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Defenders News Brief Spring 2006
Defenders Celebrates Bald Eagle Recovery
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in February that the country’s national symbol is on the path to recovery and should be removed from the federal endangered species list. Through reintroduction efforts, law enforcement, habitat protection and the banning of DDT, the bald eagle’s numbers in the lower 48 have grown from 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to 7,066 nesting pairs today. Defenders hailed the proposed “de-listing” as proof the Endangered Species Act works.
Government Refuses To Protect Red Knot
The Bush administration in January denied an emergency request from Defenders and others to protect the red knot under the Endangered Species Act—even though the bird’s population has dropped by 90 percent in the past 10 years. The shorebird, which migrates from South America to the Arctic, makes a crucial pit stop at Delaware Bay to refuel on horseshoe crab eggs. But overharvesting of crabs has caused the bird’s population to drop to its lowest point since surveying began 20 years ago. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to protect the species, stating that last year the bird “seemed to have a relatively good year." Unless action is taken, scientists say the bird could go extinct by 2010.
Grim Statistics in Florida
It’s a troubling tally: 396 manatees dead in state waters last year and five Florida panthers dead on the road before the end of this February, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. For manatees, the 2005 total is the second highest since record-keeping began in 1974. For panthers, last year cars killed a total of 10—making five deaths so early in 2006 particularly worrisome. Both species face threats from overdevelopment. Slow-moving manatees face additional threats from collisions with watercraft.
Reward Offered for Information on Lynx Slaying
Defenders is offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to arrests made for the illegal killing of a young, radio-collared Canadian lynx in Minnesota last November. Federally protected, lynx already face habitat loss and injury or death from traps set for bobcats, foxes and other animals. This most recent killing is one of several in the past year. Defenders’ reward comes on top of another offered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and would be distributed through Defenders’ Imperiled Predator Reward Fund, established to bring illegal killers of predators to justice.
