Image: Flickr~JoshMore
American wolverine--One of the West's rarest predators, is finally on its way to federal protection. Under the Center for Biological Diversity's 757 species agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just proposed Endangered Species Act protection for American wolverines -- feisty, solitary hunters that once roamed a large swath of the mountainous West but are now severely threatened by climate change. There are only 250 to 300 left in the lower 48 states.
The Center has been working to protect wolverines, whose population has shrunk drastically, since 1995. Federal listing for the animals will likely put an end to Montana's plans to allow wolverine trapping and could bring reintroduction of the rare creatures to Colorado. But frustratingly, the Fish and Wildlife Service says the listing can't be used to address the biggest threat to wolverines: the global climate crisis.
"The wolverine has a reputation for killing prey many times its size, but it's no match for global climate change, which is shrinking spring snowpack across the West," said Noah Greenwald, the Center's endangered species director. "If we're going to save the wolverine and countless other wildlife species, as well as the world we all depend on, we need to take immediate steps to substantially and quickly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions."
Center for Biological Diversity
kieran@biologicaldiversity.org
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 1:41 pm
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
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