Federal Agency Removes 21 Species From Endangered List Due to Extinction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that it is delisting 21 species from the Endangered Species Act because they’re now extinct. The species were part of a list of 23 proposed for delisting two years ago. The service said it would “continue to analyze and review” information about the ivory-billed woodpecker, and the delisting proposal for a Hawaiian perennial herb species has been withdrawn completely. The other 21 species—which included two species of freshwater fish, 10 birds, and the Little Mariana fruit bat—are now officially lost. “Federal protection came too late to reverse these species’ decline, and it’s a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it’s too late,” said service director Martha Williams.
