Victory: California Is First State to Ban Fur Trapping

In a major milestone for wildlife, California has become the nation's first state to outlaw fur trapping.

The Wildlife Protection Act of 2019, backed by the Center for Biological Diversity and our friends at Social Compassion in Legislation, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week. It prohibits trapping native animals — including bobcats, gray foxes, coyotes, beavers, badgers and mink — plus selling their pelts.

"The overwhelming majority of Californians value our wildlife alive, not trapped and cruelly slaughtered for foreign fur markets," said our Conservation Director Brendan Cummings. "We thank Governor Newsom for relegating this cruel and antiquated practice to the dustbin of history in California."

Get more from the Los Angeles Times.

Take Action: Speak Up for the Endangered Species Act

Last month, in an unprecedented attack on imperiled wildlife, the Trump administration finalized sweeping changes to how the Endangered Species Act is implemented. They'll make it easy for industry to plunder our lands and waters for private profit — endangered species be damned.

The changes are illegal, and the Center and allies promptly sued. We promise to pursue this court case with everything we've got.

In the meantime, we need to keep the pressure on our elected officials. Take a minute to urge your member of Congress to do everything in their power to uphold the Act. If you've already done that, forward this email to a friend who loves the wild and invite them to speak up too. And consider supporting our work with a donation to our Endangered Species Act Protection Fund.

The new documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is a powerful, moving cinematic meditation on humanity's massive re-engineering of the planet. The film took four years to make and follows a group of scientists who say the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene in the mid-20th century because of profound and lasting changes we've made to the Earth. The film, by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, is powerful and moving. Screenings across the country will begin Sept. 25. Find one near you.

Good News for a Vanishing Bee, Rare Squirrel

Responding to a 2018 Center petition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will consider protecting Mojave poppy bees under the Endangered Species Act.

These bees once thrived across much of the Mojave but are now only found at seven sites in Nevada's Clark County. Their pollinating skills are tightly linked to the survival of two rare desert poppy plants, whose decline has caused the bees to disappear as well.

Meanwhile, responding to a lawsuit by the Center and allies, the Service agreed it may need to protect more critical habitat for Mount Graham red squirrels, which live on an isolated mountain range in southeastern Arizona. Only about 75 remain.

Wild & Weird: Water Bears on the Moon

Tardigrades — affectionately called "water bears" or "moss piglets" for their tubby eight-legged bodies — are micro-animals believed to be almost indestructible. They've been found just about everywhere on Earth: in parking-lot puddles, at the bottom of lakes, in deserts and even in frozen Arctic water. Researchers have tested their limits by boiling them, crushing them, and shooting them into outer space. Tardigrades handily survived it all.

In April an Israeli lunar lander, the Beresheet (whose name is Hebrew for "in the beginning," the opening of the Book of Genesis), suffered a computer error and crashed onto the moon. But Beresheet was carrying a load of tardigrades. Did they survive?

Find out.