Toxic Weed Killer to Be Sprayed on 60 Million Monarch Acres

Monarch butterfly populations have fallen by 80 percent in the past two decades due to pesticide use and other threats. The news gets worse: Now we know that more than 60 million acres of their habitat will be sprayed with a pesticide extremely harmful to milkweed plants, monarch caterpillars' only food.

The Center for Biological Diversity's new report A Menace to Monarchs shows that the butterflies face a dangerous new threat from accelerating use of this notoriously drift-prone, highly toxic weed killer — called dicamba — across an area larger than Minnesota.

"America's monarchs are already in serious trouble, and this will push them into absolute crisis," said Center scientist Nathan Donley. "It's appalling that the Environmental Protection Agency approved this spraying without bothering to consider the damage it will do to these butterflies and their migration routes."

Check out this startling animated map and read more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

A New Threat to Elephants — Help Us Fight Back

The Trump administration this week ended any chance of an across-the-board ban on trophy hunting — a critical measure in the fight to halt the steep decline of elephants in Africa.

Instead Trump's wildlife agency wants to make import decisions on a "case by case" basis — in the dark and out of the public's view. That's the last thing Africa's elephants need. These animals are on a fast track toward extinction, and anything short of a complete ban on trophy imports will allow their killing to continue.

The Center has been fighting for years to save elephants, and we're not about to give up. Please make an emergency gift today to our Trump Resistance Fund so we can continue this critical battle.

Victory: Feds to Analyze Deadly 'Cyanide Bombs'

Responding to a lawsuit brought last year by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to a deadline for analyzing impacts to endangered wildlife from two deadly pesticides used by the USDA's Wildlife Services program against coyotes and other native carnivores.

M-44s, or "cyanide bombs," propel sodium cyanide into the mouths of animals they lure. Compound 1080 is sometimes used in collars strapped to livestock. Both pesticides are dangerous for animals like grizzlies, Canada lynx and wolves. M-44s are also dangerous for people and pets: Last year they temporarily blinded a child and killed three family dogs.

"The government needs to ban these deadly pesticides," said the Center's Collette Adkins. "But until then we're hopeful this analysis will help prevent needless deaths."

Read more in The Washington Post.

Don't Let Trump Expand Drilling Off Our Coasts

The Trump administration announced its plans in January to dramatically expand offshore drilling in all U.S. oceans. Offshore drilling is a disaster for coastal communities and the planet. It poisons marine wildlife, covers beaches in oil, threatens tourism and fishing jobs, and deepens people's dependence on fossil fuels.

More than 1 million activists have submitted comments in opposition to Trump's plan, and thousands have protested at public meetings across the country over the past two months.

With the comment period on the plans coming to a close, now's the time to #ProtectOurCoasts. Call your members of Congress and demand they oppose Trump's attempts to expand offshore drilling. We need Congress members to push back, but they won't do it if they don't hear from you first.

Win for Wild Turtles: Missouri Bans Commercial Trapping

After a petition by the Center and allies, the Missouri Department of Conservation has banned commercial collection of the state's wild freshwater turtles.

Before the ban, which took effect Thursday, commercial collectors could take unlimited numbers of common snapping turtles, spiny softshells and smooth softshells from parts of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Thousands of Missouri's turtles were caught and sold in the past decade, which these turtles just can't handle without dangerous population declines.

Missouri's ban will save turtles from trappers seeking to make a quick buck — a big victory for turtles and anyone who cares about the health of the state's wildlife and waterways.

Read more in our press release.

Wild & Weird: Black Panthers Are a Marvel

Black Panther, Marvel's latest superhero flick featuring a predominantly black cast and a lead character with the attributes of a powerful, big cat — a clear reference to black struggle in the United States — is a blockbuster hit and a pop-culture watershed.

But how much do you know about the real-life felines that fall under the umbrella term "black panther"?

Watch our new video about black panthers on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.