Wolverines jump to the front of the line
Aug 14, 2011
The USFWS has promised to determine by 2013 whether wolverines - in "dire straits" from habitat loss and global warming - deserve full protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Wolverines have long been on the list for potential protection under the Endagered Species Act, with progress. USFWS announced they will finally make a decision by 2013. Photo: Steve Crosio
In July the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it will determine whether wolverines deserve full protection under the Endangered Species Act by the year 2013.
Wolverine populations are at an all time low, and the threat of global warming and habitat degradation puts them at risk for extinction.
The best available data suggests that there are fewer than 300 wolverines across the entire western U.S. and only about 10 percent of the population is successfully breeding.
“The wolverine is in dire straits,” said Dave Werntz with Conservation Northwest. “Its current plight is exactly what Congress had in mind when it passed the Endangered Species Act in order to save America’s wildlife from extinction.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed on a listing determination date of no later than September 30, 2013, putting wolverines near the top of the list of more than 250 other candidate species that may be listed in the next five years.
Conservation Northwest is one of the conservation organizations who have long sought to protect the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act, since first petitioning the USFWS to do so in the year 2000.
Read the press release
