Watching out for wolverines' wild home

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Wolverine looking straight at the camera

No. 1,339, March 5, 2026

In Court to Win Critical Habitat for Wolverines

Wolverines — fierce, snow-loving animals in the weasel family who are curious, intelligent, and playful — were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 2023 following years of work by the Center for Biological Diversity and our allies. They need large territories in remote areas and rely on areas with persistent spring snowpack for denning, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still hasn’t granted them any habitat safeguards.

So last week we sued the agency for that illegal lag.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in protecting the wild places that wolverines call home threatens to push them closer to extinction,” said Andrea Zaccardi, our carnivore conservation legal director. “In the face of climate change, it’s crucial to protect the rugged, snowy areas wolverines need to survive.”

Scientists believe only about 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states.

Help the Center work for wolverines with a gift to our Future for the Wild Fund.

Aerial view of nine beluga whales in the ocean

Lease Sale Fails (After We Move to Sue for Belugas)

Last week the Center, along with an Alaska Native Tribe and other allies, notified the Trump administration of our intent to sue over an offshore oil and gas lease sale this Wednesday in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The sale moved forward anyway — but it got zero bids.

The administration had failed to consult with wildlife agencies under the Endangered Species Act over the oil and gas auction’s possible harm to critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales (along with northern sea otters, Steller’s eiders, and other protected species) who could be pushed closer to extinction by resulting industrial activity.

“What an embarrassment for Trump’s fossil fuel fantasy, and what great news for Cook Inlet wildlife that this lease sale was such a flop,” said the Center’s Cooper Freeman.

Now we don’t need to sue over this auction, but we stand ready to oppose others planned for this important place.

Two Mexican wolves in the wild, with a play button

Good News: Southwest Has 319 Mexican Gray Wolves

State wildlife agencies just announced the annual count of endangered lobos in Arizona and New Mexico, revealing an increase of 33 last year — up from 286 in 2024.

“It’s inspiring that there are now hundreds of Mexican wolves in the Southwest, especially considering there were zero roaming the wild just three decades ago,” said the Center’s Michael Robinson. “I used to fear they’d all get wiped out by a major wildfire or a spate of illegal killings, but now I’m confident they won’t disappear in my lifetime. The big danger is that politics will strip these still-imperiled wolves of their Endangered Species Act protection before they’re truly recovered.”

Serious threats remain, of course, as federal and state killings for the livestock industry continue to shrink the genetic diversity of these unique southwestern wolves.

Check out a video of some playful Mexican wolves on Facebook and Instagram.

Tell the Senate: Vote ‘No’ on Pearce for BLM Chief

In the wake of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s vote to advance the nomination of Trump nominee Steve Pearce, it’s a crucial time to put pressure on the Senate not to confirm him.

As head of the Bureau of Land Management, the 78-year-old former congressman would oversee more than 245 million acres of vulnerable public lands he’d be eager to exploit and privatize. In the past he’s supported shrinking national parks and monuments; wanted to sell off heritage lands for the sake of oil and gas revenues; and stoked fear of endangered Mexican wolves in attempts to strip their protection, among other things.

Add your voice to our call: Steve Pearce is the wrong person to helm the BLM.

Close-up of a Red Cliffs Mojave desert tortoise

Judge Halts Tortoise-Harming Highway Plans

Another win in our fight for Mojave desert tortoises and spectacular red-rock landscapes: A U.S. District Court has granted the Center and our allies an injunction blocking tortoise-harming highway-construction activities in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Utah. The proposed Northern Corridor Highway would carve a four-lane, high-speed highway through critical habitat for sensitive, federally protected desert tortoises.

Despite our February lawsuit seeking to declare the highway illegal, Utah rushed plans to install fencing, level vegetation, and move tortoises from their homes in the area.

In granting the injunction not to start those activities, the judge also found that our latest lawsuit is likely to succeed.

Rewilding the Jaguar: Stories of Hope and Survival

At this year’s Tucson Festival of Books, on March 14, the Center’s Russ McSpadden will be joining a panel on bringing jaguars back to their historic range, including the United States.

Powerful and elegant, revered yet endangered, jaguars are the ultimate symbol of the wild. These big cats’ journey spans continents, from Arizona to Argentina. Listen to the stories of individual jaguars whose lives reveal the corridors in need of protection; explore the hotspots that are essential stepstones in their journey north. And through inspiring, firsthand accounts from the field, discover bold models for rewilding.

Come join Russ and the other panelists — from the Rewilding Institute, Northern Jaguar Project, and Tohono O’odham Nation — at this free event in the University of Arizona’s Science Cafe & East Food Court on Saturday, March 14 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Get more information and see a map of the venue.

Chinook salmon moving above stream water

The Revelator: A River Restored

In the wake of dam removal on the Klamath River in the Pacific Northwest, conservation crews have helped plant and seed thousands of native trees and other vegetation. Salmon have responded in kind.

Head to The Revelator to learn more about this cheering story.

And if you haven’t yet, make sure you’re subscribed to The Revelator’s free weekly newsletter.

That’s Wild: The Mad Bonobo’s Tea Party

OK, bonobos aren’t mad. But they can hold tea parties worthy of the Mad Hatter: The famous bonobo Kanzi, who died last year at the age of 44, was the subject of a study newly published in Science to see whether he could play pretend.

When researchers poured imaginary juice into two glasses — and then pretended to empty one of them back into the pitcher — Kanzi was able to tell which glass still held pretend juice. Then, when researchers asked him to choose between real juice and pretend juice, he went for the real juice at a rate that exceeded chance — showing that he did know the difference between the real and the imaginary.