https://www.fws.gov/press-rele...ecies-act-protection



PRESS RELEASE

Service completes initial reviews on Endangered Species Act petitions for four species

Mar 20, 2023
Media Contacts
Public Affairs HQ

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed its 90-day findings on petitions to list four species under the Endangered Species Act. Based on our review, we find the petitions to list the Morro Bay polyphyllan scarab beetle, Inyo rock daisy, common hippopotamus, and roughhead shiner present substantial information indicating the petitioned actions may be warranted, and we will initiate status reviews for these species.

The Morro Bay polyphyllan scarab beetle is endemic to an ecosystem with Baywood fine sand (a soil type) in Los Osos of San Luis Obispo County, California, and its immediate vicinity. Based on our review of the petition and readily available information regarding urban development, we find the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Morro Bay polyphyllan scarab beetle as a threatened or endangered species may be warranted.

The Inyo rock daisy is a member of the sunflower family. This perennial grows on limestone outcrops, cliff faces or scree slopes within pinyon pine woodland, Joshua tree woodland or sagebrush shrubland in portions of the southern Inyo Mountains of Inyo County, California. Based on our review of the petition and readily available information regarding mining, development, invasive plant species and climate change , we find the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the petitioned action to list the Inyo rock daisy as an endangered or threatened species may be warranted.

Based on our review of the petition and readily available information, we find the petition to list the common hippopotamus presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the listing may be warranted due to potential threats associated with habitat loss and degradation due to land conversion and urbanization, demand for irrigation and water, climate change and war. The petitioners also presented information suggesting overutilization from legal international trade and poaching, disease and predation, and traditional and medicinal use of hippopotamus parts may be threats to the common hippopotamus and that existing regulatory mechanisms, particularly as they pertain to trade and poaching, may be inadequate to address the impacts of these threats.

The roughhead shiner is a small olive-colored minnow, named for the distinctive bumps on its head, that is endemic to the Ridge and Valley Province of the upper James River drainage in western Virginia. It lives in creeks and rivers in clear rocky pools near flowing water and is occasionally found in swifter water. Based on our review of the petition and readily available information regarding habitat modification from siltation and/or contamination and competition from the introduced telescope shiner, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the roughhead shiner as a threatened or endangered species may be warranted.

The ESA allows citizens to petition the Service to add species to the ESA list, remove species from the list, and to reclassify species already on the list. The Service endeavors to issue a finding on a petition within 90 days of the petition’s receipt.

The announcement comes as the ESA turns 50 years old in 2023. Throughout the year, the Department of the Interior is celebrating the ESA's importance in preventing imperiled species' extinction, promoting the recovery of wildlife and conserving the habitats upon which they depend.

Substantial 90-day findings represent a relatively low bar, requiring only the petitioner to provide information the petition may be warranted. The next steps to arrive at a 12-month finding involve in-depth status reviews and analyses using the best available science and information. The public can play an important role by sharing relevant information with the Service.

The Federal Register docket numbers and links for the substantial petition findings in this batch are:

Common Name Range Docket Number Docket link on https://www.regulations.gov
Morro Bay polyphyllan scarab beetle California FWS-R8-ES-2022-0159 https://www.regulations.gov/FWS-HQ-ES-2022-0158
Inyo rock daisy California FWS-R8-ES-2022-0160 https://www.regulations.gov/FWS-R8-ES-2022-0160
Roughhead shiner Virginia FWS-R5-ES-2022-0161 https://www.regulations.gov/FWS-R5-ES-2022-0161

Common hippopotamus
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini (Swaziland), Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe; It is unknown if common hippos still occur in Sudan FWS-HQ-ES-2022-0158 https://www.regulations.gov/FWS-HQ-ES-2022-0158

The notice for the above findings will be available in the Federal Register Reading Room on Monday, March 20 at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.

For more information on the ESA listing process, including 90-day findings and status reviews, please go to https://www.fws.gov/media/list...atened-or-endangered

-FWS-

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov and connect with us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube.

https://biologicaldiversity.or...tections-2023-03-20/


For Immediate Release, March 20, 2023

Contact:

Tanya Sanerib, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 379-7363, tsanerib@biologicaldiversity.org
Rodi Rosensweig, The Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International/Humane Society Legislative Fund, (202) 809-8711, RRosensweig@humanesociety.org

Hippos Move Step Closer to Endangered Species Act Protections

In Response to Petition, U.S. Officials Consider Protecting Hippos

WASHINGTON— After a petition and threat to sue from animal protection and conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that the common hippopotamus may qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

In March 2022, Humane Society International, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition seeking federal protections for this iconic species, which is disappearing from the wild.

After the Service missed its June 2022 deadline to respond to the petition, the groups sent notice of their intent to sue on World Hippo day. Today’s announcement from the agency provides the legally required initial response.

Hippos are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, drought, poaching, and the international demand for hippo parts, including teeth, skulls, ivory, skin and meat.

“This is an important first step towards saving hippos by providing the protections they so badly need under the Endangered Species Act,” said Adam Peyman, wildlife programs director for Humane Society International, speaking on behalf of HSI and the HSUS. “These animals face threats from climate change, poaching and the commercial demand for their skin, bones, teeth and other parts and products. Protections for hippos cannot come soon enough.”

International trade in hippo parts and products is significant, with the United States playing an outsized role. Between 2009 and 2018, the United States imported thousands of hippo parts and products, including more than 9,000 teeth, 700 skin pieces, 4,400 small leather products, 2,000 trophies and 1,700 carvings. Combined, these imports represent a minimum of 3,081 hippos killed to fuel the legal U.S. trade, which remains unchecked because of the absence of Endangered Species Act protections for the species.

“With the many clear threats they’re facing, hippos are a shoo-in for Endangered Species Act protections, but the Biden administration dilly-dallied an extra nine months before making this finding,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This hippo delay is just the tip of the iceberg, and it highlights that the Biden administration isn’t doing nearly enough to combat the burgeoning extinction crisis. If iconic species like hippos are waiting in purgatory for protections, that doesn’t bode well for the future of life on Earth.”

Across many parts of the United States, hippo parts and products are readily available for purchase. A 2022 undercover investigation by HSI and the HSUS revealed thousands of items made from hippo parts for sale in the United States. Products made from hippo leather, such as belts, shoes and purses, and items made from hippo ivory, such as carvings and handles on knives and bottle openers, were among the most common items found for sale.

Trophies, such as shoulder mounts (the animal’s head and neck) and mounted teeth, were also available for purchase. Some of these items may have been illegally acquired or traded due to the lack of effective regulatory enforcement.

The Endangered Species Act protections that the groups are seeking would place near-total restrictions on most commercial imports and sales of hippo specimens and raise public awareness and increase funding to achieve the law’s conservation goals.

“We are pleased to see the Biden administration’s announcement toward listing this iconic species,” says Tracie Letterman, vice president of federal affairs at Humane Society Legislative Fund. “For the last 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped save 99% of listed species from extinction. We look forward to supporting the administration in its work to ensure the protection of the hippo and other imperiled species for decades to come.”

Under federal law, the Service must next decide whether Endangered Species Act listing is warranted. Given its delay in providing an initial response to the petition, the agency will likely miss its deadline for this second determination — due in four days’ time. The groups will continue to closely monitor the progress of the petition during the next phase of the process.

Maybe the hippo needs to be relocated, to the Florida Everglades for protection. May help the USF&W department in locating some big snakes down there.

This may throw a kink in my working on a hippo hunt.

Too bad the USFWS couldn't just enforce what has been determined by CITES...and stick to it, instead of trying to police every other countries decisions about how they manage their wildlife. CITES does a good enough job of it and what is the point of belonging to CITES if you are going to make decisions that override the organization and decisions voted upon by all of the signatory countries.

It's past time for the USFWS to be defunded/eliminated....along with most of our federal agencies.

The USFWS isn't trying to manage hunting. They are trying to end it. Regardless of who is in the White House or in congress we have a behemoth of unelected bureaucrats running things.

I’m glad I’ll be hunting a hippo in August

I'm shooting one in July -- for lion bait. I'll bring back the teeth, but not a hunt. Shopping for meat to hang.

Isn't there somewhere in South America (Colombia) overrun with hippos?

quote:

Originally posted by chuck375:
Isn't there somewhere in South America (Colombia) overrun with hippos?

Those are the escaped hippos from Pablo Escobar's old hacienda. Last I read there are a couple hundred now, but they passed a law there that protects them. Silly people.

Well maybe the o'll USA USF&WD could stock some surplus hippo's in the rio grande river. all up and down the river and maybe throw in some surplus crocodiles so that they will feel like they are at home.

That would certainly be cheaper than a wall…

Usual problem. Colombia has more hippos than they know what to do with, but that doesn't help me with lion bait.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
Well maybe the o'll USA USF&WD could stock some surplus hippo's in the rio grande river. all up and down the river and maybe throw in some surplus crocodiles so that they will feel like they are at home.

Most of it is above the frost line. So it wouldn't work.

Also most of the water is redirected for agriculture. There isn't much water in the old Rio.