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Endangered Species Day

Endangered Species Day is May 17th! A day that is both somber and, at the same time, celebratory.

Defenders has a long history (72 years!) of protecting North America’s native wildlife. Founded in 1947, Defenders has been focused solely on wildlife and habitat conservation and the safeguarding of biodiversity from the beginning. We believe in the inherent value of wildlife and the natural world, and we transform policies and institutions and promote innovative solutions to ensure wildlife is protected.

But in the last hundred years, North America has said goodbye to many species due to human activity.

The sea mink, which lived along the east coast of North America (most likely in New England), was hunted to extinction in the late 19th or early 20th century by fur traders. The Caribbean monk seal, which was last seen in the 1950s and declined because of hunting and overfishing of its food sources, was officially declared extinct in 2008. After habitat modification and non-native species moved into its area of the Mojave Desert, the Tecopa pupfish was pushed to extinction in about 1970. Perhaps most famous (and controversial), is the ivory-billed woodpecker. Habitat destruction played a major role in its demise in forests of the Southeast, and there have been no confirmed sightings since the 1940s.

The last individual of a species becomes famous, known as an endling, and the world publicly mourns its passing.

Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died in September of 1914. Lonesome George, a male Pinta Island tortoise, passed away in June of 2012, after unsuccessful mating attempts with females of related subspecies of tortoise. Toughie, likely the world’s last Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog, was found dead in the Atlanta Botanical Garden in September of 2016. Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, was euthanized in 2018 after suffering from age-related complications.

There are plenty of species with only a few hundred or a few thousand individuals left in the wild. Vaquitas, a small porpoise located only in a small portion of the Gulf of California, may have a population of one dozen. The red wolf, our all-American wolf, has fewer than 25 individuals roaming North Carolina. Southern resident orcas number just 75 in Puget Sound. The North Atlantic right whale has a population of about 411.

Will we only take notice when the population gets so low that we bestow upon the last individual a name like Lonesome George?

Extinction is forever, but endangered means we still have time.

This mantra of conservation efforts across the world is the reason we have Endangered Species Day, and why we have hope for these species with limited populations. We have all the tools to bring these species back before they get pushed over the edge. We just have to use them. In 1941 only 16 whooping cranes were left; but this past year, there were over 500 wintering in Texas. The Mexican gray wolf was considered extinct in the wild in the 1980s, but 20 years ago, a handful were released and the population in the wild has grown to 131 in 2018. In 1995, after decades of habitat destruction and hunting, the population of Florida panthers had dwindled to fewer than 30. But with habitat protection and reintroduction, there are now between 120 and 230 panthers in south Florida.

The Endangered Species Act is a major conservation success; it’s our nation’s most effective law for protecting wildlife in danger of extinction. Ninety-nine percent of species listed under the Act have survived, and many are on the path to recovery. The Endangered Species Act allows for flexibility in protecting endangered wildlife and requires that federal, state, tribal, and local officials work together to prevent extinction. Groups like Defenders of Wildlife, and all of the passionate wildlife advocates who support wildlife conservation every day, make a difference by speaking up for the voiceless.

Together, we can ensure a future for the wildlife and wild places we all love. 

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Coexisting with Bison

Everyone has heard the expression, “where the buffalo roam.” But there haven’t always been wide-roaming herds. Millions of bison roamed the Great Plains until a mass slaughter began in the early 1800s and by the late 1880s, fewer than 1,000 bison remained. Thanks to the work of Native American tribes, government agencies, and conservation groups such as Defenders of Wildlife, bison have been making a comeback across the West. Currently, Yellowstone National Park is home to the largest and most genetically pure herd of wild bison in the country.

Not surprisingly, wildlife don’t recognize boundaries we humans designate on maps. As a migratory species, these Yellowstone bison often cross Park boundaries in search of grass. That is why Defenders continues to fight for common-sense bison management and the expansion of year-round habitat in Montana for wild bison that roam outside of the Park boundaries. That is also why we work tirelessly with our tribal partners to establish new wild bison populations elsewhere across the West. Progress has been slow but steady; Montana’s current and former governors have expanded areas outside the Park where bison are now allowed to roam as wildlife, and several tribes are now establishing bison herds on their lands.

As we work to secure additional habitat and places for bison, Defenders and our conservation partners are also working to promote social acceptance for bison on the landscape and to help individuals, landowners, and communities coexist with wildlife.

Through the Yellowstone Bison Coexistence Program, we are doing just that. With our partners from Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Montana Fish Wildlife, and Parks, Defenders started the Yellowstone Bison Coexistence Program in 2011 as a collaborative effort aimed to help landowners coexist with wild bison on the landscape outside the Park.

Working directly with individual landowners, livestock producers, and residents, we can prevent property damage from roaming bison in the areas outside Yellowstone National Park where bison often roam. We provide incentives to help interested landowners install bison fencing around areas of concern to reduce conflict with bison on their private lands. The fencing helps keep bison away from residences, gardens, and small fields, preventing any accidental damage a 2,000-lb herbivore might cause. The combined effect: communities that are more accepting of roaming bison. Defenders and our partners compensate landowners 50% (up to $1,000) of the cost of building a fence, and we help provide the technical assistance to install the fence on their property.

Since we began these fencing projects in 2010, this common-sense solution for living with roaming bison has been an incredible success. To date, we’ve completed 45 fencing projects in the Gardiner and Hebgen Basins in Montana and contributed more than $40,000 in reimbursements and materials and likely an equal amount in additional project expenses such as staff time, travel, etc.

Participants of the program have been very happy with the results and we believe this has been a huge success in helping to build public tolerance and acceptance toward bison on the landscape in Montana. With the potential changes to future bison management as well as new year-round tolerance for bison on the landscape outside the park, we will continue to expand these efforts to ensure that people in these communities have the tools to successfully coexist with bison on the landscape.

“This program is a shining example of conservation groups working directly with landowners to solve problems and build tolerance for our wildlife resources here in Montana.….in my opinion this remains a great effort.”

-Sam Shepard, Former Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Region 3 Regional Director

This is a solution-based program that benefits both people on the ground and wild bison. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a few satisfied landowners have had to say about the project:

Our five acres (north of Yellowstone) is constantly used by wildlife that our guests very much enjoy watching. We have big post fencing protecting the pine trees from the bison who like to rub the low hanging branches to remove their fur. Our fences are great conversation starters with visitors, about how living with wildlife is a treat. Since the bison fence installment several years ago, the minimal property damage we had before fencing is now zero. And the bison fences even look good!

-Sabina and Greg Strauss, Yellowstone Basin Inn Gardiner, MT

My backyard fence has diminished my anxieties and allows me to relax a little more. It’s funny what a little elbow grease, wire and wooden posts can do for a group of friends and neighbors in a small community like ours.

-Karrie Taggart, Horse Butte/West Yellowstone MT

Bison are a keystone species, helping to create habitat for a number of different wildlife species, including grassland birds and even many plant species. As bison forage, they aerate the soil with their hooves, aid plant growth, disperse native seeds, and help to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem. While bison are no longer threatened with extinction, they remain largely “ecologically extinct” and absent from their historic Great Plains habitat. Substantial work remains to fully restore the species to its ecological and cultural role throughout the Great Plains and we are grateful for those working with us to promote coexistence with our national mammal.

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Panthers at a Crossroads: The Need for Coexistence

With an estimated 120 to 230 adults remaining in the wild in south Florida, Florida panthers are one of the most endangered mammals in the country. Defenders of Wildlife’s efforts to help the Florida panther survive started four decades ago when we lobbied for the species’ inclusion under the federal Endangered Species Act. We have been fighting for panthers ever since ��� to secure and protect the large interconnected tracts of wild land they need to expand their range northward, to foster understanding of these wide-ranging and secretive predators and to address a leading cause of panther deaths: collisions with vehicles while attempting to cross roads. In recognition of our longstanding commitment to panther recovery, Defenders serves as the conservation representative on the federal Florida Panther Recovery Implementation Team.

© FWC

We’ve made a lot of progress over the last 40 years — in the 1970s biologists weren’t even sure we still had Florida panthers left. And then a few were discovered in south Florida, and it is estimated that the population may have dipped to 12 to 20 individuals at its lowest point. Even though the population has grown steadily since a genetic restoration program was undertaken in the 1990s, it is still small and endangered, largely because of loss and degradation of habitat.

Coexisting with Florida Panthers

Today, the Florida panther is at a crossroads: in the last few years, biologists have documented female panthers and kittens north of the Caloosahatchee River for the first time in more than 40 years, a major milestone in panther recovery. But, at the same time, Florida has become the third most populous state in the country, bringing accelerating development and new roads. The Florida panther once ranged throughout the southeastern United States but today occupies less than five percent of its historical range. In order to keep the panther on a path to recovery, we need to share the landscape with this large carnivore and we must avoid and reduce conflicts that inevitably occur as people and panthers become more numerous within the same space. Through partnerships, education, research support, public outreach, and advocacy, Defenders is working to foster understanding of Florida panthers and to help people share the landscape with these endangered predators. We launched our Florida panther coexistence program in 2004 to respond to an increase of panther depredations on livestock and pets.

© fStop Foundation

As part of Defenders’ “Year of Coexistence,” March is focused on the Florida panther. School children selected the Florida panther as the official state animal in 1982, and the Florida legislature designated the third Saturday in March as “Save the Florida Panther Day,” which is March 16 this year. The Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, established to protect the panther and its habitat in 1989, hosts an annual Open House to celebrate Save the Florida Panther Day. The refuge hosts activities such as orchid walks, swamp buggy tours, panther presentations, and other talks and lessons.

Outreach

Defenders is very busy at this time of year engaging in outreach and providing technical assistance to homeowners who live in or near panther country. Our Coexistence Coordinator and volunteers help increase awareness and through presentations and other events, we engage with thousands of adults and children. South of the Caloosahatchee River, we participate in festivals and other outreach events, some of which draw tens of thousands of people. North of the river, Defenders expanded our panther outreach to the areas where females are beginning to disperse. In 2018, we gave more than 20 presentations attended by more than 1,000 people from environmental clubs, homeowners’ associations, rotary clubs, and AARP. We also hosted a Florida Panther Outreach Workshop for more than 45 participants in April at Archbold Biological Station to discuss panther range expansion and prepare activists to help with outreach north of the river.

Over the years, we’ve hosted educational workshops, initiated demonstration projects, and distributed materials in rural residential areas on responsible homeowner practices for safely coexisting with panthers. We’ve recruited and trained volunteers for the Panther Citizen Assistance Taskforce, a group of citizen scientists and activists who share information about panthers and protecting pets and livestock. Since establishing our predator-resistant livestock protection enclosure program, we have helped fund and construct more than 30 enclosures to protect people, pets, livestock, and panthers. In 2011, we helped initiate the annual Florida Panther Festival, an event now hosted by the Naples Zoo to build awareness and acceptance of panthers.

Reducing Conflict

Large landowners, some of whom own tens of thousands of acres, have also experienced conflict with panthers that occasionally prey upon calves on cattle ranches. As part of the Florida Panther Recovery Team, we work with these landowners to protect large interconnected areas of habitat and expand acceptance for sharing the landscape with panthers. To reduce conflict, we work to improve two federal programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: one compensates landowners for loss to a federally protected species and the other provides funding to landowners who maintain their land in ways that benefit panthers (e.g. providing good habitat and wild prey).

Florida panther fencing and predator-resistant enclosures (© Lisa Ostberg)

We also work to help the wide-ranging panther cross dangerous road segments. The biggest human-cause of panther mortality is being struck by motor vehicles as panthers travel great distances in search of territory, mates, and food. In 2018, 26 panthers were killed while crossing roads. As part of the Transportation SubTeam of the Florida Panther Recovery Team, we helped develop the Southwest Florida Panther Hotspots report and maps to help guide decision making and funding allocation for wildlife crossings and other tools to allow safe passage across dangerous road segments. We also provided extensive input to Florida Department of Transportation on revisions to its Wildlife Crossing Guidelines. For many years, we’ve been involved in facilitating the installation of wildlife crossings and slower speed zones and advocating for conservation-minded transportation planning that considers the dangers motor vehicle traffic and habitat fragmentation present for panthers and other wildlife.

Panthers are slowly recovering from the brink of extinction thanks to the Endangered Species Act and successful conservation programs. Their population is growing and they are expanding their range. But the same increase and expansion can be said about the human population in Florida, and at a greater rate. As human communities encroach on the wild lands that remain, people are coming into closer and closer contact with wildlife like the Florida panther. Defenders recognizes that helping people coexist with the Florida panther is vital to building the acceptance and support needed to save the species. We are proud of all that we have accomplished so far, and we are optimistic about the panther’s future in Florida.

Year of Coexistence To honor our incredible wildlife, Defenders has declared 2019 the Year of Coexistence. March focuses on Florida panther coexistence!defenders.org

Additional Resources:

Coexisting with Florida Panthers

Saving Florida Panthers

Safe roads for people and panthers

Guide to Recognizing the Florida Panther, Its Track and Sign

Defenders’ Predator-Resistant Livestock Protection Enclosure

The post Panthers at a Crossroads: The Need for Coexistence appeared first on Defenders of Wildlife Blog.

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Coexisting with Grizzly Bears

Grizzly bears were once numerous, ranging across North America from California to the Great Plains, and from Mexico all the way up into Alaska. As with many species, westward expansion, human transformation of the landscape, and fear led to near-eradication of grizzly bears in the continental United States. When the grizzly bear was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1975, the grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states was down to less than 1000 bears. Grizzly bears still occupy less than 2% of their former range, in 5 of 6 grizzly bear recovery areas:

The ESA has given grizzly bears much needed protections and numbers in some populations have increased substantially, while bears continue to expand into historic habitat. Recognizing that human-bear conflicts were a leading cause of human-related grizzly bear deaths, Defenders initiated our grizzly bear conflict mitigation, or coexistence, program in the late 1990s. It is imperative to recovery that we save the lives of grizzly bears, but it is also critical that we address the concerns of residents that live and work around them, making safer spaces for both bears and people.

Human-caused mortalities remain a primary cause of grizzly bear death in the lower 48 states. Many of these deaths are due to the availability of what are called “anthropogenic attractants,” things like garbage, coolers, fruit trees, livestock and pet feed, chickens, and other livestock. Their nose leads the way — a grizzly’s remarkable sense of smell helps them find enough food to put on the fat necessary to hibernate for 4–6 months every winter. While those “foods” might provide needed calories and fat, human-related attractants are not good for bears. Such attractants lure bears into trouble. Bears that get into garbage or kill chickens are either relocated or killed, sometimes by the landowner. Bears navigating neighborhoods bordering wildlife habitat, are also more likely to be hit by cars and trains. In a landscape with ever increasing development, it is getting harder and harder for bears to avoid getting into conflicts with people. However, human-bear conflicts are preventable!

Since 1998, we have invested over $750,000 on projects in the lower 48 that prevent conflicts between bears and people. These projects involve diverse collaborations with local residents, state, federal and tribal agencies, and conservation organizations. Our program is applicable in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming and our projects are diverse, ranging from assisting with securing waste transfer sites in communities to electric fencing to range rider programs.

Our efforts are paying off, and in some areas, like the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems grizzly bear populations are expanding into historically occupied places, like prairie habitat. However, these landscapes have vastly changed since grizzly bears were here almost a century ago. This presents challenges as grizzlies move into these areas that are predominately private and agricultural lands. Agricultural and range lands can provide open spaces and habitat for grizzly bears and other species, but they can also be significant sources of conflict, particularly related to livestock.

To restore connectivity among isolated populations, grizzly bears will need to be able to use and travel across these large landscapes. That means we need to find a way forward that recognizes and addresses concerns from those living and relying on these working lands, while minimizing grizzly bear mortality. Opening the door to diverse partnerships to address these issues allows for improved communication between all parties and gives us the ability to develop projects that work for both people and bears.

In 2018, our Rockies and Plains office:

purchased 140 cans of bear spray for distribution through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear outreach program to local hunters and residents. Bear spray has proven effective at stopping grizzly bear attacks.

cost-shared on four range rider programs in Montana, benefiting both wolves and grizzly bears. A primary goal of these landowner-led range rider programs is to minimize livestock lost to grizzly bears and wolves by increasing human presence.

partnered with Montana Wildlife Services and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to support Montana Wildlife Services’ first ever non-lethal technician.

completed 43 grizzly bear electric fencing projects through our popular grizzly bear electric fencing incentive program.

Defenders of Wildlife’s Electric Fencing Incentive Program

Defenders works directly with local residents, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and government agencies on a wide variety of electric fence projects, primarily on private lands. We see tremendous conservation value in providing financial support and technical expertise to build electric fence systems that effectively deter grizzly bears and other carnivores from accessing anthropogenic attractants. This program is designed to be proactive in preventing conflicts, though we give priority to landowners with past bear conflicts. We are seeing a direct reduction in human-bear conflicts and other wildlife conflicts at these sites where fences are completed and maintained. Initially, this program reimbursed landowners $100 towards an electric fence around an identified grizzly bear attractant. We found this amount insufficient for cost-sharing with residents in building high quality fence systems. In 2012, we improved the program to reimburse residents within priority counties 50 percent of the cost of electric fencing around any grizzly bear attractant, up to a maximum incentive of $500 per landowner.

The program has completed a combined 347 fencing projects since its inception in 2010. The 2018 field season yielded 41 completed electric fence projects and our 2018 participants were really grateful to be part of the program:

“Thank you so much for helping me to make the electric fencing around my chicken yard a reality…I just wanted to thank you and to let you know your work matters.”

“I received the check from Defenders. I believe this support of landowners who might be directly impacted by grizzly bears is an important part of keeping bears out of trouble. Thank you for your work. I also want to pass on compliments from our bee club members concerning your presentation on bear fences and bear behavior.”

“I think the program is great regardless of the cost sharing component. Just getting good information out there is what we really appreciated.”

In addition to our partnerships with other NGOs and communities, our program continues to foster ongoing collaboration with state and tribal wildlife management agencies on many of these projects. One of the landmark aspects of 2018 was that it marked the first year we were able to partner directly with Montana Wildlife Services, supporting their new conflict prevention technician position that focuses exclusively on implementing non-lethal tools on the ground. Together we completed six large-scale electric fence projects with commercial livestock operators and apiarists. We are also excited to be reaching out to new locations, like Northeastern Washington. The program will continue in 2019, with popularity and reach of the program continuing to grow each year!

Washington’s Grizzlies

Washington state isn’t the first (or second, or third…) place that people would think to find grizzly bears, and for good reason. Even though the state has two of the six grizzly bear populations in the lower 48, both populations are very small and endangered. The Selkirk Mountains in the northeast are home to an estimated 70–80 grizzly bears (and most of them are on the Canadian side of the ecosystem). In the North Cascades, there may only be as few as 10 grizzlies left, and because this ecosystem is so isolated from other grizzly populations, the only way to recover grizzlies in the Cascades is to bring additional bears into Washington.

With such small populations, there have been almost no human-grizzly conflicts in Washington for the last several decades. That doesn’t mean we aren’t working on coexistence, though! Our Northwest office has the advantage of learning from the great work done by our colleagues in the Rockies and Plains to prevent grizzly bear conflicts before they even begin. These proactive steps can help increase tolerance for grizzly bears in Washington as both populations recover over time.

In the Selkirks, biologists are seeing grizzly bears more often in the Washington portion of the mountain range. As they venture further south and west, it’s important to keep bears out of campsites and dumpsites. To keep them from getting habituated with these sites, often resulting in euthanasia, Defenders purchased food storage lockers for the U.S. Forest Service to install at campgrounds. We also helped fence a waste transfer site to keep bears and other wildlife out of dumpsters.

One of the most important things for people who live and work in grizzly country to do is carry bear spray. This non-lethal tool helps keep people safe and bears alive. In partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Kalispel Natural Resources Department, and Washington State University, we hosted eight bear awareness trainings for community groups and school kids living in the region. At each training, we covered bear awareness tips and practiced using bear spray — we used an inert can for practice, but everyone who attended the training got a free can of bear spray!

Hiking is a popular Washington activity no matter what side of the state you live on, but people entering the North Cascades don’t think about grizzly bears as much as they do when the venture into the Selkirks. That’s why we partnered with the Washington Trails Association and the Mountaineers this last year to host fun and informal events up and down the I-5 Corridor. Setting up at local breweries and libraries, we talked to outdoor enthusiasts from Tacoma to Everett about our PlaySmart tips. We even demonstrated these tips in the field on a backpacking trip with a group from Latino Outdoors. With so many people recreating in the North Cascades, it’s important that everyone learns how to play smart and avoid conflicts with bears.

Hikes, Bears, and Brews Events in Washington

In 2018, our Northwest office invested over $20,000 for grizzly bear coexistence projects in Washington state, including:

Conducting eight bear awareness training sessions reaching approximately 250 individuals in the Selkirks, distributing a free can of bear spray to attendees.

Purchasing five food storage lockers for campgrounds in the Colville National Forest.

Assisting with fully fencing the Usk Waste Transfer Station.

Hosting nearly a dozen PlaySmart presentations in Western Washington (includes Hikes, Bears, and Brews).

Defenders is dedicated to grizzly bear recovery in the lower 48 states. Our investments are paying off, but there is still so much work to do. Our job is far from over, and it will continue to take hard work, funding, and cooperation to ensure the vision of a resilient, interconnected grizzly bear population in the future. We want to thank all our many supporters and partners -grizzly bears would not be where they are today without an enormous amount of effort by all involved.

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Welcome to the Year of Coexistence

I’ve spent my career — actually most of my life — advocating for and practicing wildlife conservation. In that time, I’ve seen remarkable progress. We still have a long way to go, but one of the highlights of my journey has been watching the evolution of human-wildlife coexistence.

Too many species were completely eradicated or pushed to the brink of extinction for numerous reasons, including intolerance, habitat destruction, overhunting, and a lack of understanding of our impact on ecosystems. Luckily, we realized that so goes nature, so goes us, and we passed landmark conservation laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We began captive breeding programs, expanded research initiatives, and started reintroducing animals to their native habitats — wolves, California condors, black-footed ferrets, and whooping cranes are now on the path to recovery. But just as importantly, we have also started to change our attitudes and approaches toward living with wildlife.

Simply put — coexistence is helping people share the landscape with wildlife and using innovative tools to reduce the conflicts that often occur with wildlife in their natural habitats. Defenders has been at the forefront of these efforts for decades, and we have pioneered transformational approaches and tools that successfully build social acceptance for wildlife in communities from Alaska to Florida to the desert southwest to northern Rockies and numerous places in between.

With all the challenges for wildlife these days — habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, overhunting, etc. — it’s important that we take the time to focus on the positive impact of our work and the valuable partnerships we have with some amazing people. We are working hard to protect and to celebrate valued partnerships we’ve developed, and to honor our incredible wildlife, Defenders has declared this the Year of Coexistence. Over the course of the coming year, we’ll highlight how far we’ve come and the innovative ways that people are sharing the landscape with wildlife. Throughout this Year of Coexistence, we’ll be discussing living with wolves, bears, and panthers, as well as bats, tortoises, ferrets, bison, and orcas. We’ll also feature some of our partners who recognize the importance of working together to save wildlife.

Coexistence takes on many forms depending on the species of wildlife, where they live, and how people are also using the landscape. For example,

Proactive non-lethal management interventions, like turbo-fladry, range riders, electric fencing, and livestock guardian dogs, can reduce carnivore depredation on livestock;

Infrastructure improvements such as wildlife crossings over or under roads and highways are proven to reduce vehicle collisions and increase habitat connectivity;

Education programs like our newly launched Orcas Love Raingardens initiative increase awareness of the impact of our society on wildlife while making the environment healthier for all;

Financial incentives, like livestock loss compensation and ecotourism, increase people’s social acceptance of wildlife; and

Selecting “Smart from the Start” renewable energy site locations can minimize negative impacts on wildlife and their habitat while helping to fight climate change and keep our world green.

Top row – Deterrents like fladry and livestock guardian dogs;  Middle row – infrastructure improvements like an overpass in Colorado and a salamander underpass in California; Bottom row – raingarden installation in Tacoma, Washington

I am incredibly proud of the milestones that Defenders has achieved over the past 35 years:

1984 — Defenders secured congressional and state funding for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to expand a livestock guardian dog pilot program to test their effectiveness deterring coyotes in Oregon and Texas and wolves in Minnesota.

1987 — Defenders established the Defenders of Wildlife Wolf Compensation Trust (renamed in 2000 as the Bailey Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust) and made the first livestock depredation compensation payment for wolves in Montana.

1993 — Defenders opened its Florida office to begin work on Florida black bear coexistence.

1995 — Defenders’ compensation program, expanded in the early 1990’s, helps le ad to the successful reintroduction of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park.

1998 — Defenders established the Bailey Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund to train ranchers on using nonlethal interventions to protect livestock from wolves, grizzly bears and other predators in the northern Rockies.

2004 — Defenders launched its Florida panther coexistence program to reduce depredations on livestock and pets.

2007 — Defenders began its livestock enclosure program to reduce Florida panther depredation on domestic animals.

2008 — Defenders launched the Wood River Wolf Project in Idaho to reduce wolf depredations on sheep.

2010 — Defenders introduced the Electric Fence Incentive Program as an effective way to prevent conflicts between grizzly bears and landowners.

2017 — Defenders started its Orcas Love Raingardens program to promote raingardens at public schools and parks, mitigate stormwater pollution, and protect orcas in the Salish Sea.

We have learned so much over the past 35 years; we believe strongly in coexistence and we won’t give up. Sometimes while we are working to protect wildlife and respect peoples’ livelihoods, priorities conflict. Habitat protection, innovative technology, targeted legislation, and education of corporations, community members, and governments are all important as we work tirelessly to change negative attitudes towards wildlife and demonstrate the relatively simple fixes that allow humans and wildlife to share the landscape.

  I am proud to lead Defenders as we are a driving force for coexistence efforts around the country and we look forward to sharing our successes with you throughout the year. Defenders is fully committed to reducing the conflict between humans and wildlife. Coexistence starts with us — the people in that equation. We all have a stewardship responsibility to ensure plentiful wildlife by working to sustain natural ecosystems, protect essential wildlife habitat and restore populations of imperiled species. Defenders’ passionate members and supporters are an integral part of our team, and we wouldn’t succeed without your support.

Stay tuned throughout the year for more about all of our coexistence work! Follow us at #YearOfCoexistence

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2018 in Review

This year has certainly been a whirlwind one for wildlife conservation. We’ve had our hands full fighting threats to wildlife, habitat, landmark conservation laws, and climate policies. But we’ve had a major positive impact, and we wanted to highlight 18 of our biggest accomplishments this year!

1. We achieved a crucial legal victory this fall when a federal judge ruled in our favor, holding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) accountable for its attempts to undermine red wolf recovery. Defenders generated more than 37,000 public comments and won the support of North Carolina’s governor for red wolf recovery in the state, helping to secure our legal victory.

2. We launched a new campaign to help address storm-water runoff, the biggest source of toxics that impact southern resident orcas in Puget Sound — a critically imperiled species. Our Orcas Love Raingardens campaign highlights the link between southern resident orcas and toxic water pollution. It prioritizes opportunities for schools, parks and neighborhoods in Washington state to install more raingardens throughout the community to directly combat the storm-water runoff problem.

3. Defenders helped fund new research on mapping polar bear maternal dens in the western Arctic using unmanned aerial vehicles. We produced a video detailing this exciting new tool, which FWS has adopted for its use. This critical research aims both to identify polar bear winter dens to keep people, ice roads, and other development a safe distance away and to improve our understanding of female polar bear den fidelity and how climate change affects den locations.

4. Defenders is partnering with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Blackfeet Nation on an exciting new wild bison restoration effort. In 2016, 87 genetically pure bison from Canada’s Elk Island National Park were transported to the Blackfeet Reservation to begin the effort, but theyhave been kept in a very small pasture awaiting a permanent home. This year, we successfully acquired the first-year lease of a private ranch in a key location to provide the new home for this small herd.

5. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced the addition of our Southeastern Hellbender Conservation Initiative to its Working Lands for Wildlife partnership. This initiative is a collaboration led by Defenders to support farmers using conservation practices on their lands that help restore hellbender habitat.

6. We completed the fourth year of our Wolverine Watchers project, a highly popular community science forest carnivore monitoring effort on the rugged Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) in Montana. Nearly 140 volunteer scientists assisted with every aspect of the monitoring effort and documented the presence of 29 different species. Volunteers recorded seven individual wolverines at 14 monitoring stations and, for the first time, wolverine kits!

7. In response to two of Defenders’ listing petitions, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the oceanic whitetip shark and the giant manta ray as threatened under the ESA. Now we can be sure that these species get the protections they need to begin recovering.

8. We released 27 scarlet macaws in the Biosphere Reserve of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico in August. This was our seventh scarlet macaw release there, and the birds reintroduced this summer will join 130 already in the wild. Through this series of reintroductions, we’ve established what is now the second largest wild population of scarlet macaws in Mexico, where they are highly imperiled. These reintroductions have brought scarlet macaws back from the brink of extinction, and the birds are forming breeding pairs and nesting in both natural nests and artificial ones partially funded by Defenders.

9. Following formal objections filed by Defenders and others, the Forest Service dramatically reduced the size of a proposed old-growth timber sale on Wrangell Island in the Tongass National Forest by about 90%, protecting thousands of acres of habitat for wildlife like Alexander Archipelago wolves, northern goshawks and brown and black bears.

10. Defenders opened our first-ever office in Texas to address critical threats to species and habitats in the Lone Star state. Texas supports some of the largest number of threatened and endangered species in the country, including the Houston toad, lesser prairie chicken, Gulf Coast jaguarundi, dunes sagebrush lizard, Mexican long-nosed bat, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and ocelot. So far, our work is focusing on significant threats posed by the proposed border wall, efforts to stop three proposed liquid natural gas export facilities that could block ocelot movement between the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Brownsville and five habitats in Mexico, and building collaborative relationships with private land owners, state and federal agencies, conservation organizations and other groups with shared interests in biodiversity.

11. Defenders developed a comprehensive new report, In the Shadow of the Wall, to illustrate the damage a border wall would have on wildlife and habitats along the southern border area. The report focuses on key species such as jaguars, ocelots, Mexican gray wolves, California condors, Sonoran pronghorn, and other threatened and endangered species. Over 2,500 scientists from 43 countries have endorsed the article.

Scientists’ Call to Action: The U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Threatens Biodiversity and Binational… Join us in expressing unified concern over the U.S.-Mexico border wall’s negative impacts on biodiversity and…defenders.org

12. We continued to advance climate change adaptation planning for wildlife on public lands with stakeholders in the U.S. and at international conferences and meetings across the country — even as the Trump administration has abdicated our country’s leadership on this seminal issue. Our plenary presentation at the Everglades Coalition conference in January explored the effects of hurricanes on key habitats, the role that ecosystems serve in mitigating storm damage to human communities, and ways that managers can help improve the resilience of natural areas.

13. Defenders developed, prioritized and deployed recommendations for strengthening conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill, the largest source of funding for species conservation on private lands nationwide. We spent months analyzing, advocating and improving upon dozens of provisions in both the House of Representatives and Senate versions of the bill, with the goal of producing final legislation that works for both people and wildlife.

14. We successfully led Capitol Hill and grassroots advocacy efforts to stop scores of direct attacks to undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We played a leading advocacy role in helping to stop enactment of over 110 bills, riders and amendments damaging to the ESA. We also helped to achieve major victories for the ESA, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and national forests in the final Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus spending bill, which had the potential to be a disaster for wildlife.

15. Defenders’ President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark and other Defenders spokespersons helped focus remarkable attention in the national press against a damaging proposal by the Trump administration to rewrite the regulations implementing the ESA. We drafted detailed comments and coordinated weekly discussions with over 25 organizations to raise the public visibility of the proposals and helped generate 800,000 public comments in opposition.

16. In August, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled for Defenders and our partners in our challenge to the Trump administration’s suspension of the Obama administration’s Clean Water Rule. The Clean Water Rule protects the drinking sources of nearly a third of the U.S. population under the Clean Water Act, including many seasonal streams and wetlands. The court’s ruling reinstated the Clean Water rule nationwide except in 24 states where it had previously been overruled.

17. Defenders published the first comprehensive overview of the status of ESA recovery planning in the leading journal Conservation Letters. Our research shows that a quarter of listed species lack recovery plans, half of all plans are over 22 years old and there is extensive variation between agencies and regions in how plans are implemented. Our research provides key evidence that major improvements are needed for recovery planning. This research is closely related to our ongoing work to develop web-based ESA recovery plans, which can help alleviate challenges faced by recovering and imperiled species.

18. Working with partners, we launched a major new project in New York aimed at increasing the pace of solar energy development on Long Island by identifying low-impact sites for generation based on local zoning and other laws, solar insolence and land protection priorities. The project will also conduct social science research in communities to understand residents’ perceptions of solar energy generation, and to identify and address barriers to development. We believe that if we can find room for solar energy facilities on a landscape as crowded as Long Island, we can export that model to innumerable other places in the country.

Thank you for helping us create a better world for wildlife in 2018. May 2019 bring you and your families health and happiness, and bring a more peaceful and protected world for wildlife.

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The Nightmare on Constitution Avenue

https://defendersblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Nightmare-Halloween-Final-Social.mp4

The Tongass Chainsaw Massacre. The Coal Pit and the Pendulum. The Haunting of Capitol Hill House. No matter what order you rank some of the scariest stories of all time, there’s a new horror story developing in town that deserves a place among the greats. The Nightmare on Constitution Avenue is as revolting as it is shocking…and the scariest part is that it’s based on a true story. Grab your backwards ranger hat and saddle up for one of the most frightening rides of your life.

(Photo Courtesy of the Department of the Interior)

The Nightmare on Constitution Avenue starts out much like any chilling film, with everything rosy and hopeful. Endangered species are making a comeback. One of the world’s largest protected areas has been expanded and is now the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S. flag.

But in rides Ryan Zinke. This Secretary of the Interior claims to be the second coming of Teddy Roosevelt, who must be rolling in his grave. Secretary Zinke forms an International Wildlife Conservation Council, with a focus only on hunting, that meets in the black swamp. He redecorates the Department’s Headquarters with taxidermied heads and begins slashing regulations left and right, while eliminating obstacles for his those who seek to destroy the most vulnerable wildlife and wild lands.

(Via Secretary Zinke, Twitter)

While flying his pirate flag, he unleashes vampires to suck the oil and gas from under public lands and waters and digs graves for imperiled species. His extinction plan guts the nature you hold dear.

Secretary Zinke wins “least recognizable” for his portrayal of the rough rider, without the mustache or the conservation chops.

He’s haunted by the ghosts of climate change language he carved from official reports and butchering the Endangered Species Act seems to be one of Secretary Zinke’s favorite pastimes. Will the bogeyman ultimately be undone by his own hubris?

Sit back and watch this horror unfold or take action to stop this madness! And donate to support our work as we battle this nightmare on all fronts.

AMERICA’S WILD ANIMALS ARE COUNTING ON YOU Help Defenders of Wildlife save endangered and imperiled species and the habitat they need to survive with a…dfnd.us

Happy Halloween!

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Tossing Aside the Nation’s Fundamental Laws Threatens Borderlands Wildlife

The Trump administration has no shame — or respect for the law — when it comes to our border.

After waiving public health, safety, and religious protections, and a slate of environmental laws in California and New Mexico to build new border wall, the administration is now targeting southeastern Texas. The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that it will waive 28 federal statutes in the Rio Grande Valley in an effort to accelerate construction of new wall segments along our southern border.

The administration’s latest order to sweep aside our country’s most fundamental conservation and wildlife protections, including the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act, would force wall construction through essential wildlife habitat in Hidalgo and Cameron counties. Waiving these laws will prevent robust, science-based analysis of the environmental impacts of wall construction on imperiled species and public lands, and bar the public from providing input on construction proposals — including people living on the border whose lives would be directly affected.

More than 24 miles of new wall are proposed for the Rio Grande Valley, including segments that will effectively sever and wall off parcels of Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, as well as Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, the National Butterfly Center, and the La Lomita Chapel in Mission, Texas. The impermeable barrier would also slice through family farms and other private properties.

The newly waived wall segments would irreparably damage the national wildlife refuge, effectively sealing off vital habitat from the United States and fragmenting the wildlife corridor along the river. Not only would this reckless proposal bisect, degrade and destroy important habitat, but it would block wildlife migration routes, prevent genetic exchange between species populations, and exacerbate flooding, trapping animals behind the wall to drown or starve during flood events.

Known as the “wildlife corridor,” Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge conserves a crucial east-west corridor along 275 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico into the interior, sustaining world class biodiversity in the region. The refuge is comprised of more than 100 parcels of public lands connecting otherwise isolated state parks, private conservation properties, federal lands and other land ownerships. Located at an ecological crossroads where subtropical, temperate, coastal and desert systems converge, and at the confluence of the Mississippi and Central flyways, the refuge supports more than 500 bird species, 300 butterfly species, 775 plant species and provides habitat for at least 15 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, including the highly imperiled ocelot and jaguarundi.

Over nearly 40 years, taxpayers have spent more than $75 million to acquire habitat for Lower Rio Grande Valley Refuge, and millions more to support regional habitat connectivity. Border wall construction through this corridor will waste that investment and threaten the ecotourism and recreation revenue streams that flow through the region thanks to its biodiversity.

Defenders has combined forces with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Animal Legal Defense Fund to challenge these waivers in court. Please join us in protecting our borderlands and the wildlife that depend on them by submitting your comment to U.S. Customs and Border Protection opposing this needless, wasteful, illegal and damaging border wall.

Take action: https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3388&s_src=3WDW1900PMX5X&s_subsrc=medium-borderwall

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Death by One Thousand Cuts: How the Trump Administration Is Using Rulemaking to Kill the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been remarkably successful in preventing the extinction of species. Only one percent of the more than 1,800 species listed in the United States as endangered or threatened have been declared extinct after receiving the protections of the Act and many speciesare on the path to recovery. But despite significant efforts to prevent extinction, the loss of biodiversity, driven largely by habitat degradation and destruction, remains a rapidly growing crisis. Indeed, with climate change exacerbating biodiversity loss, scientists estimate that by 2050, 10 percent of all terrestrial species will be “committed to extinction.”

If we are to avert what scientists call the “Sixth Extinction” we should strengthen the laws and policies, like the ESA, that protect imperiled species and their habitat. But the Trump administration is proposing just the opposite. In three separate notices totaling more than 100 pages, the administration is proposing fundamental changes to the way the ESA is implemented.

Remarkably, not one of these proposals would improve species conservation. Instead, their “reforms” would undermine policies affecting the listing and delisting of species, the designation of critical habitat, the protections afforded threatened species, and the scope of consultations to avoid jeopardizing species and their habitats.

Most concerning, the proposal would open the door to consideration of economic issues in listing species. Whether a species is endangered or threatened is a scientific question not an economic one. The ESA is a flexible law and it allows for consideration of costs in designating critical habitat and developing recovery plans, but economics should play no role in determining a species’ biological status. Injecting cost considerations in the listing process could sap agency resources, make listing decisions more contentious, and delay protections for species that need them.

The administration is also proposing to eliminate a longstanding rule that automatically applied the same protections to threatened species as endangered species, unless the Fish and Wildlife Service develops a species-specific rule under Section 4(d) of the Act. Eliminating this “blanket 4(d) rule” changes the default from full protection to no protection. With limited funding and constant political pressure not to regulate, the Service will have a harder time ensuring the conservation of threatened species.

When Congress passed the ESA it was acutely aware that stemming the loss of biodiversity required more than protecting individual animals and plants: it also required protecting habitat from destruction or adverse modification. Of the many threats to America’s wildlife heritage, Congress recognized that the “most significant has proven also to be the most difficult to control: the destruction of critical habitat.” H.R. Rep. №93–412, at 4 (1973). Nonetheless, the Trump administration is proposing a number of changes to the Act’s critical habitat provisions — none of them good.

One change would require that destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat be considered “as a whole.” Critical habitat is already defined as the areas “essential to the conservation of the species.” If that is the case, loss of any portion could impact the species’ recovery. In practice, the Service often approves alterations to designated critical habitat, but this regulation would explicitly authorize the piecemeal destruction of essential habitat leading to “death by one thousand cuts.”

The regulation would also make it more difficult to designate unoccupied critical habitat, areas where the species does not currently reside but which scientists believe are nonetheless essential to the conservation of the species. These could include intact areas of historic habitat, degraded habitats that are capable of restoration, or other areas that provide important benefits to the species. The proposal — which takes aim at the designation of unoccupied habitat for the dusky gopher frog (which the Supreme Court will consider in October) — would do nothing to conserve species and could in fact confine numerous species, like the frog, that lack sufficient occupied habitat to extinction.

In today’s polarized political environment, it’s hard to imagine we once had a national consensus on environmental protection. The ESA passed the Senate 92–0 and the House 355–4. It was signed into law by Richard Nixon, a Republican president who said, “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” The Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act were all approved by wide margins.

But President Trump is no Nixon. This administration has targeted the EPA, our public lands, and our coasts at the behest of special interests. Now they are setting their sights on the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration’s “reforms” undermine America’s sacred commitment to preserving its biodiversity heritage.

Join Americans across the country in supporting a strong Endangered Species Act and submit your comment:

Help Save the Endangered Species Act! Tell Trump Administration to keep its hands off our wildlife! Leave endangered species conservation up to science, not…dfnd.us

*Originally published August 1, 2018 on the blog of the American Constitution Society

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Our Blue Planet

“My ocean.” That’s what one of my professors from college had on his license plate. That’s what he taught; that even in the middle of upstate New York, even in Kansas and Germany and Paraguay and Chad, people should care about the ocean. It’s your ocean. You have the power to keep it clean and protect its wildlife.

Maybe you are lucky enough to visit your local aquarium, go snorkeling or scuba diving near a barrier reef, or have a house by the beach. But do you think of the ocean as your ocean?

Long Beach Island is like a second home to me, and I frequently think of that stretch of barrier island as my own. It’s where I fell in love with the ocean; walking in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, seeing osprey hunting in the ocean, watching pelicans dive for fish, swimming among cownose rays, and cheering for dolphins riding the waves. As I got older, I had marine experiences around the world, expanding my horizons, both literally and figuratively, and I began to think of the ocean as my ocean.

I spent an entire summer in Hawai`i working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), swimming with more turtles than I could count, learning to identify more fish (with the craziest names) than I could imagine, and working to promote marine science that is having an impact on ocean conservation. I also went to Belize on another whirlwind marine adventure. I was on Glover’s Reef with a group of volunteers assisting in shark and stingray research and for a week we went out on the water every day to hand-line for bait and ultimately find and tag sharks. The volunteers came from all walks of life and we snorkeled, marveled at the diversity in the patch reefs, and were fascinated watching reef sharks hunt stingrays from the tops of reefs.

No matter where I travel, one thing remains the same— our oceans are in trouble.

Hawaiian monk seal mom and pup (left) and Hawaiian green sea turtle (right) — both species affected by marine debris and entanglements.

Marine debris is one of the major threats to our oceans, and it ends up in places where there aren’t even any people. Take the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The islands act like a comb in the middle of the ocean currents circulating in the Pacific, just raking and catching all of the plastic, glass, rubber, and random items that end up in the ocean. NOAA sends teams to these uninhabited places to remove all of the traces of human garbage they can find, but more always finds its way to the shore, and birds, marine mammals, turtles, and fish are injured, often to the point of death, after ingesting plastic or becoming entangled in (often derelict) fishing gear.

Entanglement in fishing gear poses the deadliest threat to the North Atlantic right whales’ survival. With fewer than 450 left in the ocean, and no known calves born this year, these whales are in an increasingly tough spot.Defenders is a long-time member of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, and we are working to prevent entanglements by pressuring the National Marine Fisheries Service to implement effective and innovative solutions.

Marine debris and entanglements are only two of the problems facing marine species. Shark finning is another deadly threat to the inhabitants of the ocean. It involves catching sharks, hacking off their fins and tails — usually while they are still alive — and throwing them back in the water. Unable to swim, the sharks then bleed to death, starve or drown. Every year, 73 million sharks are killed for their fins in the gruesome practice. The popularity of shark fin soup as a delicacy has led to the mass slaughtering of many different species of sharks and stingrays. Defenders advocates all over the world for conservation measures protecting these great ocean predators. At the Conference of the Parties to the Conference of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP12) in Manila, Philippines, we had a major success in securing protections for migratory sharks and rays!

Glover’s Reef Atoll, Belize

I do think of the ocean as my ocean. I think of the ocean as our ocean. And our ocean is in trouble. It is part of my duty, our duty, to protect it and the lives that rely on it. Just as looking to the end of the ocean is impossible, knowing where I will end up throughout my life is not predictable. What I do know is that I will fight for my ocean, your ocean, and our ocean. I will fight to protect everything the ocean represents to me, my childhood and my experiences in the great outdoors, and all of the life that lives in the sea.

You can help us turn the tide for the ocean. Even small changes, like refusing to use a plastic straw or keeping a reusable bag with you, can add up and make a difference for marine wildlife. I will be marching on Saturday, March 9th, in the inaugural March for the Ocean, alongside my fellow Defenders and ocean legends like Dr. Sylvia Earle, Philippe and Ashlan Cousteau, Carl Safina, and Danni Washington. I hope that you will join us!

The March for the Ocean is about the survival of our blue planet. But it’s also about the fact that it’s not too late to turn the tide — to restore and protect what we love. March for the Ocean — for water — for our future and say NO to offshore oil testing, leasing, drilling and spilling; YES to corporate accountability for plastic pollution; NO to plastic and other forms of ocean pollution; YES to protecting our coastal communities; and YES to a healthy ocean and clean water for all — not least of which are all of the incredible species that call the ocean home.

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The Red Wolf of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

For every endangered species, the road to recovery is anything but straightforward. On paper, it may seem black and white, but in reality, it’s not just a matter of numbers or years—it’s a matter of modest successes, small setbacks, hard-earned lessons, and, above all, unwavering commitment. Few species better embody this long road to recovery than the world’s most endangered canine: the red wolf. This essay explores the history of the red wolf and its remarkable return to the wilds of the Southeastern United States.

1600s to 1960s: Persecution

The red wolf was one of the first animals to suffer at the hands of European settlers. Armed with an anti-wolf fervor bordering on the religious, colonizers set about cleansing the land of fur and fang, with devastating efficiency.

Despite posing little threat to people or livestock, the red wolf was poisoned, bombed with dynamite, tortured, and shot in an extermination campaign that lasted centuries. As of the early 1900s, the species had been lost throughout virtually its entire historical range, which once extended from South Florida, onto the edge of the Great Plains, and up into the Ohio River valley.

1970s: On the Brink of Extinction

In 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted with bipartisan support, and the red wolf was included as one of the first listed species. But by that time, the South’s native wolf had become a phantom. The few survivors could only be found in the swampy, inhospitable borderlands of Louisiana and Texas. After conducting a thorough search, led by Curtis Carley, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) quickly realized that the red wolf was not only scarce, but on the verge of disappearing forever. In a last-ditch effort, Carley captured the remaining wolves — a mere 14 individuals — and removed them to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium to jumpstart a captive breeding population.

Aerial view of the 12 100×100 foot captive breeding pens contracted to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (1978)

Carley’s bold move ultimately saved the species and put it on the long, winding road to recovery. Various additional zoos stepped forward and the captive stock quickly grew.

After stabilizing the breeding population, FWS quickly set its sights on returning the red wolf to the wild, among the pine forests and swamps of the Southeastern coastal plain.

The first step was to determine where and how they could do so.

Bulls Island, located within the heart of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina, provided the perfect opportunity. The island’s small size, as well as its prey density and forest cover, allowed FWS to test their assumptions about an animal few scientists had seen in the wild. The eager support of the South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department also helped.

In 1976, two wolves were released among the live oaks and pines of the island.

Unfortunately, the female died shortly after of health complications.

FWS was undeterred. After fine-tuning their approach, a second pair was released in 1978. “John” and “Judy” successfully avoided the complications that plagued the first wolf pair. They regularly fed upon deer, birds, and rodents, slept within sand dunes, and endured a series of storms that devastated the coast. Their acclimation eventually confirmed what FWS had hoped: the red wolf could be successfully returned to the wild.

John and Judy, the second pair of breeding wolves that were released on Bulls Island, part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (top) and a crowd of reporters observes as preparations are made to release John and Judy (bottom).

Curtis Carley tracking red wolves on Bulls Island (1976) (top) and John shortly before he was sedated with a tranquilizer dart (bottom).

1980 to 1990s: Decades of Innovation

The success on Bulls Island eventually set the stage for a larger-scale reintroduction.

Shortly after “John” and “Judy” established themselves, FWS went about identifying potential sites. Agency leaders initially targeted The Land Between the Lakes (LBL) on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. There, however, FWS encountered local, anti-government opposition. Some people resented the establishment of LBL and viewed the red wolf as another form of “federal overreach.”

FWS promptly scrapped the location.

Fortunately, around that time, Prudential Insurance donated a large chunk of land in Eastern North Carolina that would become the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge’s peninsular location caught the eye of FWS. They also found that it had a manageable social climate — locals were neither for nor wholly against the red wolf.

It was within this social context that the first female, “Brindled Hope”, and seven other wolves were released in 1987. That reintroduction marked a global first — aside from the Bulls Island release, no carnivore had ever been reintroduced to the wild. With an abundance of white-tailed deer, raccoon, and rodents to feed upon, they quickly filled the void left by their ancestors and set the stage for what would become a first-of-its-kind success.

“When we first started working with this wolf, he was 99 miles down a 100-mile-long road to extinction. We now have him identified, and we feel we have him turned around the other way. It will be a long uphill push to save him.; I don’t know if we can do it. If we decide that it is feasible, we need you to help pull; we sure are going to push. -Curtis Carley, first FWS red wolf recovery project field coordinator, at a public presentation in 1977

On the heels of this achievement, FWS set about establishing a second population in Great Smoky Mountains National Park five years later.

Unlike the coastal plain, though, the mountains posed several unforeseen biological challenges. For one, parvovirus struck with devastating impacts. The wolves also had difficulty obtaining meals. Individuals regularly left the confines of the park for lower-elevation valleys, where deer were more abundant.

These challenges impeded population growth and, by 1998, FWS had decided to shutter the program in the Smokies. Although classified as a setback, this reintroduction attempt nonetheless provided invaluable insights into the ecology of the red wolf.

Red wolves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We now know that the red wolf best thrives in flat, open terrain. The steep, rugged smoky mountains pose difficulties for pack hunting. The red wolf seems to prefer more open spaces near forested edges that offer plenty of space to hunt, cover to hide, as well as ample prey in the form of white-tailed deer.

We’ve also learned more about hybridization, or interbreeding, with their canine cousins, the coyote.

When Carley set out to save the last swamp-dwelling red wolves decades ago, he found that many had already paired with coyotes. His team caught nearly 400 canids. The 14 founder animals were the only non-hybridized individuals remaining believed to be pure red wolves.

Since then, studies have shown that hybridization occurs as a last resort. Red wolves do not prefer pairing with their ancestral cousin. Rather, hybridization events typically occur after a wolf family has been torn apart — in most cases, after a breeding wolf is shot. When red wolves are in healthy, stable family units, they will either kill or exclude coyotes from their territories. Hybridization management, therefore, is dependent upon managing poaching and human-caused mortality.

2000s: A Story of Hope

Armed with these lessons, FWS eventually accomplished what many once thought impossible. By the mid-2000s, the North Carolina population had swelled to over 150 animals, with another 200 in captivity. At that point, FWS comfortably called the program “remarkably successful,” with the red wolf poised for long-term recovery. It was hoped that the “core” population would expand its range beyond the five-county recovery area and down the coastal plain of the Carolinas. Various potential reintroduction sites, including Croatan National Forest in Southeast North Carolina, were also discussed but never solidified. The North Carolina reintroduction celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2007.

“In working with endangered species, I cannot overstate the importance of not being afraid to try” -Curtis Carley

2010s: The Darkest Years

Tragically, the red wolf would face its greatest challenges in the years to come.

A key moment occurred when the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) voted to allow the nighttime hunting of coyotes in the Red Wolf Recovery Area. Because red wolves are regularly shot as a result of mistaken identity, conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife, intervened in court. A settlement was eventually reached in 2014 that allowed coyote hunting during the day, with a permit — a seemingly win-win compromise.

This settlement, however, had the effect of inflaming the territorial Commission. They subsequently revoked their cooperation and called for the extinction of the red wolf in the wild. The state’s “leadership” also inspired Senator Thom Tillis and two influential anti-wolf landowners to rally against FWS.

In response to this pressure, FWS administrators in Atlanta made a series of disastrous decisions that continue to the haunt the recovery effort to this day.

The recovery biologists were stripped of management control. Releases, pup fostering, and collaring were all halted.

A handful of landowners were permitted to kill non-problem wolves.

The lead anti-wolf landowner was appointed a seat on the Red Wolf Recovery Team — a panel that Defenders of Wildlife stepped down from in protest.

Red wolves were arbitrarily removed from private lands.

The recovery coordinator was “reassigned.”

And there was a massive uptick in poaching that went unaddressed.

As a result of this mismanagement, nearly 75 wolves died in just three years. But even those decisions pale in comparison to what followed.

In 2016, on the eve of the reintroduction’s 30th anniversary, FWS stunned the conservation world. Rather than recommitting to the species, FWS instead announced its intention to shrink the Red Wolf Recovery Area by about 90% and force most of the last wolves into zoos. According to scientists, this could result in the extinction of the red wolf in the wild in less than a decade.

Future: Recommitment

FWS is expected to make a final decision in the Summer of 2018.

If one thing is for sure, the red wolf has repeatedly dodged the chomping jaws of extinction.

Early skeptics initially thought the species was a hopeless, lost cause: a waste of resources. Fast forward 20-odd years, and virtually all involved felt that the red wolf was, in fact, a cause for hope. FWS showed the world that, even under the direst of circumstances, we could turn things around.

Although today’s outlook may seem bleak, Defenders of Wildlife is confident that we will again right the ship.

In the coming years, we will continue to devote substantial resources to revitalizing the recovery effort. We hope to work with FWS in stabilizing the North Carolina population, and encourage the establishment of additional populations elsewhere. Through more consistent, on-the-ground education, we plan to address landowner concerns and dispel popular myths. We also intend to positively influence and cooperate with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, so that the needs of both game and non-game species are addressed.

Above all, we are going to fight to keep the red wolf in the wild. Because we believe the red wolf is not just an animal of fur and bones, but a sense of place. It is the pine forests in which it dens; the white-tailed deer upon which it feeds; and the night sky into which it howls. Early FWS leaders recognized as much and it’s time for them to do so again.

To help realize our vision, contact FWS Acting Regional Director, Mike Oetker, and encourage him to recommit to the species. North Carolinians must also demand better from the director of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Gordon Myers. Tell him that 98.6% of the comments received from NC during the latest public comment period supported the red wolf and that the Commission’s anti-wolf stance is out of touch with the wishes of North Carolinians.

Together, we can write the next chapter in the red wolf’s story.

Mike Oetker: 404–679–4000; michael_oetker@fws.gov

Gordon Myers: 919–707–0151; gordon.myers@ncwildlife.org

The red wolf saved, America’s triumph; the red wolf lost, America’s shame -Edward O. Wilson

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Endangered Species Day

It’s Endangered Species Day! A day that is both somber and, at the same time, celebratory.

Defenders has a long history (71 years!) of protecting North America’s native wildlife. Founded in 1947, Defenders has been focused solely on wildlife and habitat conservation and the safeguarding of biodiversity from the beginning. We believe in the inherent value of wildlife and the natural world, and we transform policies and institutions and promote innovative solutions to ensure wildlife is protected.

But in the last hundred years, North America has said goodbye to many species due to human activity.

The sea mink, which lived along the east coast of North America (most likely in New England), was hunted to extinction in the late 19th or early 20th century by fur traders. The Caribbean monk seal, last seen in the 1950s because of hunting and overfishing of its food sources, was officially declared extinct in 2008. After habitat modification and non-native species moved into its area of the Mojave Desert, the Tecopa pupfish was pushed to extinction in about 1970. Perhaps most famous (and controversial), is the ivory-billed woodpecker. Habitat destruction played a major role in its demise in forests of the Southeast, and there have been no confirmed sightings since the 1940s.

Many times, the last individual becomes famous, and the world publicly mourns when it passes.

Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died in September of 1914. Lonesome George, a male Pinta Island tortoise, passed away in June of 2012, after unsuccessful mating attempts with females of related subspecies of tortoise. Toughie, likely the world’s last Rabbs’ fringe-limbed treefrog, was found dead in the Atlanta Botanical Garden in September of 2016. And just this past March, Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, was euthanized after suffering from age-related complications.

There are plenty of species with only a few hundred or a few thousand individuals left in the wild. Vaquitas, a small porpoise located only in a small portion of the Gulf of California, may have a population of one dozen. The red wolf, our all-American wolf, has fewer than 40 individuals roaming North Carolina. Southern resident orcas number just 76 in Puget Sound. With a population of fewer than 450, there were no known North Atlantic right whale calves this year.

Will we only take notice when the population gets so low that we bestow upon the last individual a name like Lonesome George?

Extinction is forever, but endangered means we still have time.

This mantra of conservation efforts across the world is the reason we have Endangered Species Day, and why we have hope for these species with limited populations. We have all the tools to bring these species back before they get pushed over the edge. We just have to use them.

In 1941 only 16 whooping cranes were left; as of 2015, there were over 600 due to conservation efforts. The Mexican gray wolf was considered extinct in the wild in the 1980s, but 20 years ago, a handful were released and the population in the wild has grown. In 1995, after decades of habitat destruction and hunting, the population of Florida panthers had dwindled to fewer than 30. But with habitat protection and reintroduction, there are now between 120 and 230 adult panthers in south Florida.

The Endangered Species Act is a major conservation success; it’s our nation’s most effective law for protecting wildlife in danger of extinction. Ninety-nine percent of species listed under the Act have survived, and many are on the path to recovery. The Endangered Species Act allows for flexibility in protecting endangered wildlife and requires that federal, state, tribal, and local officials work together to prevent extinction. Groups like Defenders of Wildlife, and all of the passionate wildlife advocates who support wildlife conservation every day, make a difference by speaking up for the voiceless. Together, we can ensure a future for the wildlife and wild places we all love.

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Poisoned Pollinators Provision

A third of our food is pollinated by birds, bats, and insects. Native pollinators alone provide an estimated $3 billion in crop pollination services to farmers every year. So why is there a damaging attack on pollinators in the Farm Bill?

The 2018 Farm Bill includes a destructive attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would harm important pollinators like bees, butterflies, and bats, as well as other listed species like Pacific salmon and steelhead, orcas, and California condors. With the recovery plans for over 300 endangered species — including important pollinators — citing pesticides as a threat to recovery, we’re calling this controversial legislation the “Poisoned Pollinators Provision.”

Lesser long-nosed bat (delisted 2018)

The Poisoned Pollinators Provision would significantly weaken protections for endangered species provided under Sections 7 and 9 of the ESA. Section 7 of the ESA requires all federal agencies to consult with the expert wildlife agencies — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) — to ensure that their actions do not jeopardize species. In the context of pesticides registrations, the ESA Section 7 interagency consultation process has produced essential on-the-ground protections from pesticides for listed species including Pacific salmon, black-footed ferrets and many others. Section 9 strictly prohibits any person from killing or harming an endangered animal unless they have special permission from the government to do so in a way that minimizes harm to the species. Violating this fundamental protection normally results in a criminal penalty.

Endangered Puerto Rican nightjar (top) and endangered Southwestern willow flycatcher (bottom)

In place of the ESA’s strong measures to protect endangered species under Section 7, the language in the Poisoned Pollinators Provision would allow the EPA to make unilateral, self-interested determinations regarding the impact of pesticides on threatened and endangered species, years after approving their use. And those reviews wouldn’t be required until the 2030s! The new self-consultation procedures would cut the expert federal wildlife agencies out of Section 7 consultations, waive the EPA’s duty to minimize harm to listed species caused by pesticides, and seek to prevent citizens from going to court to protect imperiled species from pesticides. Additionally, the provision would waive Section 9 liability when pesticides kill and harm species, as long as they have been registered under the new procedures of this proposed legislation.

Endangered Karner blue butterfly

The Poisoned Pollinators Provision would mean big trouble for wildlife, endangered species and the ESA itself. It is one of the most sweeping ESA attacks in the law’s nearly 45-year history since Congress has never exempted a single class of federal actions from the requirements of Section 7 or waived Section 9 liability.

For certain species threatened by pesticides like the endangered Karner blue butterfly, the reduced protections proposed by this legislation could mean their extinction. In addition to the outright death of pollinators who come into contact with pesticides, other possible effects include impaired learning, impaired foraging and homing ability, and reduced immune response.

Another category of endangered species that are disproportionately impacted by pesticides are salmonids and other anadromous fish species. According to data from NMFS, between 2000 and 2017, there were at least 40 Section 7 consultations for pesticides involving chinook, chum, coho and sockeye salmon and steelhead trout. Half resulted in jeopardy determinations for multiple salmon species — meaning that the species’ very future would be in danger due to the use of the pesticide. The NMFS data also reveals that the EPA often underestimates the effects of pesticides on species. Allowing the EPA to make its own jeopardy determinations under the Poisoned Pollinators Provision would almost certainly cause more harm to species.

Sockeye salmon

The Poisoned Pollinators Provision is a heavy-handed, shortsighted approach to an issue that is already being addressed administratively. Defenders of Wildlife has made recommendations for how the federal agencies that carry out ESA consultations on pesticides registrations can improve the process for registrants and end-users. The proposed legislation would offer no such improvements and would cause irreversible harm to listed species.

Take Action to Protect Pollinators The incredibly important Farm Bill can be a great tool for promoting wildlife conservation, but right now, Congress is…dfnd.us

The Farm Bill is supposed to support farmers, help feed America and fund important conservation programs that help wildlife and working lands. Instead, the 2018 House Farm Bill has been hijacked to serve the interests of large corporations, including the pesticides industry. The current version of must be opposed until it is stripped of the short-sighted Poisoned Pollinators Provision and others that weaken important environmental protections.

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The Power of BIG Data

Citizen Science Boosts Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Conservation

Happy Citizen Science Day! In celebration of tomorrow’s annual event celebrating citizen science, also known as community science, we’re taking a moment to appreciate the dedicated volunteers who work with Defenders gather data that helps save species. Alaska Director Karla Dutton is partnering with dozens of organizations and hundreds of volunteers to conserve Cook Inlet beluga whales!

© Christopher Garner, Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER)

‘Big data’ is all the rage these days — that is, scientific information collected in massive quantities. But along the shores of Cook Inlet, Alaska, the data we’re collecting is colossal in its own right: in just 1 day, 1200 volunteers recorded 260 sightings of a species weighing 3,000 lbs and growing 15 feet long. The annual Cook Inlet beluga whale survey in Anchorage, Alaska — launched as ‘Belugas Count!’ in 2017 — is making a big splash as it rapidly raises public awareness and enhances the knowledge base.

Although the ‘Belugas Count!’ program is fresh out of water, citizen science projects on Cook Inlet belugas have existed for more than a decade. In 2008, Defenders’ Alaska office partnered with Friends of the Anchorage Coastal Refuge and helped to fund the Anchorage Coastal Beluga Survey (ACBS). The ACBS gathered together dozens of community volunteers to spot whales over eight months each year in a transformative program that channeled the Alaskan community’s universal love for the iconic Cook Inlet beluga into a science-based metric for tracking species trends and behavior. Over a four-year period, community scientists with the ACBS collected 450 observation hours documenting 77 groups and 507 sightings of Cook Inlet belugas, including 31 calves. These data contributed to the development of the Cook Inlet beluga recovery plan by enhancing scientists’ understanding of population health, fecundity (fertility), abundance (population numbers), prey needs and movement patterns.

© Christopher Garner, Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER)

As a key partner in the ACBS, Defenders funded and executed logistics for the Ship Creek survey site, one of several sites along the coastline of Anchorage. I scheduled volunteer shifts, managed data sheets and outfitted our community scientists with equipment for surveying belugas. Each shift received spotting scopes and tripods, which volunteers used to scan for whales at their outlook. Our scientists also received marine binoculars with a reticle rangefinder, which enabled them to calculate the distance to each whale. I equipped them with waterproof data sheets, on which they recorded the number of whales and the whales’ ages, color and behavior. The most important necessity for the project, each volunteer brought for themselves: perseverance, patience and excitement to spot some belugas and contribute to their conservation!

When the ACBS disbanded in 2011, I was worried that the community’s excitement might flounder, along with conservation efforts for the beluga. But in 2017, Defenders joined forces with the National Marine Fisheries Service, state agencies, local and national organizations and hundreds of local residents to redirect community science efforts into a new program called ‘Belugas Count!’. The first event in September 2017 went swimmingly and streamlined attention to endangered Cook Inlet belugas, whose population continues to decline.

Under the watch of our community scientists, who aid agencies in monitoring, research and conservation of the species, I remain hopeful that the population of Cook Inlet belugas will rebound. And we’ll have the ability to contribute vital data to the effort.

Join us and take action!

Save the date for the 2018 Belugas Count! survey on Saturday, September 15, 2018. This event will expand from Anchorage to also include new survey sites along the Kenai Peninsula. More details available here!

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Last Chance for the Vaquita

The world smallest and most endangered porpoise is literally on its last fins. According to the latest population estimate by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) there are fewer than 30 vaquitas left in the Upper Gulf of California, the only place on Earth where they are found.

In 2014, CIRVA estimated that less than 100 vaquitas were left and an all-out effort to save them was started by the Mexican government. In 2015, Mexico decreed a two-year ban on fishing activities throughout the vaquita’s range, and launched a compensation plan for the loss of income to fishermen, estimated at around $50 million dollars each year. The country also increased law enforcement efforts by inspectors from the Environmental Enforcement Agency, Fishery authorities and the Navy using a new fleet of fast patrol boats, and drones for surveillance of the whole Upper Gulf.

However, it didn’t work, and CIRVA’s estimate of 2016 put the vaquita’s numbers at less than 60. Why? The enormous interest in illegal fishing for totoaba bladders for the Chinese markets. Totoaba is an endemic fish native to the Upper Gulf of California — the same waters as the Vaquita. The fish’s bladders are sold in China for over $10,000 dollars a kilo, which means that a fisherman can make more in just a few weeks of illegal fishing than they would fishing legally for the entire year.

So, fishermen couldn’t care less for the compensation plan or the law and kept on going out to illegally fish for totoaba using deadly gill nets. Although Mexico increased patrols and even had the help of vessels from the organization Sea Shepherd, dead vaquitas kept on appearing on the shores.

Vaquita are found only in the uppermost Gulf of California, Mexico (© NOAA Fisheries)

Gillnet exclusion zone designated in the upper Gulf of California (© NOAA Fisheries)

                      In 2017, Mexico tried a plan proposed by experts, which has helped many other critically endangered species in the past, to capture vaquitas and put them in a safe pen near the coast. The idea was to help vaquitas reproduce safely while trying to get the illegal totoaba fishing under control. But alas, the plan didn’t work either; only two vaquitas were caught, a juvenile which had to be let go and an older female which died from heart failure. CIRVA requested the capture plan be scratched given the risk to have more deaths on a dwindling population.

Fortunately, the acoustic monitoring used to locate the vaquitas for capture produced a bonus result in that experts now know where the vaquita’s last stronghold is situated, an area where the last vaquitas are congregating.

With this information, Defenders of Wildlife, along with Greenpeace Mexico and the Mexican NGO Teyeliz, presented a proposal to the Environment Ministry to protect this area, prohibit fishing, restrict navigation, and increase patrolling. The Environment Ministry accepted the proposal and early in February announced the new measures to protect the vaquita.

This could very well be the last chance for the vaquita to be saved and we are all hoping it will do the trick.

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World Wildlife Day

Big Cats: Predators Under Threat

Today is World Wildlife Day! On March 3rd of every year, we celebrate the date that the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wildlife Flora and Fauna (CITES) was signed. This international agreement is the foundation for the regulation of international trade of species.

          As our world is losing biodiversity and humans are steering species toward extinction at unprecedented rates, World Wildlife Day is a chance to celebrate all species and the opportunity we have to work together to protect the ones we have left. This year, the focus of World Wildlife Day is Big Cats: Predators Under Threat. Many big cat populations are declining at alarming rates, with poaching and illegal trade as main culprits. Predators of all species are facing hostility, and a lack of acceptance as we push human civilization further into what is left of pristine habitat across the world. Defenders is working on the ground to promote coexistence, to protect habitat corridors and to advocate for the big cats that call North America home.

The Florida panther is an icon of Florida; the state’s official mammal, it is also one of the most endangered mammals on Earth. Panthers are an umbrella species: Protecting them and the vast, unspoiled, wild territory each one needs to survive — an average of 200 square miles for a single male — protects many other plants and animals that live there. At the top of the food chain, these cats help keep feral hog numbers in check and deer, raccoon and other prey populations balanced and healthy. And there has been good news for the Florida panther! In 2016, two female panthers with kittens and another pair of panthers were spotted north of the Caloosahatchee River, which has been a major impediment to dispersal, and, therefore, expansion of the species. This gives us incredible hope for the species, and we are working hard to further restore this great species to its historic range.

To prevent any conflicts between Florida’s clean energy future and the future of wildlife, Defenders staff is working with the solar industry to ensure that renewable energy plants are compatible with protecting important habitat for the Florida panther, Florida black bear, gopher tortoise and other species. We are also a part of the Florida Panther Recovery Implementation Team, working to reduce panther mortality from vehicle collisions. We helped to develop a Southwest Florida Hotspots map and materials to inform decision making and funding to improve safe passage across high mortality road segments in southwest Florida. We also host outreach events across Florida for citizens to learn more about the past, present, future and biology of the species!

Jaguars have historically ranged from the southwestern U.S., through Central America and into South America as far south as Argentina. However, the estimated 15,000 jaguars left in the wild have been pushed out of more than fifty percent of their range, which is why protecting habitat corridors is so important. Today, there is still habitat in the U.S. and just last year, 760,000 acres were upheld as critical habitat for jaguar in the Southwest!

Despite this habitat, the jaguar’s migration pathways are severely limited by the number of openings in the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and the impending expansion of the border wall. However, migration difficulty is not the biggest problem for the species. The increased trade of jaguar bones and teeth, in response to an increase in the Chinese market for tiger bone substitutes, has posed a significant threat to the species, especially the populations in South America.

Defenders is working with the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance (USWTA) to help combat wildlife trafficking and protect big cats from illegal trade: “Be informed. Buy informed”. The USWTA is a coalition of leading nonprofit organizations and companies that are working together to combat wildlife trafficking by: (1) raising public awareness; (2) reducing consumer demand for wildlife and wildlife products; and (3) mobilizing companies to adopt best practices and help close off wildlife traffickers’ supply chains.

Coexistence is one of the pillars of our work here at Defenders of Wildlife, whether we are talking about polar bears, wolves, salmon, desert tortoise, jaguars or Florida panthers. We are committed to reducing the conflict between humans and wildlife. And coexistence starts with us — the people in that equation. We believe that our human systems need to adapt to accommodate and work with natural ecosystems while we are working towards our conservation goals and increasing populations of endangered species, like these big cats we are celebrating on World Wildlife Day!

Florida panther and jaguar posters can be purchased through TypeHike’s AlphaBeast project. This series pays tribute to the great beasts of our nation who are painfully close to extinction, or have already gone extinct.

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Finding a Solution for Pollution

Last week, Puget Sound got some bad news.

According to the latest State of the Sound, the biennial report that tracks the progress towards recovery, the goal of restoring Puget Sound by 2020 will not be met – not by a long shot. Untreated, polluted stormwater runoff continues to flow into Puget Sound, Chinook salmon runs have not recovered and the highly endangered Southern Resident orcas are slipping closer to extinction. With just 76 individuals, the Southern Resident orca population is the lowest it has been in over 30 years and is one of the most endangered marine mammal populations in the world. The situation is dire, and without immediate action, we stand to lose the most iconic and beloved species that defines Puget Sound and the greater Salish Sea ecosystem.

The Salish Sea Ecosystem

Southern Resident orcas need healthy and abundant Chinook salmon throughout their range. Unlike other orcas that visit the Salish Sea, Southern Residents hunt salmon, not marine mammals. These highly social and intelligent animals evolved to hone in on big, fatty Chinook salmon, and until relatively recently, there was more than enough salmon to go around. The Salish Sea, which includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, used to support millions of spawning Chinook salmon. These salmon runs were the foundation upon which the entire ecosystem was built, and dozens of tribes and First Nations living along the coast also thrived because of the salmon. Sadly, development in floodplains, habitat destruction, dams and other factors slowly caused Chinook salmon runs to collapse. Southern Resident orcas were suddenly left with fewer fish to eat. Today, orcas are starving as they desperately search for food and nourishment.

The collapse of Chinook salmon populations is a story of “a death by 1,000 cuts.” Researchers have identified another factor that further stresses and suppresses Chinook salmon recovery: pollution. Entering the Salish Sea from many different sources, chemicals are toxic to the ecosystem.

Spoiling the Salish Sea

In the water, old, derelict vessels that have been abandoned by their owners can leak out disastrous quantities of oil, lubricant and other harmful substances used to construct the vessel or in the cargo onboard. These chemicals can injure or kill marine mammals, fish, waterfowl and other aquatic life. They contaminate aquatic lands, nearby shorelines and water quality. Creosote treated wood pilings, which used to support old docks and mooring facilities, also taint the Salish Sea. Coal tar creosote, a substance containing up to 10,000 chemicals, was commonly used to protect wooden support structures from decaying in the water. While many of these structures are no longer in use, the creosote pilings that once supported them remain, leaching out highly toxic chemicals that have been shown to be cardiotoxic, deforming developing hearts and inhibiting proper heart contractions in fully formed hearts. Exposure of salmon eggs to low levels of these chemicals causes health problems, including deformities, in developing salmon, meaning fewer adults return to spawn. Juvenile salmon migrating through urban estuaries are exposed to the chemicals released from creosote pilings, resulting in reduced disease resistance and changes in growth and metabolism. 

The largest source of pollution in the Salish Sea is polluted stormwater runoff. Stormwater is rainfall and snowmelt that flow over the landscape, gathering chemicals along the way. In many Western Washington communities, stormwater flows from our roofs and yards, into our streets, and directly into Puget Sound. Other communities send stormwater to treatment plants first, but during times of heavy rain or snow fall, these systems can overflow, releasing the stormwater into the Sound, untreated. While there is much we still don’t fully understand about the effect this chemical mixture has on organisms, it is clearly lethal to salmon. Salmon placed in collected stormwater experience 100 percent mortality within hours. Unlike derelict vessels and creosote pilings, stormwater comes from everywhere, making it a massive and difficult source of pollution to mitigate.

Bioaccumulation

All of this pollution contributes to the degradation of critical salmon habitat and has been shown to impact salmon at almost every stage of their life. The salmon that remain are highly contaminated – the Salish Sea is home to some of the most polluted Chinook salmon on the west coast. These salmon have been found to contain banned toxics like DDT and PCBs, cocaine, synthetic hormones and prescription drugs at dangerously high levels. As Southern Resident orcas consume the few remaining Chinook salmon left in the Salish Sea, they are also consuming all of those pollutants, slowly building up toxics in their bodies through bioaccumulation. The more salmon an orca consumes, the more toxic chemicals it consumes, resulting in a buildup of toxics. Bioaccumulation is particularly harmful for animals with long lifespans, like orcas, that accumulate toxics throughout their life and store them in their fat. At the top of the Salish Sea’s food chain, Southern Resident orcas accumulate incredibly high levels of pollutants. As a result, Southern Resident orcas are considered the most contaminated marine mammals in the world.

The pollution building up in Southern Residents impacts the health of each individual. Several of the chemicals found in orcas have been linked to severe health problems in marine mammals, including reproductive impairments, skeletal abnormalities, immune system disruption, endocrine disruption, liver damage, thyroid dysfunction and certain types of cancers. The problem of toxic contamination in Southern Residents is further exacerbated by the lack of salmon. During lean times, all marine mammals rely on the fat stored in their blubber to give them the energy they need. Sadly, Southern Resident orcas are forced to rely on their blubber all too often. This fat is filled with pollution, and as the whales metabolize their fat reserves, they flood their bodies with these toxics. Even worse, nursing mothers use their toxic fat to make milk for their newborn calves. A recent study showed that the chemical load in a first-time mother orca is extremely high and decreases with each subsequent birth. By the time the whale has a low contamination level, the female may have experienced several births and calf deaths, effectively shortening a female’s reproductive ability by five or more years. In a slow-to-reproduce and already depleted population, this significantly affects the future of Southern Resident orcas.

An Emergency Response

Preventing the extinction of Southern Resident orcas requires an emergency response from us, and action needs to be taken from individual lifestyle changes to greater investments from governments (local, state, and federal). Fortunately, Washington’s Governor, Jay Inslee, has recently called for a response that will require a variety of actions.  And reducing toxic pollution in the Salish Sea should be one of them. By removing sources of pollution, like derelict vessels and creosote pilings, and reducing the amount of stormwater runoff entering the Salish Sea, we can both increase the number of salmon available for orcas and reduce the bioaccumulating toxic chemicals.

We know that our orcas are sick and starving. Defenders know what the problems are, and we know how to solve them. Efforts to clean up the Salish Sea are already underway in Washington, and with bold leadership from Governor Inslee and other leaders throughout the state, we can expedite clean-up efforts and prevent Southern Resident orcas and their salmon prey from disappearing forever.

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