Habitat Conservation

When habitats are threatened, so are the animals who live there.

Sea Turtles

Title for Lists: 
Sea Turtles
Type of Fact Sheet: 
Animals
Banner Subtitle: 
Fact Sheet
Banner Image 1 (smaller, top): 
Green Sea Turtle, © Robert Wintner DPC
Teaser Image: 
Loggerhead Turtle, Brian J. Skerry / National Geographic Stock
Item Type: 
Fact Sheet
Featured Publications: 
Five Things You Can Do to Save Sea Turtles
Protection Status (Endangered Species Act): 
endangered

Endangered Species Act (ESA): five species of sea turtle (Green, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley, and Pacific or Olive Ridley) are listened as endangered, which means they are in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. One species (Loggerhead) is listed as threatened, which means it is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Protection Status (IUCN Red List): 
critically-endangered
Drop-down Listing: 
Sea Turtles

The Hawksbill, Atlantic Ridley, and Leatherback sea turtles are listed as critically endangered, which indicates that they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.  The Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtle are listed as endangered, which means they are considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. The Pacific or Olive Ridley is listed as vulnerable., which means the probability of its extinction during the next 20 years is at least 10%.

Fast Facts: 

Size: Kemp's Ridley is the smallest sea turtle at 30 inches long (.762m). The largest sea turtle is the leatherback - an adult can reach over six and a half feet long (over 1.8m). Adult female and male sea turtles are the same size.

Weight: Kemp's Ridley weighs between 80-100lbs (36-45 kg). Leatherback can weigh over 2,000 pounds (over 907 kg)

Lifespan: Up to 80 years.

Sea turtles are found in warm and temperate waters throughout the world and migrate hundreds of miles between nesting and feeding grounds. Most sea turtles undergo long migrations, some as far as 1400 miles, between their feeding grounds and the beaches where they nest.

Black-Footed Ferret

Title for Lists: 
Black-Footed Ferret
Type of Fact Sheet: 
Animals
Banner Subtitle: 
Fact Sheet

Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, these masked mammals are making a comeback, with approximately 750 black-footed ferrets in the wild.

Banner Image 1 (smaller, top): 
Black Footed Ferret, Photo: U.S. Geological Survey
Teaser Image: 
Black Footed Ferret, © Mike Lockhart
Item Type: 
Fact Sheet
Featured Publications: 
Black-Footed Ferret Poster
Protection Status (Endangered Species Act): 
endangered

Almost all populations of black-footed ferrets except those listed as non-essential experimental populations are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, meaning they are in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Protection Status (IUCN Red List): 
endangered

The black-footed ferret is listed as endangered, meaning it is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Fast Facts: 

Height: 6 inches.

Length: 18-24 inches (including a 5-6 inch tail).

Weight: 1.5-2.5 lbs; males slightly larger than females.

Lifespan: 3-4 years in the wild; 8-9 years in captivity.

Black-footed ferrets were once found on black-tailed prairie dog colonies across the Great Plains from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and on white-tailed and Gunnison’s prairie dog colonies across the intermountain west. By 1986 they were completely gone from the wild. Today, they have been reintroduced to 15 locations within their former range in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Kansas and Chihuahua, Mexico (2008).

Burrowing Owl

Title for Lists: 
Burrowing Owl
Type of Fact Sheet: 
Animals
Banner Subtitle: 
Fact Sheet
Banner Image 1 (smaller, top): 
Burrowing Owl, © Pat Ulrich
Teaser Image: 
Burrowing Owl, © Scott Anderson
Item Type: 
Fact Sheet
Protection Status (Endangered Species Act): 
not_listed

The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada, threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. It is a state-endangered species in Colorado. Burrowing owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Drop-down Listing: 
Burrowing Owl
Fast Facts: 

Height: About 10 inches.
Weight: Average is about 6 ounces.
Unlike most owls in which the female is larger than the male, the sexes of the burrowing owl are the same size.

Burrowing owls are distributed from the Mississippi to the Pacific and from the Canadian prairie provinces into South America. They are also found in Florida and the Caribbean islands. Burrowing owls have disappeared from much of their historic range.

Bald Eagle

Title for Lists: 
Bald Eagle
Type of Fact Sheet: 
Animals
Banner Subtitle: 
Fact Sheet
Banner Image 1 (smaller, top): 
Bald Eagle, © Douglas Brown
Teaser Image: 
Bald Eagle, © Pam Mullins
Item Type: 
Fact Sheet

Since their removal from the Endangered Species Act, bald eagles are primarily protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and its implementing regulations prohibit the take of bald eagles, which includes activities that are likely to interfere with eagles’ breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior, or result in injury, death, or nest abandonment.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act further protects bald eagles and their eggs, nests and feathers by prohibiting killing, taking, or possession of eagles without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In some states, bald eagles are also protected by state endangered species laws.

Drop-down Listing: 
Bald Eagle
Fast Facts: 

Length: Around 3 feet; males are smaller.
Wingspan: Females around 7 feet; males around 6 feet.
Weight: 10-14 lbs.
Lifespan: 20-30 years.

Bald eagles live near bodies of water in Canada and Alaska, and in scattered locations all throughout the lower 48 states and Mexico.

In the Field: (Prairie) Dog Days Of Summer

Teaser Image: 

Defenders team makes the trek to Thunder Basin to relocate prairie dogs for second year in a row.

Controversial solar power plant challenged by conservation groups

Conservation groups urge Interior Department to move the Calico Solar Project to less sensitive lands

Washington (08/25/2011) -

A coalition of conservation groups made a last-ditch appeal to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today, urging the Bureau of Land Management to move the Calico Solar Project from vital desert habitat to degraded lands that could produce the same amount of energy, but pose less risk to imperiled wildlife and the environment.

Prairie Dogs

Title for Lists: 
Prairie Dogs
Banner Image 1 (smaller, top): 
Prairie Dog, © Lois Erickson
Teaser Image: 
Item Type: 
Species at Risk

Sea otter conservation coalition endorses renewal of U.S. Fish and Wildlife's effort to recover California's southern sea otter

Feds Propose to End the No-Otter Zone

MONTEREY, Calif. (08/17/2011) - A coalition of organizations welcomed news that California’s struggling sea otters may soon get a big boost thanks to a draft plan released by federal wildlife officials today that would end a controversial “no-otter” zone on the California coast and allow the marine mammals to re-colonize their traditional habitat.

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