The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently announced 21 species have been delisted from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). At first glance, this seems like a positive announcement. However, further reading shows the cause of this delisting is extinction. A few of the species that have recently been declared extinct include island birds, mussels, fish and a specific kind of fruit bat. Most of these species have been protected under the ESA since the 1970-80s, with a majority of “last confirmed sightings” dating back to around that time. For the USFWS to formally announce these animals as extinct, they conducted an elaborate review process for each species before officially announcing the news.
Even with these recently announced extinctions, the ESA still boasts an incredible 99% success rate in curbing species extinction since the act’s implementation in 1973. For over 50 years, it has been our
nation’s most effective law in preventing species extinction. Unfortunately, the extinction rate is estimated to be up 10,000% over natural extinction rates, which is the rate of extinction that would happen if humans didn’t exist. Thus, we are expecting a significant increase in animal extinction.
The increase in extinction rates are caused by one species and one species only: human beings. The ESA’s stellar success rate can be attributed to combating negative human impact on the animals by protecting crucial habitat zones, recovery plans, conservation organizations and coordination between different levels of government. This has led to more than 100 species of plants and animals being delisted due to recovery, plus other species populations becoming stabilized.
Arguably the most famous ESA success story is attributed to the bald eagle. It was the first species added to the list as a result of habitat destruction, illegal shooting and contaminated food sources from the insecticide, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). It wasn’t until 2007 that the bald eagle population had recovered enough to be removed from the list. This means our nation’s iconic symbol, the bald eagle, was still listed as threatened or endangered in our lifetime. It is difficult to imagine what would’ve happened if drastic steps weren’t taken to protect the bald eagle after recognizing these problems caused by human activity.
We need to acknowledge human actions are, in fact, having disastrous consequences on the organisms and environment around us. The issue of climate change is not fading into the background any time soon. Here at St. Joes, we can start by fostering a culture which cares for and protects all creation. Through education and action, we can acknowledge the solution is to eliminate human activity which causes the reckless destruction of ecosystems leading to extinctions. We need to do our part to correct such injustices.
