Center for Biological Diversity
[link removed]
Endangered Earth
No. 1,143, June 2, 2022

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Giraffes Move Closer to U.S. Protection
Great news for the tallest of land mammals: On Tuesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed [[link removed]] to decide within two years whether giraffes deserve protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The agreement concludes a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, which we filed last year after the Service missed its deadline to respond to our 2017 petition to protect the species.
Known for their 6-foot-long necks, distinctive patterning, and long eyelashes, giraffes [[link removed]] have always captured the human imagination. Recently scientists revealed their herds are probably led by matriarchs, like elephants; sadly Africa's giraffe population has plunged by almost 40% in the past 30 years.
“This agreement is a crucial step for giraffes, whose populations are dwindling while products made from their skins and bones flood into the United States,” said the Center’s Tanya Sanerib. “But during an extinction crisis, it shouldn’t take litigation to get action under the Endangered Species Act. We should be racing to save every species we can.”



Help our fight for giraffes and other imperiled animals with a gift to our Saving Life on Earth Fund.[[link removed]]

Legal Agreement Will Save Habitat for Manatees
Thanks to a lawsuit by the Center and allies, on Wednesday the Fish and Wildlife Service committed [[link removed]] to proposing new habitat protection for Florida manatees by September 2024.
A record-setting 1,100 Florida manatees [[link removed]] died last year, mostly of starvation caused by water pollution that killed off the seagrass they eat. These gentle, playful marine mammals are no better off in 2022, still being pushed toward extinction. Yet the federal government hasn’t updated their critical habitat [[link removed]] since 1976 — so we sued.
“Protecting the habitat of these magnificent animals is long overdue,” said the Center’s Ragan Whitlock. “I’m happy these safeguards will soon be in place.”


Lawsuit Challenges Pesticide Spraying in 17 States
The Center and allies just sued [[link removed]] a federal agency called the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, over a program allowing insecticide spraying on millions of acres without proper study of the environmental harms.
This highly secretive agency oversees and funds pesticide application on rangelands to kill native grasshoppers and crickets. Its program sprays areas in 17 western states, including national wildlife refuges, public recreation areas, and habitat for gravely imperiled species like greater sage grouse and monarch butterflies.
“APHIS is out of control, spraying deadly poisons [[link removed]] on biodiversity hotspots like Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,” said the Center’s Lori Ann Burd.


Our Latest Win for Wolverines
Responding to a lawsuit by the Center and our partners, last Thursday a Montana District Court ruled [[link removed]] to restore wolverines as “candidates” for Endangered Species Act protection while the Fish and Wildlife Service reconsiders its Trump-era decision to deny that protection. Now federal agencies must confer with the Service on all actions and planning decisions that could harm wolverines or their habitat.
The largest terrestrial member of the weasel family, American wolverines [[link removed]] are famous for their daring and tenacity, known to prey on animals as big as moose. But there are fewer than 300 of these creatures left in the lower 48 states, being pushed toward extinction by climate change that threatens the deep snow they need to survive and raise kits.


Lawsuit Launched to Save 15 Guam Species
The Center and allies just notified [[link removed]] the U.S. Navy and Fish and Wildlife Service we’ll sue if they don’t stop military activities in Guam that threaten 15 endangered species, including Mariana crows, Guam rails, Mariana eight-spot butterflies, and Guam Micronesia kingfishers (extinct in the wild and struggling in captivity).
“Military expansion is destroying Guam’s precious natural and cultural heritage, and enough is enough,” said Center attorney Maxx Phillips. “Adding insult to injury, the Navy isn’t living up to its duty to mitigate this harm and ensure the survival of Guam’s imperiled plants and animals. Instead of barely doing the absolute minimum, the Navy needs to take responsibility and correct the problems it’s largely caused.”


Center Backs Havasupai Opposition to Uranium Mine
The Center and other groups just backed [[link removed]] a letter from the Havasupai Tribe denouncing Arizona’s approval of a permit for a toxic uranium mine near the Grand Canyon.
The mine has a history of flooding as it drains shallow aquifers flowing into South Rim springs and threatens to contaminate the area’s groundwater. It could also harm local endangered species like southwestern willow flycatchers, razorback suckers and California condors.
“Our identity as a people is intrinsically intertwined with the health of Havasu Creek and the environment to which it gives life. We use this water for drinking, gardening and irrigating, municipal uses, and cultural and religious uses,” the Tribe’s letter said.


Center Report: Gender and the Climate Crisis
Reviewing climate plans for 21 cities across the country, a Center report [[link removed]] found that these plans don’t focus on empowering the people hurt most by climate change: women, girls and gender-diverse people.
Just one of the plans mentioned gender equity; not a single one included other tactics to empower women — like access to family-planning methods, sex education, affordable sexual and reproductive healthcare, and equitable opportunities for women.
“Societies are more resilient when governments invest in women and girls,” said Center campaigner Kelley Dennings. “Decreasing population pressure by providing comprehensive, convenient and affordable reproductive healthcare, including abortion, is key to fighting climate change.”


The Revelator : Saving Fungi
Without fungi, life on Earth would be unrecognizable — yet these valuable microbes are often overlooked. Scientists have formally described and classified fewer than 150,000 of the 2 to 4 million fungi species on the planet. It’s time to include them in global conservation goals.
Learn more in The Revelator [[link removed]] , and don’t miss out on the e-newsletter [[link removed]] bringing you each week’s best environmental articles and essays.

That’s Wild: Dolphins Know Each Other by Pee Taste
According to a new study, dolphins can recognize their friends and family members without seeing or hearing them — specifically, by tasting their urine in the water. Dolphins in the study were “far more interested” in urine samples from dolphins they knew.
This finding suggests that dolphins’ experience of taste is different from other mammals'. Said one study author: “Other studies have shown that they lost a lot of the common tastes that we find in other mammals such as sour, sweet, umami or bitter. But they have unusual sensory cells on their tongue that are probably involved in this detection of individual tastes of other animals.”
Read more in The Guardian . [[link removed]]
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
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