Species In Peril - National Wildlife Federation


Endangered Species In Peril

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Endangered Species

Why Fund Endangered
Species Recovery?

Endangered Species Day
May 16, 2008

A Representative List of Languishing Species

California/Nevada:
	Devil's Hole Pupfish: An inch-long, iridescent blue fish, the Devil’s Hole pupfish is found only in a single cavern on the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nye County, Nevada, near California’s Death Valley. Listed as endangered in 1967, the pupfish has never numbered more than 553 individuals since population surveys began in 1972.	View more about this species.
	Howell's Spineflower: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists know little about this plant, including overall population size and trends or details about the species’ response to disturbance. Limited resources are not being focused on the plant because it does not appear to be in immediate danger.	View more about this species.
	San Francisco Garter Snake: Large adults can exceed 3 feet in length. Females give live birth from June through September, with litters averaging 16 newborn. Many of the threats that led to the listing of the San Francisco garter snake in 1967 continue to impact the species today.	View more about this species.

Missouri:
	Sicklefin & Sturgeon Chub: These species are rare in North Dakota and face unique threats because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2001 refused to put them on the endangered species list when they were candidates for listing, even though both species have lost about half their range along the Missouri.	View more about these species.

Northeast:
	Northeastern Gray Wolf: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has no plan to initiate or fund active wolf recovery in the Northeast. Instead, the Service is restricting its north-eastern wolf activity to monitoring wolves found in the region. Even this monitoring is handled by non-Fish and Wildlife Service staff.	View more about this species.

Northwest:
	Fenders Blue Butterfly: The Fender’s blue is a relatively small butterfly with a wingspan of only about one inch. The butterfly is endangered because its native prairie habitat has been converted to agriculture, subject to fire suppression, invaded by non-native plants or otherwise developed.	View more about this species.
	Idaho Ground Squirrel: The northern Idaho ground squirrel inhabits mountain meadows and grasslands above 3,000 feet in elevation in west-central Idaho’s Adams and Valley counties. As of 2006, its recovery status remained unknown. No comprehensive monitoring has been done to determine the current population trend.	View more about this species.
	Woodland Caribou: A relative of reindeer, the woodland caribou once ranged throughout much of Canada and the northern tier of states along the border as far south as Salmon, Idaho. It is now vulnerable to extinction because its habitat needs are specialized and its reproductive rate one of the slowest for a member of the deer family.	View more about this species.

Southeast:
	Loggerhead Sea Turtle: Loggerheads from the Southeast grow to about 3 feet long (upper shell length) and weigh about 250 pounds. Loggerheads face threats both on beaches and at sea. Loggerheads also are imperiled by egg and meat hunters in many places, including the Bahamas, Cuba and Mexico.	View more about this species.
	Schweinitz's Sunflower: This perennial herb grows 3 to 6 feet tall from a cluster of carrot-like tuberous roots. From September to frost, Schweinitz’s sunflower blooms with comparatively small heads of yellow flowers. Many of the remaining populations are threatened by residential and commercial expansion and by invasions of nonnative plants.	View more about this species.

West:
	Autumn Buttercup: Risk of extinction is very high for the autumn buttercup, a wet meadow species. A 1975 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report to Congress indicated that the autumn buttercup was possibly extinct. Rediscovered in 1982, the species declined from about 500 plants to 22, which helped compel its listing.	View more about this species.
	Clay Phacelia: This Utah native grows to only about 12 inches tall and produces blue to violet flowers from June to August. One of the first plants listed under the Endangered Species Act, this species lives in only two locations within Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah. Biologists have tallied fewer than 100 plants at each site.	View more about this species.
	Winkler Cactus: The Winkler cactus grows only an inch or two tall and, from late March to May, produces peach - to pink-colored flowers large enough to overshadow the plant. The species is subject to a draft recovery plan dated 1995, but the Service has provided no recovery funds, and no recovery work is under way.	View more about this species.

Fair Funding for Wildlife (PDF/2MB)- This full report goes into greater detail about the need for fair funding concerning endangered species recovery.

Where Would They Be Now? - This National Wildlife® magazine article profiles nine species helped by the Endangered Species Act.

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