Endangered Earth Online: Your weekly wildlife update.
If you like what you read here, sign up to get this free weekly e-newsletter and learn the latest on our work.

Puget Sound orcas
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

Lawsuit Launched to Save Puget Sound Orcas

The Center for Biological Diversity yesterday filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for its failure to protect ocean habitat off California, Oregon and Washington to save the last remaining Southern Resident killer whales.

The Center petitioned to win federally protected "critical habitat" for these magnificent mammals — also called Puget Sound orcas — in 2014. But the administration hasn't moved forward in designating the protections as required by the Endangered Species Act.

These endangered orca whales live along the Pacific Coast and are starving for lack of their preferred prey, spring chinook salmon. They're also threatened by oil spills, water pollution, ocean-vessel noise and more.

"These iconic orcas are going extinct, but Trump has proposed oil leases rather than habitat protections," said Center attorney and scientist Catherine Kilduff. "These whales can't wait any longer."

Read more and consider donating to our Endangered Species Defense Fund.

Vaquita

UNESCO Delays as Vaquita Porpoises Slide Toward Extinction

Despite vaquitas' near-extinction, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has recommended postponing "in danger" status for the Gulf of California World Heritage site where these little porpoises live.

Fewer than 30 vaquitas remain on Earth, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto isn't protecting them from fishing-gear entanglement. The World Heritage Committee will vote on the recommendation later this month. "In danger" status could help eradicate illegal fishing in vaquita habitat.

"Delay equals death for the vaquita," said Alejandro Olivera, the Center's Mexico representative.

Read more in our press release.

Bearded seal

Stop Trump From Hurting Hundreds of Arctic Seals, Whales

The Trump administration is about to sign a permit that would let an oil company harm endangered whales, seals and other Arctic marine mammals an astonishing 600 times.

Hilcorp is a company with a dangerous track record. It has been responsible for numerous spills in the past two years and has a history of not complying with industry regulations. Now it's proposing to build and operate an artificial oil-drilling island and pipeline in the treacherous Beaufort Sea. If approved this would be the very first oil development in federal Arctic waters.

Act now to demand that the Trump administration reject Hilcorp's reckless project. It threatens the Arctic's amazing wildlife and will only deepen our climate crisis.

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument

New Paper Defends Marine Monuments

As ocean advocates anxiously await President Trump's imminent decision on weakening marine monument protections, the Center's Miyoko Sakashita has coauthored a new academic paper outlining the vital role marine monuments play in healthy oceans.

"The government should refrain from altering the current, science-based boundaries and protections of existing Marine Monuments and Sanctuaries," explains Sakashita's paper, which she coauthored with academics from Stanford University, the University of North Carolina and elsewhere. "Such changes would have a detrimental impact on their ability to provide ecological and economic services to the communities they serve."

Read more about the threats to marine monuments in The Washington Post.

Carrizo Plain National Monument

Say No to New Drilling on Carrizo Plain National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management has just OK'd plans for a new oil well and pipeline in central California's beautiful Carrizo Plain National Monument.

This is the first-ever approval of new oil development since Carrizo Plain became a monument — and it comes just months after Trump announced he may strip protections altogether for this special home to endangered species like San Joaquin kit foxes, California condors and giant kangaroo rats.

Say no to new drilling on the Carrizo Plain National Monument.

In The Revelator: Raptors to the Rescue

Barn owl

Poisons are so passé. New research shows that we don't need to use rodenticides to control pests. Raptors such as hawks and owls will do the job for free — and in a much more environmentally responsible manner. An experiment in California's Ventura County, where gophers and squirrels were digging through dams and levees, showed that putting up bird roosts and owl boxes is much more effective than putting down poisons. Can expanding this practice help more towns stop using rodenticides?

Read more and get The Revelator's weekly newsletter.

A New Book for All Animal-loving Activists

An Animal Lover's Guide to Changing the World

This week the Center's Stephanie Feldstein released her new book The Animal Lover's Guide to Changing the World. It provides practical advice on how all kinds of animal lovers — from pet parents to wildlife enthusiasts — can help create a more sustainable, humane, compassionate planet.

It starts with simple steps — like shortening a shower, skipping meat once weekly, or wearing "this," not "that" — and extends to political action.

Read this interview with Stephanie and grab a copy for yourself.

Michigan bear

Wild & Weird: Wolves, Bobcats and Bears, Oh My!

When you think of Michigan, do you picture beautiful, lush green woods full of wolves, bears and other furry critters?

Well, now maybe you will — check out this candid remote-camera footage of wolves and other wildlife going about their business in the forests of the Great Lakes State on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Follow Us
 Facebook  Twitter  YouTube  Instagram  Medium

Center for Biological Diversity   |   Saving Life on Earth

Donate now to support the Center's work.

Photo credits: Puget Sound orcas by Shawn Kinkade/Flickr; vaquita by Barbara Taylor/NOAA; bearded seal by KerryinLondon/Flickr; Rose Atoll Marine National Monument by Ian Shive/USFWS; Carrizo Plain National Monument by Lon Cooper/Flickr; barn owl by Robert Shea/Flickr; new book by Stephanie Feldstein/Center for Biological Diversity; Michigan wildlife video courtesy Center for Biological Diversity.


Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States