only followed them if the octopus did.
It's not yet known whether the octopuses prefer to hunt with certain individual fish over others.
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
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