Suit Filed to Force Counts of Threatened Marine Mammals

To save species from going extinct, we need true information on the state of their populations. But the U.S. government is lagging far behind in updating some of its assessments of marine mammals — including sea otters, walruses and manatees. And it hasn't done a new count of polar bears in more than a decade.

So the Center for Biological Diversity and allies just sued to make the feds do those studies and give scientists and decision-makers the information they need to help threatened animals survive.

"We must let science guide our protection of vulnerable marine mammal populations," said Center lawyer Lalli Venkatakrishnan. "We hope the Biden administration will move quickly to update population assessments for polar bears, sea otters and other species."

Take Action: Protect the Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining

It's time to protect the Grand Canyon from new uranium mining once and for all — and we need your help doing it. A new bill in Congress, the Grand Canyon Protection Act, would permanently block new mines across 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park.

This area's wildlife and water have already been poisoned by decades of deadly uranium pollution. We can't let new mines further industrialize public lands and destroy Native American sacred sites, threatening even more harm to the precious groundwater that feeds the canyon's creeks and springs.

Please take a moment to urge your senators and representative to pass the Grand Canyon Protection Act.

In Wisconsin, 215 Wolves Just Killed in Three Days

After the Trump administration stripped federal protection from gray wolves, Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin pushed to open wolf-killing season early — now, when wolves are breeding. The state narrowly rejected that push, but after a trophy-hunting group sued, a court decided Wisconsin's winter hunt must go forward. This week that decision resulted in the devastating massacre of 215 wolves in Wisconsin in just three days.

There were between 1,034 and 1,057 wolves in Wisconsin in 2020. A few days' hunt has killed more than 20% of the state's wolves so far — and another hunt is planned for fall.

"The reckless slaughter of 215 wolves in just three days is appalling," said Collette Adkins, the Center's carnivore conservation director. "It will take years for Wisconsin's wolf population to recover from the damage done this week. And without federal protections, this bloody spectacle could easily play out in other states."

This is a brutal reminder of why the fight to protect wolves is more important than ever. Please support the Center's work for wolves with a donation to our Wolf Defense Fund.

In Court to Save Sacred Oak Flat

The Center just went to court with tribal allies and other conservation groups to stop a massive mine from destroying Arizona's beautiful Oak Flat, sacred to Apache and other Native people and home to endangered species like the ocelot and Arizona hedgehog cactus.

We've requested that a judge block the land trade that would give this public-lands prize — thousands of acres in the Tonto National Forest — to a multinational mining company to build the destructive Resolution Copper mine.

"We can't allow this corrupt land swap to go through, and we're hopeful the court will agree that laws have been broken," said the Center's Randy Serraglio. "It's imperative that the courts and the Biden administration make the right decision to protect Oak Flat."

That's Wild: Deep-sea, Volcano-dwelling Snail Wears Iron Shoe

At the bottom of the ocean, near the rims of underwater volcanoes, roams a snail with a shell made of iron sulfide. It glides around hydrothermal vents on a foot covered in iron plates. Picture the famous sword-studded Iron Throne — except it can move. And it has a squishy gastropod center.

This scaly-footed snail, called the sea pangolin, lives in an extreme environment of crushing pressure and temperatures that reach over 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists believe it doesn't actually eat but relies on energy produced by bacteria in a large gland.

Sadly, its iron armor can't protect this snail from mining companies awaiting the technology that will let them exploit its home. In 2019, due to its niche habitat and fears raised by mining exploration, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature declared the snail endangered.

Read more at Smithsonian Magazine.