Bison Protection Not Warranted

The Service announced a 90-day finding on a 2009 petition by private citizens James Bailey and Natalie Bailey to list the wild plains bison, Bison bison bison, or each of four distinct population segments, as threatened.

 

"Based on our review," said the Service, "we find that the petition does not present substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted."

In its finding, the Service said, "Wild plains bison are distributed in parks, preserves, other public lands, and private lands throughout and external to their historical range. The current population of wild plains bison is estimated to be 20,500 animals in 62 conservation herds. Recent population trends appear stable to slightly increasing in conservation herds (as noted by the petitioners)."

In 2010, the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity sued the Service for failing to respond to the petition to list the bison and other petitions to list dozens of species as threatened or endangered under the Act.

Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center, said his organization is disappointed in the decision. "North American bison herds are a dim, dim shadow of their former glory," he said. "Today's decision that bison do not merit protection under the Endangered Species Act is a complete farce."

The Service previously turned down a petition to list the bison herd at Yellowstone National Park in the northwest corner of Wyoming as a distinct population group and on August 15, 2007 decided that listing the Yellowstone bison herd was not warranted.

In determining the bison does not warrant protection, the Fish and Wildlife Service completely ignored the fact that bison are gone from nearly the entirety of their historic range, choosing to argue that the agency has only to look at the species' current range, said Greenwald.

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Wolves Removed From Endangered Species List

A state senator who represents much of the East Side of Summit County wants wolves removed from the federal Endangered Species List.

Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, has introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 15, which urges Congress to eliminate the federal protection for wolves.

According to Christensen, large wolf populations are impacting livestock, game populations and pets.

 

Rural economies are damaged when wolves attack other animals, the resolution states.

Wolves have even begun threatening people, according to Christensen.

In Utah, wolves in a small portion of the state have been removed from list. But wolves in most of Utah are still protected by federal law.

Christensen claimed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly failed to listen to Utah's governors, senators and congressmen who have asked for wolves throughout the entire state to be removed from the list.

According to S.C.R. 15, federal wildlife officials "only included a small portion of northern Utah in the potential delisting zone, leaving nearly the entire state of Utah as an Endangered Species classification with no hope or promise of a solution to the wolf problem for decades into the future."

State wildlife officials have also urged the federal government to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List, Christensen said.

Last week, Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City, was the only senator who voted against the resolution.

Romero said he disagreed with some of the language used in the legislation.

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Biggest Threats To Endangered Right Whales

The death of a young right whale off Florida drives home the point that while disentanglement responses give the animals a better chance at survival, prevention of entanglements in fishing gear is paramount.

On February 3, NOAA scientist Barb Zoodsma joined partners from numerous state and local agencies, along with researchers from academic institutions and nonprofits organizations, to perform a necropsy – animal autopsy – on a young right whale. The animal was observed floating dead off St Augustine, FL, by an aerial survey team from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission two days earlier, and was towed to shore for examination. 

 

Scientists were already familiar with this animal. First sighted entangled with fishing rope on Christmas Day, this two-year old female whale had been the focus of much attention since the new year. In two separate disentanglement attempts December 30, 2010 and January 15, 2011, more than 200 feet of rope had been removed from this critically entangled species. Unfortunately, as scientists would learn, these unprecedented response efforts were not enough to save its life.

Led by necropsy team leader, William McLellan of University of North Carolina Wilmington, and assisted by Dr. Michael Moore, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Alex Costidis, University of Florida, scientists examined this 31 foot, 15,000 pound whale for clues to its demise. Numerous lesions from its long term entanglement and shark bites were examined thoroughly, and tissue samples from the wounds will be shipped to labs for further study. The final results of the necropsy will depend on these analyses and will not be available for some time.

Initial observations lead researchers to conclude this whale had been entangled for months.  Parts of the rope that could not be removed during the disentanglement efforts were found to be embedded in the whale’s mouth, possibly impeding it from feeding. The young female was significantly underweight. Weakened and injured by the long entanglement, she was easier prey for sharks.  Bite marks on the carcass suggest that scavenging sharks may have finished off the wounded whale by severing major veins at the base of the tail.

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