No. 1293, April 17, 2025

Agreement Sets Deadlines to Protect Turtles, Fish

The Center for Biological Diversity just secured a legal agreement requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide on granting Endangered Species Act protection to southern bog turtles and roughhead shiners by October 2028. We petitioned for both species but had to sue when the Service dragged its feet on protecting them.

Bog turtles are North America’s smallest, measuring about the length of a crayon. They’re also among the world’s most threatened turtles: Their southern population — in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia — has declined by 50% since 2000. Fewer than 2,000 of these creatures survive.

Named for the bumps on their head, roughhead shiners are teeny olive-colored minnows who live only in western Virginia.

“Protecting turtles and fish is also good for people because our drinking water depends on clean rivers and wetlands where these species live,” said the Center’s Will Harlan.

You can help another southern turtle species — beautiful diamondback terrapins. Tell Virginia to save them by mandating bycatch-reduction devices.

Trump Administration to Scrap Habitat Protection

Taking direct aim at the Endangered Species Act, the second Trump administration has proposed to redefine what it means to “harm” federally protected species, leaving out harm to habitat — even though habitat destruction is the main extinction driver for species across the United States, from spotted owls in Oregon to manatees in Florida.

“Weakening the definition of harm would cut the heart out of the Act and be a death sentence for plants and animals on the brink of extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, codirector of endangered species at the Center. “Humanity’s survival depends on biodiversity, and no one voted to fast-track extinction. This is a five-alarm fire.”

This egregious attack hits at the core of the Center’s work, and we'll do all we can to stop it — with your help, if you give to our Future for the Wild Fund now.

Study: How to Return Grizzly Bears to California

Grizzly bears still grace California’s flag and seal, but none live in its wild places anymore. Last year, on the 100th anniversary of the last grizzly sighting there, the state Fish and Game Commission called for research to inform “consideration of the future of the grizzly bear in California.”

Now that research has been released: a 200-page feasibility study on restoring grizzlies to the Golden State. It concludes that there are no insurmountable biological, ecological, economic, legal, or policy obstacles. And polling has shown about two-thirds of Californians support restoring the bears.

“Whether or not grizzlies return comes down to our political leaders and wildlife managers having the boldness of vision to make it happen,” said the Center’s Brendan Cummings, who authored a legal chapter in the study. “I believe they do.”

Meanwhile grizzlies in Montana and Wyoming could soon lose their federal protection — speak up to defend these great bears.

Poaching Still Threatens Pacific Northwest Wolves

Wolf populations in Washington dropped last year — by almost 10% — while in Oregon they grew by 15%, according to new updates from the states.

But in both places, killings continue to jeopardize wolves’ recovery. In 2024 Washington had 230 wolves in 43 packs, including 18 packs with successful breeding pairs. Oregon had 204 wolves.

“The disturbing drop in Washington’s wolf numbers shows how right the Fish and Wildlife Commission was to reject last year’s proposal to reduce state protection,” said Amaroq Weiss, a Center wolf expert. “And in Oregon too many wolves are still being killed illegally.”

If wolf-hating Brian Nesvik is confirmed to lead the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, these animals’ future looks even bleaker — across the whole country. If you live in the United States, urge your senators to oppose him as director.

Court Finds Massive Offshore Oil Sale Unlawful

Thanks to a lawsuit by the Center and allies, this month the D.C. District Court declared illegal a 73-million-acre offshore oil and gas lease sale held in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023. Our suit showed that the Interior Department broke the law by failing to properly consider how the sale could harm near-extinct Rice’s whales and worsen climate change.

“What a great victory this decision is for Gulf communities and wildlife, who’ve been living in a polluted sacrifice zone for far too long,” said Oceans Legal Director Kristen Monsell. “It’s time to phase out offshore drilling and let the ocean and the climate recover. We'll keep fighting bad drilling projects in the Gulf.”

Revelator: Meet the Sunda Pangolin

Demand for pangolins' scales (and their habitats) has pushed these amazing anteaters to the brink. So why aren’t more conservationists working to protect them in the wild?

Find out in The Revelator.

And if you don’t already, subscribe to The Revelator’s free weekly e-newsletter for more wildlife and conservation news.

That’s Wild: Male Rice Fish Mate 27 Times a Day

Unassuming denizens of Japan’s rice paddies and marshes, Japanese rice fish (or medaka) are external fertilizers, meaning their eggs and sperm are released into the water column to hook up. According to the first study to quantify their mating behavior, males can release sperm 27 times a day on the high end, with 19 times being the average. Females, meanwhile, release their eggs only once.

However, as you might imagine, the quantity of sperm declines dramatically over the course of the day — suggesting that females may be wasting their eggs when they mate with males who’ve already ejaculated multiple times.

Fishy fun or fertility fail? You decide.

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Photo credits: Southern bog turtle by Nathanael Stanek/Turtle Conservancy, roughhead shiner by Derek Wheaton; spotted owl by Alan Dyck/USFWS, manatee mother and calf by Gregory Sweeney/USFWS; grizzly bear mother and cubs by E. Johnston/NPS; gray wolf courtesy NPS; Rice's whale courtesy NOAA; Sunda pangolin by Joe Figel/Pancacita; Japanese rice fish by NOZO/Wikimedia.

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