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Endangered Species Under Attack

June 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment


The News

During the past several years, Congress has been waging a war on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a federal law that has been instrumental in protecting animals (and plants) threatened with extinction. Between 2011 and 2015 alone, over 50 bills have been introduced, largely by Republicans, targeting the ESA.

The Endangered Species Act, which was signed by President Nixon in 1973, protects species threatened with extinction such as the ocelot and the California tiger salamander.

In 1973, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act, which protects species threatened with extinction such as the ocelot (top) and the California tiger salamander (bottom). (tiger salamander photo: Gary Nafis)

The most recent bill, the “Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act” (May 18, 2016), would do the following, if passed into law:

  • Delist a species after five years (ESA protection would only be reinstated by a joint resolution in Congress)
  • Remove ESA protection from all Puerto Rican and Hawaiian species
  • Remove ESA protection from species endemic to one state
  • Require approval by both the states and Congress to grant ESA protection to a species
  • Allow government officials to ignore petitions seeking the addition of a species to the endangered species list

Defenders of Wildlife, a U.S.-based conservation group, estimates that 900 species could lose their ESA protection if this bill is passed.

The crested honeycreeper (left) and the akekee (right), both from Hawaii, would lose their protection under the Endangered Species Management Self Determination Act.

The crested honeycreeper (left) and the akekee (right), both from Hawaii, would lose their protection under the Endangered Species Management Self Determination Act. (honeycreeper photo: Jack Jeffrey, akekee photo: Eric Vanderwer)

Other attacks on the ESA include bills that would require the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to publicly share data on where endangered animals reside, including detailed maps (ex. S. 292) — information that would make poaching easier. Members of Congress have also introduced bills to sabotage the process of granting a species protection by requiring the inclusion of inaccurate/outdated data (provided by state governments) in the decision-making process (ex. S. 736). Another commonly used Congressional tactic is to limit funds for upholding the ESA.

The introduced bills S.292 and S.736 both attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

S.292 and S.736 attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

Over 100 bills have been introduced targeting individual species. Three recent bills, when combined, would prevent grey wolves from being listed as endangered or threatened in six states. Management of the grey wolf populations would also be returned to the states, a move which has, in the past, led to mass slaughter.

When Wyoming gained control of its grey wolf population in 2012 over 200 wolves were killed.

When Wyoming gained control of its grey wolf population in 2012 over 200 wolves were killed.

Another bill – the “Mexican Wolf Transparency and Accountability Act” – would remove virtually all protections for the Mexican grey wolf, a species rescued from near extinction by a tedious captive breeding program spanning almost 40 years. Only around 100 wild Mexican grey wolves remain in the United States (primarily  in Arizona and New Mexico).

The Mexican grey wolf was rescued from extinction by a captive breeding program but is now at risk of loosing nearly all its government protection.

The Mexican grey wolf was rescued from extinction by a captive breeding program but is now at risk of losing nearly all its government protection. (Jim brandenburg/ Minden)

On May 24th, representative Ken Calvert introduced legislation to permanently prevent the greater sage grouse from being listed under the ESA.

On May 24th, representative Ken Calvert introduced legislation to permanently prevent the greater sage grouse from being listed under the ESA. (Danita Delimit)

In March 2016, the FWS announced that it is planning to remove ESA protection from Yellowstone grizzly bears, even though the population consists of only about 700 animals.

Grizzly bear nuzzling her cub in Yellowstone National Park.

Grizzly bear and her cub in Yellowstone National Park (Troy Harrison).

Attempts to weaken the ESA are especially troubling in light of how effective it is. For example, a recent study conducted by the Center for Biological Diversity found that 85% of continental U.S. birds protected under the ESA have increased or stabilized their populations since receiving protection. The recovering bird species range from Puerto Rican parrots and Californian Condors to wood storks and Kirtland’s warblers. The wood stork’s population, in particular, jumped from 29 nesting colonies in 1984, when it was listed under the ESA, to over 10,000 in 2015.

Both the California condor and the woodstork have benefited tremendously from the Endangered Species Act.

Both the California condor (right) and the woodstork (left) have benefited tremendously from the Endangered Species Act. (woodstork photo: Stephen L. Tabone)

Your Turn

To learn more about Congress’s attempts to weaken the ESA, please visit Center for Biological Diversity

Please take the following steps to help safeguard the Endangered Species Act and the animals that it protects:

  • To find out more about federal and state bills that could affect wild animals and the ways in which you can help to pass or defeat them, please visit Born Free USA
  • To find out about federal and state bills that could affect all animals, including endangered species, and the ways in which you can help to pass or defeat them, please visit Humane Society of the United States

Filed under: WIldlife
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Animal Rights Activists Protest State-Sponsored Mass Shooting of Bears in NJ

December 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment


The News

Dressed in a bear costume and hauling a dummy of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Friends of Animals’ Edita Birnkrant fearlessly paraded into the state capitol building to disrupt business as usual. That’s because she, like many other animal advocates across the state, is outraged about the upcoming state-sponsored mass shooting of black bears. TheirTurn reported on location:

Some of the bears will be lured out of their habitat with food. During a press conference about the bear hunt on the steps of the statehouse, state Senator Raymond Lesniak, who introduced legislation to ban the hunt, said, “Baiting isn’t hunting; it’s target shooting.”

From left to right: NJ State Senator Raymond Lesniak, a dummy of NJ Governor Chris Christie in a bear-proof garbage can, Friends of Animals' Edita Birnkrant

From left to right: NJ State Senator Raymond Lesniak, a dummy of NJ Governor Chris Christie in a bear-proof garbage can, Friends of Animals’ Edita Birnkrant

During the massacre, which starts on Monday, December 7th, hundreds of bears, including cubs and nursing mothers, will be hunted down and killed with guns and arrows.

NJ Governor Chris Christie receives a manual pat down at the NJ State House

NJ Governor Chris Christie receives a manual pat down at the NJ State House

Governor Christie claims that the annual hunt protects the public from bear attacks, but Senator Lesniak and the advocates who gathered at the capitol building argue that only bear-proof garbage cans coupled with public education will keep the bears out of residential areas. Dispensing licenses to kill, they say, doesn’t protect the public; it merely rewards Chris Christie’s pro-hunting campaign donors.

NJ Fish & Wildlife promotes killing, not protecting, its animal residents

NJ Fish & Wildlife promotes killing, not protecting, its animal residents

Your Turn

For more information about the bear hunt and to take action on their behalf, please visit Friends of Animals and the Animal Protection League of NJ Action Center.

A Fish & Wildlife employee weighs a bear during a previous hunt (photo: AP)

A Fish & Wildlife employee weighs a bear during a previous hunt (photo: AP)


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Mainstream Media Describe the Abuses That Led Sam Simon To Donate Millions

September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

Sam Simon, the Simpson’s co-creator who has donated millions to animal rights causes since being diagnosed with terminal cancer, is probably having a bigger impact than he ever imagined. That’s because the media are not only reporting on the extent of his philanthropy but are also describing, in detail, the animal abuses that motivate him to give.

In Vanity Fair, a reporter writes about the plight of 17 captive bears whose rescue was funded by Simon: “The bears lived their lives pacing back and forth in the concrete holes of a grim roadside bear-pit attraction in rural Georgia, subsisting on white bread and soda thrown to them by tourists.”

Sam Simon bear liberation

Sam Simon Liberates Bear

In a Reuters story about Simon’s decision to purchase of a fur farm in order to permanently shut it down, the reporter writes that, as Simon walked through the facility’s “cramped rows of mesh-wire cages,” he said to the animals, “This is your last day of abuse. This is your first day of freedom.”

Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake

Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake

During an interview on NBC, Simon talks about “liberating animals from abusive situations” and says that horses in the racing industry are treated as poorly as animals on factory farms.

These are the kinds of messages that animal rights groups would kill for (figuratively speaking) when they talk to the press.

In 2012, Sam Simon bought a $2 million ship for Sea Shepherd, which is being used to protect dolphins, whales and other sea animals from slaughter. If only the Sam Simon could have saved these salmon who, oddly, share his name.

Sam Simon


Filed under: Opinion, Victories
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17 Bears Held Captive in Concrete Pits are Freed

January 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

Simpson’s creator Sam Simon, PETA and the Atlanta Humane Society fought and won a battle to free 17 bears confined for years in concrete pits at a Georgia tourist attraction called the Black Forest Bear Park. The bears have been transferred to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado and are now running freely on grass. Two of the bears were pregnant at the time of the liberation, and, for the first time in their lives, they will be able to raise their cubs. In the pits, their cubs were kidnapped shortly after birth.

News & Opinion

Being held captive in a pit is like living in a horror movie. The activists who freed these bears and the rescuers who are providing them with a sanctuary are heroes. Please visit The Wild Animal Sanctuary to find out ways you can support their work and help captive animals.


Filed under: Entertainment, Victories
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