Endangered Earth
No. 1,170, Dec. 8, 2022
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Dixie Valley Toads Win Final Protection

After five years of legal action by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just finalized Endangered Species Act protection for Dixie Valley toads. These extremely rare amphibians — previously protected by an emergency order — have been under acute threat from a geothermal power plant likely to dry up the hot springs they depend on.

These black-freckled amphibians are hardly bigger than a quarter. Unfortunately their range is tiny, too — they live only in a single hot spring-fed wetland of about 700 acres.

“This is a significant victory,” said the Center’s Great Basin Director Patrick Donnelly. “Renewable energy is essential to combating the climate emergency, but it can’t come at the cost of extinction.”

Check out this video of the newly protected toads enjoying their natural habitat on Instagram [[link removed]] or YouTube [[link removed]] .

Wildlife Gets Reprieve From Lead in Refuges

After a lawsuit from the Center last year, a federal judge has ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to take measures to protect endangered animals — like whooping cranes and wood storks — from poisonous lead ammunition and tackle at several wildlife refuges.

Our suit challenged a Trump-era decision to expand hunting and fishing on 2.3 million acres, across 147 wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries.

“I’m hopeful the protections stemming from this lawsuit are just the beginning,” said Camila Cossío, a Center attorney.

Take action to help us make sure: Tell the Service to get toxic lead out of all wildlife refuges now. [[link removed]]

Stopping Bulldozers at the Border

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey already faces legal challenges from the Center and others over the illegal wall he’s building out of shipping containers on federal public land along the U.S.-Mexico border. Now he’s also contending with brave protesters who — in the absence of federal law enforcement — are putting their bodies on the line to stop the bulldozers [[link removed]] .

Ducey’s junk wall is being built right in the middle of key migration corridors for many species, including endangered jaguars, ocelots, and 400 different kinds of migratory birds. We’re doing everything we can to stop the harm to wildlife and tear down the wall.

Please help by giving to the Saving Life on Earth Fund . Thanks to an anonymous group of wildlife champions, your donation will be doubled. [[link removed]]

Little Piggy Had None: Win for Two Island Plants

Good news off the coast of California: The Fish and Wildlife Service just proposed to take two Channel Islands plants off the endangered species list because they’ve recovered. Both had been driven to the brink of extinction by nonnative sheep and feral pigs, who were grazing and trampling them into oblivion.

The Channel Island bedstraw and Santa Cruz Island dudleya were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1997; then the sheep and pigs were removed from the islands, benefiting not just the two plants but the whole ecosystem.

“Recovery can take decades, but the investment is worth it to safeguard the biodiversity we all depend on,” said the Center’s Tierra Curry.

Help Save Howlers, Jaguars and More From Pet Trade

Mexico is home to howler monkeys, jaguars, sloths, parrots, and other amazing animals and plants. But many of these species are threatened with extinction, partly because of the wildlife trade. Each year thousands of animals suffer and die, plucked from their native habitats to be sold as exotic pets.

An undercover investigation by the Center revealed widespread wildlife trafficking in Mexico, often carried out shamelessly and without consequences on social media. In this video on Facebook [[link removed]] and YouTube [[link removed]] , you can see devastating footage sent to us by traffickers trying to entice buyers for kidnapped baby howler monkeys.

You can help: Take action to urge Mexico authorities to crack down on illegal wildlife trade and protect the nation’s incredible biodiversity. [[link removed]]

Emergency Protection Sought for Clear Lake Hitch

With a coalition of Pomo advocates fighting to save the species, on Monday the Center urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the Fish and Wildlife Service to give emergency protection for Northern California's Clear Lake hitch — a fish in real danger of going extinct in the next few years. The hitch has great cultural significance for the Pomo and has been a primary food source for generations.

“We’re talking about extinction,” said Meg Townsend, a Center attorney. “The hitch can’t withstand one more year of failed spawning. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to protect this severely imperiled fish for more than a decade is shocking and unacceptable. Only emergency protection can give the hitch a fighting chance.”

Center Visual Specialist Awarded for Monarch Video

We’re proud to announce that the Center’s Environmental Scientist and Communicator Dipika Kadaba has won the 2022 Silver Information Is Beautiful Award from the Data Visualization Society for her timelapse animation showing the catastrophic decline of monarch butterflies.

“Monarchs are recognizable at small scales, so they can be visualized as their authentic selves,” said Dipika. “Dwindling and increasingly alone.”

The award celebrates excellence across the field of data visualization — obviously a feature of this heartbreaking animation. Check it out on Facebook
[[link removed]] or YouTube [[link removed]] .

Gains for Two Coastal Species in Florida

Our advocacy efforts just helped spur commitments from Florida to better protect manatees and diamondback terrapins.

Responding to a petition from the Center and allies, the state will improve its boater-safety course to help save manatees and other coastal wildlife from collisions, which kill more than 100 of these gentle, playful mammals yearly. And following public feedback — including a letter from turtle experts and extensive oral comments by the Center — Florida will keep its ban on captive breeding and commercial trade of uniquely patterned terrapin turtles.

Florida is the main home for both these species, but they also roam the coast west to Texas and as far north as Massachusetts.

The Revelator : Reptile Trade Blues

People love blue tree monitor lizards — to death.

Rampant illegal trade is pushing them toward extinction. Thankfully, two leading authorities on the international wildlife trade know what’s necessary to save them.
Learn more in The Revelator and don’t miss the free e-newsletter bringing you each week’s best environmental articles and essays [[link removed]] .

That’s Wild: Mouse Psyches Move Mountains

A new study may soon show that the minds of mice play a major role in how forest growth moves across a landscape — because the distinct personalities of mice influence which seeds, and how many, are eaten and dispersed.

University of Maine biologists are using fluorescent powder to track seed collection and dispersal by thousands of deer mice (and southern red-backed voles) throughout the fall and winter.
Then they’ll look for patterns telling the story of how different critters — each categorized on a spectrum from “bold” to “shy” — decide which seeds to put where.

Previous studies have shown that unlogged forests with a mix of habitat types harbored mice with more diversity in personality — which “is a good thing, just like genetic diversity is a good thing,” said one researcher.

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