No. 1191, May 4, 2023

Save Endangered Species From SpaceX

Boca Chica, Texas, is one of the most biodiverse places in North America, providing habitat for endangered species like ocelots, piping plovers, and Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

Unfortunately, this treasured coastal landscape is threatened by the approval of 20 hazardous rocket launches and the expansion of the facility owned by SpaceX.

Since SpaceX came to town in 2014, wildlife has paid the price for the intense heat, noise, and light pollution of its construction and launch activities. When failed rockets explode, debris falls on surrounding habitat, sometimes causing brush and forest fires. Indeed, the first launch of the Starship/Super Heavy this month ended in a massive explosion.

The Center for Biological Diversity and allies are suing to keep the skies and beaches safe for people and wildlife — but we need your support. 

Urge SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration to do more to protect Boca Chica and its wildlife

Aquatic Moss and Two Crayfishes Get Protection

This week, thanks to Center action, three species won Endangered Species Act protection: South Llano Springs moss in Edwards County, Texas, and two crayfishes in Missouri.

The Big Creek crayfish and St. Francis River crayfish got 2,000 miles of protected critical habitat, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to protect any habitat for the exceptionally endangered moss, which only survives in a 1,000-square-foot area.

Both crayfish species are suffering steep declines from heavy metal mining pollution and invasive species; the South Llano Springs moss, which grows on submerged rocks, is threatened by water pumping, drought, and development.

Help Save Oak Flat Now

Sacred to Western Apache and other Indigenous people, Oak Flat is a stunning expanse of wildlands in the high desert of central Arizona. According to experts, it holds the best Apache artifacts in existence. It also lies within a national forest and harbors endangered species like ocelots and Arizona hedgehog cacti.

But this summer the U.S. government will clinch a deal to let a subsidiary of a foreign mining giant with a long, documented record of global environmental and human rights abuses turn Oak Flat into a massive open-pit copper mine. The mine would obliterate key wildlife habitat and public lands, consume massive amounts of precious water, and create 1.4 billion tons of toxic waste — leaving behind a 2-mile-wide crater surrounded by wasteland.

There's still hope for this place of beauty and prayer. A new bill in Congress would overturn the deal, but it needs support.

You can help: Ask your representative to cosponsor the Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act today.

Data to Help Save Wildlife From Trade

Following a Center lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service released data showing the United States imported more than 250 million mammal parts for commercial use between 2016 and 2020. The data also shows increasing U.S. consumption of raccoon dog fur for fashion — until 2020, when the pandemic wreaked havoc on global trade. Raccoon dogs are small, husky canines with pointy snouts and a mask over their eyes.

Unfortunately, raccoon dogs and other furbearing species are notorious for transmitting diseases to people (through no fault of their own). In 2021 the Center and allies petitioned two federal agencies to curb the wildlife trade that fuels zoonotic pandemic risk.

50 Years and Our ‘Promise to the Wild’

This week, as part of the Center’s yearlong celebration of the Endangered Species Act at 50, we released a stunning new report outlining some of this extraordinary law’s history, value and successes.

Members of Congress got their own copy of A Promise to the Wild on Tuesday — a potent reminder of the Act’s importance and the need to make sure it’s up to the job for the next 50 years and beyond.

Check out the report and learn about actions you can take to support the Act and wildlife this year.

Revelator: Corals in Crisis

Coral reefs support vibrant marine ecosystems, stimulate tourism and fishing industries, and protect shorelines from storms and erosion. But pollution, overfishing and climate change have slammed reefs around the globe, causing more frequent and severe coral bleaching.

Could a controversial idea — assisted migration — help?

Find out in The Revelator. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the e-newsletter bringing you every week’s best conservation news.

Team Buckwheat T-Shirts Back in Stock

Join Team Buckwheat! Tiehm’s buckwheat is a rare Nevada wildflower the Center is fighting to protect.

Show your support and raise awareness of native plant conservation by rocking our Team Buckwheat short-sleeved T-shirt, just restocked and redesigned in new colors. It’s printed in water-based ink and available in cream or heather bark. $24 while supplies last.

That’s Wild: A Rare Little Cat Goes the Distance

According to a new study, tiny sand cats have a surprisingly big range.

Although they’re smaller than house cats, sand cats can travel almost as far as leopards and tigers.

Even more fascinating? Researchers just discovered they may be the only nomadic felines who move with changing rainfall.

But they don’t need rain to live. In fact, these rare wild felines of the Sahara Desert don’t need to drink at all — they stay hydrated via the blood of their prey.

Witness the unbearable cuteness of sand cat kittens on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.

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Photo credits: Piping plover by Diana Robinson/Flickr; Big Creek crayfish by Chris Lukhaup/Missouri Dept. of Conservation; Oak Flat by Russ McSpadden/Center for Biological Diversity; racoon dog by Bernd Schwabe in Hannover/Wikimedia; grizzly bear by Peter Pearsall/USFWS; elkhorn coral by Philip Hamilton/Ocean Image Bank; Tiehm’s buckwheat by Patrick Donnelly/Center for Biological Diversity; sand cat picture and video by Gregory Breton/Panthera.

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