21 endangered species declared extinct in 'wake-up call' to conserve threatened species, feds say
The 21 extinct species include a mammal, like the Little Mariana fruit bat, 10 types of birds, like the Bachman’s warbler, two types of fish and eight species of mussels.
Bat species facing extinction due to deadly white-nose syndrome
The northern long-eared bat population, which is currently classified as threatened, faces extinction due to the wide impacts of white-nose syndrome. (Video from April 2022)
FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Twenty-one species are being delisted from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) because they're extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced Monday.
The federal agency said the decision was made after "rigorous reviews of the best available science for each of these species."
Most of the species had been listed under the ESA in the 1970s and 1980s, and the FWS says they were likely in very low numbers or already extinct at the time that they were listed.
BAT SPECIES COULD BE RECLASSIFIED AS ‘ENDANGERED’ AS FUNGUS CONTINUES KILLING OFF POPULATION
The historical range of the Bachman's warbler included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
(Robert Havell after John James Audubon/Public Domain)
But this is now renewing the call to conserve threatened species before time runs out.
"Federal protection came too late to reverse these species’ decline, and it’s a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it’s too late," FWS Director Martha Williams said.
The FWS said that the service proposed delisting 23 species in September 2021 due to extinction, but after public comment, it decided to withdraw the delisting proposal for one species – Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis – a Hawaiian perennial herb in the mint family that has no common name.
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A taxidermy specimen of an Ivory-Billed woodpecker.
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Public Domain)
The delisting proposal also included the ivory-billed woodpecker, but the FWS said it would continue to analyze and review more data before a decision is made regarding delisting it.
The FWS announcement comes as the ESA turns 50 years old in 2023, and the 21 species extinctions are highlighting the importance of the ESA and its efforts to conserve species before population declines become irreversible.
"The circumstances of each also underscore how human activity can drive species decline and extinction by contributing to habitat loss, overuse, and the introduction of invasive species and diseases," the FWS said.
The 21 extinct species include a mammal, like the Little Mariana fruit bat, 10 types of birds, like the Bachman’s warbler, two types of fish and eight species of mussels.
The FWS said the final rule to delist the 21 species from the ESA because of extinction will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 17 and will become effective 30 days after that.