No. 1186, March 30 2023

Lawsuit Filed to Save 12 Coral Species

The Center for Biological Diversity just sued NOAA Fisheries to save habitat for pillar coral, mountainous star coral, and 10 other rare corals. Thanks to our petition, all these species won Endangered Species Act protection in 2014, but none have the protected critical habitat they need to survive and recover — even though it’s required by law.

In 2020 Center legal action forced the federal government to propose protection for more than 6,000 square miles off Florida, in the Caribbean, and in the Pacific. But NOAA Fisheries still hasn’t finalized the proposal, and these corals can’t afford to wait.

Corals are declining dramatically because of climate change, pollution and overfishing. Climate change has already killed half of all coral reefs worldwide, and a third of the reef-building corals left are at risk of extinction.

“Coral reefs are the backbones of a healthy ocean,” said Center attorney Emily Jeffers. “We’ll have to address greenhouse gas pollution to truly ensure that corals survive. But designating habitat can improve water quality, which will go a long way toward helping these suffering species.”

25 Years of Mexican Gray Wolves Back in the Wild

This week we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves into the wild. Also known as lobos, they’re a gray wolf subspecies.

On March 29, 1998, 11 Mexican gray wolves were released into Arizona’s Apache National Forest. A 1990 Center lawsuit led to that moment, and we’ve worked nonstop since then — with the help of supporters like you — to protect the animals from persecution and other threats.

Today 241 Mexican gray wolves roam through Arizona and New Mexico, with 380 in captive-breeding programs. But they’re still among North America’s most endangered mammals, and we’re fighting for their full recovery.

Watch our video on Facebook or YouTube.

And help fund our fight with a gift to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.

Arizona Gives Day

Next Tuesday, April 4, is Arizona Gives Day. This annual day of giving boosts awareness about how nonprofits help create a stronger Arizona for all.

The Center has been working to save Arizona's stunning landscapes and remarkable biodiversity for more than three decades — from jaguars to Sonora chubs. Our roots are here, and we love this beautiful, fragile place.

We encourage our supporters to take part in this important day of charity. Make or schedule your Arizona Gives Day gift today.

Fighting for the Weelaunee Forest — Take Action

This month Center staff went to Atlanta City Hall to hand-deliver the first batch of signatures from Center supporters asking to permanently protect the Weelaunee (aka South River) Forest. This large urban forest protects the headwaters of Georgia's most biodiverse watershed, which brings drinking water to millions of people and habitat to more than 175 species. Sadly it’s threatened by a controversial police-training facility dubbed Cop City — and is also the site of the tragic January police killing of 26-year-old protester Tortuguita.

While in Atlanta we joined thousands at the South River Music Festival and took part in a week of action to save the Weelaunee.

Learn what happened there from the Center’s Panagioti Tsolkas on Medium.

We also just released a short film about what’s truly at stake in Weelaunee, in collaboration with the Atlanta-based Stiner Bros. filmmakers. Check it out on Twitter or YouTube.

And if you haven’t signed our petition, join almost 12,000 other signers now.

Court Deals Fresh Blow to Tejon Sprawl

Good news in a suit from the Center and our allies: A judge has ordered Los Angeles County to set aside its approval of Tejon Ranchcorp’s Centennial development.

Centennial would bring 57,000 residents (and 75,000 new vehicle trips every day) to wildfire-prone areas. It would also devastate native grasslands and the Antelope Valley’s only pronghorn herd.

“The court got it right by requiring the county to reconsider whether we should really be building a massive sprawl city in a remote place that has burned before and is bound to burn again,” said the Center’s J.P. Rose.

Mexico Sanctioned for Neglecting Vaquitas — Take Action

Finally Mexico is paying the price for failing to protect one of the world’s most endangered species: vaquita porpoises.

This week CITES, the global treaty regulating wildlife trade, hit Mexico with serious sanctions for not taking basic measures to save vaquitas from illegal fishing and trade.

Vaquitas are the smallest porpoises, with expressive, black-lined eyes and rounded mouths. They’re shy and elusive — but all too easy to scoop up in fishing nets. Only about 10 remain on Earth.

You can help: Demand better law enforcement to protect the last vaquitas.

Court Win Will Help Imperiled Coho Salmon

After years of legal work, the Center and allies just scored a legal agreement compelling Oregon to protect coho salmon from logging across more than half a million acres of two state forests.

“For too long the timber industry has treated our state forests like cash cows, without enough protection for fish or water quality,” said Center lawyer Amy Atwood. “The protections provided by this agreement aren’t everything we want, but they’ll go a long way toward recovering coho salmon on Oregon’s North Coast.”

The Revelator: A Hidden Threat to Bats

New research finds that hunting is a much worse threat to bats than anyone thought.

Hunting could help wipe out at least 254 bat species, including the Malayan flying fox, whose ominous Latin name Pteropus vampyrus belies its peaceful nature — this large bat only eats fruit (and definitely doesn’t drink blood).

Some bats are hunted for food, while others face persecution as “pests,” and yet others are hunted because people have been taught to fear or dislike them.

Learn more in The Revelator and sign up for the e-newsletter bringing you each week’s best environmental articles and essays. 

That’s Wild: Geckos Can Smell Themselves

Small, charismatic lizards who live in warm places — and, in one of their many forms, speak Cockney-accented English to sell insurance — geckos use their tongues to detect the odors of others of their kind. But they also, as a new study shows, know their own odor. And, frankly, don’t find it half as interesting.

The findings suggest these cute little skittering creatures are more social, communicative and intelligent than some scientists believed.

Follow Us

Center for Biological Diversity | Saving Life on Earth

Donate now to support the Center's work.

Photo credits: Pillar coral courtesy USFWS; Mexican gray wolf used with permission; Sonoran pupfish by Russ McSpadden/Center for Biological Diversity; Atlanta rally from Stiner Bros. film; pronghorn by Dan Arndt/Flickr; vaquita by Barbara Taylor/NOAA; coho salmon by Dan Bennett/Flickr; Malayan flying fox by Andrea Janda/Flickr; Tokay gecko by Rsutedja90/Wikimedia. 

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