Endangered Species Act List Won’t Add US Eels

“We’ll be looking closely at this decision to make sure that’s not the case for the desert tortoise”, said Taylor Jones, endangered species advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “And while it is important to acknowledge uncertainty regarding climate change impacts, the service has a disturbing history of using small amounts of uncertainty to deny needed protections to species facing clear threats”. Prior to that time, the Sonoran Desert Tortoise was recognized informally as the “Sonoran population” of the Mojave Desert Tortoise, which was generally referred to as the “desert tortoise”. It was the 3rd time since 1987 when the service refused efforts by environmental groups to secure federal protection for the tortoise.

Following a discovery that rising human population in Arizona and Northern Sonora in Mexico where the tortoise can be found is threatening its habitats, the Sonoran desert tortoise was offered federal protection and listed as endangered in 2010 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Sonoran desert tortoise is still considered a “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” and the collection of wild tortoise still remains illegal in the US.

These species will be removed from the ESA Candidate List. There are between 470,000 and 970,000 adult tortoises in the US and Mexico. They may weigh up to 15 pounds, and they eat a variety of vegetation, including cactus. “We know that eels remain widely distributed through their historical range despite habitat loss throughout their range”.

Researchers are confident additional testing will answer more questions about these mountain red foxes, such as evaluating their population connectivity and whether possible interbreeding with non-native lowland red foxes is a conservation concern.

The service has estimated that there are approximately 38000 square miles of tortoise habitat in the Southwest now.

The service even cited a recent conservation agreement which was signed between federal agencies & the Arizona Game & Fish for continuing to identify & address any threats to this tortoise over 55% of its habitat. The current scientific modeling demonstrates that there is no probability of extinction over the next decade, said the Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Jeff Humphrey. “With this track record, we are confident that the tortoise will continue to thrive”.

Members of the public are urged to submit comments and information concerning the proposed listing at www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2015-0148. Following the designation of the frog as an ESA candidate species, states, federal agencies and private landowners went to work clarifying solutions, employing sustainable grazing practices, and creating ponds where the frog has taken up residence and is successfully breeding.