Crack Down on Mexico’s Illegal Pet Trade |
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Take Action for the Climate During COP27 |
Center staff are in Egypt at this year’s UN climate summit, COP27. We're calling on world leaders to stop fossil fuel expansion, pay up for climate damages, and use all tools available to tackle the climate emergency. In a major breakthrough, the Biden administration just backed calls for a global phasedown of fossil fuels after nearly three decades with no mention of them in these climate agreements. But loopholes in the administration's proposal open a Pandora’s box of false solutions, like carbon capture, that only extend devastating harms.
Tell Biden to back a swift and equitable phaseout of fossil fuels — now. |
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10 of the Species Threatened by 8 Billion People |
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Suit Aims to Protect Tiger Beetle Habitat
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The Center and allies sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wednesday to push the agency to protect lifesaving critical habitat for endangered Miami tiger beetles — at serious risk from a plan to build a strip mall and waterpark in crowded Miami-Dade County. We’ve been working to save these beautiful, iridescent insects since 2014.
“These tiny, ferocious beetles are facing an onslaught of development, and they can’t wait any longer for habitat safeguards,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Center attorney. “Critical habitat protections remain one of the most effective means of protecting endangered species like the Miami tiger beetle.” |
Historic Win Ends Net-Pen Fish Farms in Washington |
Following years of work by the Center and allies, the Washington Department of Natural Resources announced Monday night it won’t be renewing Cooke Aquaculture’s net-pen permits. That means the global seafood corporation — known for a devastating 2017 pen failure at its Cypress Island facility that released some 260,000 Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound, threatening native fish — will stop operating in state waters.
“We’ll have cleaner water and better-protected salmon populations,” said the Center’s Sophia Ressler. “And we can restore Tribal access to the areas where these facilities were.”
Washington state joins the rest of the U.S. Pacific Coast and British Columbia in banning these facilities in open water. |
Feds Put on Notice: Two Chubs and a Hognose Snake |
We launched three new lawsuits this week to make the Fish and Wildlife Service do its job — two for desert fish called chubs, in Nevada and Utah, and one for the Southeast’s hognose snakes.
The Fish Lake Valley tui chub, a Nevada native, ekes out a living in just one spring on a privately owned ranch. It’s in imminent danger of extinction if the spring’s water keeps being pumped out. And the little least chub of Utah’s Bonneville Basin — first described in 1872 and the only species in its genus — is threatened by habitat loss and non-native species.
Southern hognose snakes have already disappeared from Alabama and Mississippi — we’re working to stop them disappearing from Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, too. Nicknamed “hoggies” for the upturned noses they use for digging, they’ve suffered a 60% decline. |
The Reviews Are In! We’re a Great Nonprofit |
Since we asked for your comments on GreatNonprofits.org last month, we've been delighted by how much you value our work. The Center has been top-rated on the site since 2009 — but this year, with your help, we ranked fifth among 2,500 organizations, with 1,400 raves from the folks who know us best.
“Their track record of winning protections for a wide range of animals, plant life and habitats is a ray of hope in the face of the current extinction crisis," says one reviewer.
Thank you. Your praise isn’t just an ego boost; it helps spread the word and fuel our mission.
Read all the great reviews — and if you haven’t yet, add your own — at the GreatNonprofits website.
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Revelator: Black Joy in Nature |
‘Extinction Is Forever’ T-Shirts Now Available |
Every extinct species has a story to tell — and a warning about the plight of others on the brink.
Bring some of them back to life with the Center’s new T-shirts, featuring extinct species from across the United States, including Merriam’s elk, sandhill’s crayfish and Carolina parakeets. These species also star in our new United States of Extinction map. The shirts are printed on 100% organic cotton. Find them in our web store. |
That’s Wild: Primate Caught Pickin’ and Lickin’ |
Gross-out alert: Aye-ayes just became the 12th primate documented to pick and eat boogers. Yup, the list includes humans. But aye-ayes have a distinct evolutionary advantage over the rest of us. The housecat-sized nocturnal lemurs have a long, skinny middle finger — more than 3 inches — that can reach way back into their nasal cavity (saving them from having to use a twig, as capuchin monkeys do).
These snot-slurping experts inspired a team of evolutionary biologists to explore the seemingly nasty habit for possible advantages. Could booger-eating boost immune systems? Others among the known primate practitioners include gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.
If you’re not too repulsed, you can watch a video for yourself. |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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