Endangered Earth Online: Your weekly wildlife update.
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To Save Wolverines, We're Headed to Court
One of the drivers of the wildlife extinction crisis is government inaction. Case in point: wolverines. There are fewer than 300 left in the wild in the lower 48, threatened by climate change, genetic isolation and small population size.
Yet the Trump administration — despite a court order to move quickly — still drags its feet on deciding whether to give wolverines Endangered Species Act protection. The Center for Biological Diversity and allies just notified Trump we plan to sue to force
a decision on these fierce, mountain-dwelling mammals.
"Wolverines have been waiting far too long for the protection they need," said the Center's Andrea Santarsiere. "Delays are deadly. Wolverines need help right now."
Read
more and
consider supporting this work with a donation to our Wildlife and Wild Places Defense Fund.
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We're Suing to Protect Pangolins
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The Center and allies sued the Trump administration on Wednesday to force officials to propose Endangered Species Act protection for
critically imperiled pangolins.
"These odd, adorable animals may look like pinecones with legs, but the massive trafficking in pangolin parts is no joke," said Sarah Uhlemann, the Center's international program director. "If poachers keep killing thousands of pangolins a week, they'll disappear
in decades. The Trump administration needs to help protect these unique creatures from exploitation and extinction."
Learn more.
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Last week we launched Saving Life on Earth, our national, grassroots campaign to make the extinction crisis a key issue in the 2020 elections.
Tune into our campaign kick-off call to hear from Center organizers, scientists and policy experts on how we're going to push our elected officials to take immediate action.
More than 1 million species are on track to go extinct in the coming decades. Once these species vanish, they can never return. We can stem this crisis: The time is now.
Join us.
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The Revelator: How a Small Utah Town Said No to Fracking
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Happy endings seem few and far between, these days, but here's one for you from
The Revelator: The tiny Utah town of Kanab, home to only 4,300 people, is set in a stunning red-rock landscape. When plans were announced to site a frac-sand mine and facility there, a handful of residents stood up to oppose it ... and won.
Read
the piece and
sign up to receive The Revelator's weekly e-newsletter.
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Suit Filed to Save Two Southern Turtles
The Center and Healthy Gulf just sued the Trump administration for failing to protect two turtles found only in Louisiana and Mississippi: the Pascagoula and Pearl River map turtles. We petitioned for both species in 2010, along with allies, but the Fish
and Wildlife Service still hasn't responded. At least 47 species have gone extinct waiting for protection since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 — we won't let these turtles be next.
Read
more in The Washington Post.
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Center Op-ed: Trump's New Hog-slaughter Rule Is Cruel
A new rule from the Trump administration, writes the Center's Hannah Connor in the
Des Moines Register, speeds up slaughterhouse lines and reduces federal inspector numbers. This will increase the pain and suffering of the animals killed — plus the number of injuries, including severe cuts and amputations, to the people working the
lines. And add more wastewater pollution, too.
In December the Center, along with six animal-welfare groups, sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over its inhumane, irresponsible decision to do away with pig-slaughter speed limits.
Read
Hannah's column.
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Eat a Veggie Burger, Support the Center
If you're in Tucson, you can now support the Center while you're eating lunch or dinner. Plant-based restaurant
Beaut Burger now offers a "B IO" veggie burger evoking our spicy Southwest roots with tomatillo salsa and chiltepin pepper. All proceeds from the burger are donated to the Center.
Last fall Beaut sold more than 300 of these tasty burgers. Thank you for your support. If you haven't had a chance, stop by Beaut and get a burger — for the Center and for the planet.
By eating less meat, you can help save life on Earth.
Learn more in this letter from the Center's Lori Ann Burd, just published in the
Los Angeles Times.
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New York Times: River Giants Are Winking Out
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Freshwater "megafauna" — including the likes of giant stingrays and 600-pound catfish — are some of the most astonishing animals on the planet. But even these huge, amazingly adapted creatures can't outswim extinction.
A recent New York Times piece reports that freshwater giants are quietly disappearing. Like the 23-foot Chinese paddlefish of the Yangtze River Basin: Last seen alive in 2003, it was declared officially extinct this month.
Read more and
get involved in our campaign to stop extinction.
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Wild & Weird: Micro-photography Contest Winners
In case you missed it, the 45th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition winners were announced a few months ago. This year's most mesmerizing micro-world photos include an alligator embryo developing nerves, a translucent and pregnant crustacean,
and a charming mosquito larva.
Check
the photos out at Bored Panda.
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