For Immediate Release, October 26, 2017

Contact: Sarah Baillie, (520) 623-5252 x 308, sbaillie@biologicaldiversity.org

1,500 Spanish-language Endangered Species Condoms to Be Given Away in Oakland

 Volunteers Will Honor Extinct Wildlife, Draw Connection to Human Population Growth

OAKLAND, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity will give away 1,500 free Endangered Species Condoms on Sunday, Oct. 29 at The Unity Council Día de Los Muertos Festival to draw attention to the effect human population growth has on wildlife, particularly endangered species.

The event marks the debut of new Spanish-language package designs for the Center’s condoms. The new condoms feature slogans like, “Protégé al lobo, ¡Cubriendotelo todo!” — which translates to, “Protect the wolf, cover everything.”

“As our population grows, wildlife we know and love pay the price,” said Sarah Baillie, the Center’s condom coordinator. “With the extinction crisis spiraling out of control, we don’t have time to avoid challenging subjects like human population growth. Instead we need to push for reproductive rights, access to contraception, education and equality for women and girls.”

In the past 50 years, as human population has more than doubled, wildlife populations have been halved. The United Nations predicts that global population will reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and exceed 11 billion by 2100. There are more than 7.5 billion people on the planet.

Sunday’s event is a part of the Center’s actions across the West for Día de Los Muertos. In addition to Oakland, the condoms will be a feature of museum events, community gatherings and parades in Albuquerque, N.M., Austin, Texas, Tucson, Ariz. and Denver, Colo.

Volunteers will honor extinct species and share ways to protect threatened and endangered wildlife with custom shrines focused on species affected by the Trump administration’s proposed border wall. The volunteers will also help people understand how conscientious family planning can protect wildlife.

“The Dia de los Muertos Event is not just to commemorate the lives that we’ve lost, but to also bring together our diverse community to learn more about each other,” said Dana Kleinhesselink, senior manager of development and communications and lead Dia de los Muertos Festival organizer for The Unity Council.

As a part of this campaign, the Center has distributed more than 600,000 Endangered Species Condoms in the past six years. The new Spanish-language packages feature four species: the polar bear and monarch butterfly translated from the English version of the packages, plus two new designs for the Mexican wolf and the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. The new slogan for the vaquita package reads, “Salva las vaquitas, ¡No siembres tus pepitas!” That translates to “Save the vaquita, don’t sow your seed.”