No. 1283, February 6, 2025 |
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Settlement Spurs Deadline for Hippo Decision |
Following a petition and lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, a court just approved a legal agreement requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether hippos deserve Endangered Species Act protection in 2028. That’s a few years away, but it’s a legally binding deadline — great news for these fascinating, four-toed ungulates.
Wild hippos are in a precarious position due to habitat loss and degradation, drought, poaching, and the international trade of hippo parts — driven mostly by U.S. demand. Protection under the Act would help guard them against U.S.-fueled exploitation, which kills thousands of hippos every decade.
“I’m relieved these animals will finally get a decision on safeguards,” said the Center’s Tanya Sanerib. “Still, overall things are moving too slowly to protect imperiled wildlife.” That includes another charming African species threatened by wildlife trade: giraffes. Take action to speed up their final protection. |
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Interior Order Undermines Wildlife Protections |
New Interior Secretary Doug Burgum just ordered numerous actions to carry out President Trump’s executive order on energy — actions that would dramatically weaken protections for endangered species, public lands, and the climate.
Among many other things, his order calls for nixing three crucial Endangered Species Act rules: one on listing and habitat protection, one requiring federal agency consultation to avoid jeopardizing listed species, and one extending the same protections to species with “threatened” status as those with “endangered” status. The order would also revoke a rule protecting migratory birds from unintentional killing — like hawks and owls who get electrocuted by utility lines or pelicans and other seabirds hit by oil spills.
Of course this order is just a small part of Trump's anti-nature agenda — which the Center is already fighting in court. Please help with a gift to our Future for the Wild Fund. |
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Move the Goalposts for Monarch Butterflies |
Right now most of the world’s monarch butterflies are wintering in Mexican forests after their epic yearly migration south. Their numbers are devastatingly low.
Meanwhile U.S. football fans are gearing up to gobble guacamole on Super Bowl Sunday, the biggest day for U.S. avocado consumption. And the avocado industry is gobbling, too — scarfing up vast swaths of forest in Mexico, including prime monarch habitat — while stealing water and bringing land grabs, pollution, and violence to Indigenous and local communities.
The new Pro-Forest Avocado certification program could help end the destruction, but only if retailers commit to buying certified avocados.
Don’t sit on the sidelines — team up with almost 30,000 people who’ve already taken action. |
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Be a Hero for Hellbenders — Like Paisley |
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Wildfire, Animals, and the Urban Interface |
Climate change isn’t the only force feeding larger and more destructive wildfires, as the Center’s Tiffany Yap discussed with a reporter at Sentient Media. And the same things that make those fires so deadly to people — including urban sprawl — can make them deadly for wildlife, too.
Some ecosystems and animals are fire adapted, but in the wildland-urban interface — where sensitive species like mountain lions and tidewater gobies live in highly fragmented habitats — we’re seeing fires go beyond the limits of wildlife’s resilience. In Southern California, said Tiffany, developing in already fire-prone chaparral areas increases ignition risk. “Fires are being caused by power lines, electrical equipment, arson, fireworks, car sparks — and so these chaparral areas are burning more regularly than they used to.”
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Revelator: Trump vs. the Amazon |
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That’s Wild: This Giant Isopod Has a Helmet Head |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States
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