link to fws.gov homepage
Conserving the Nature of America
A close up of a male Attwater’s prairie-chicken standing in grass.
A male Attwater’s prairie-chicken. Credit: John Magera/USFWS

Texas’ Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken Wild Population Highest Since 1993

April 29, 2021

After decades of protection and conservation efforts, Texas’ critically endangered Attwater’s prairie-chicken population is at its highest since 1993. Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy in Texas estimate the current population is at least 178 birds. During the 2021 spring count, a total of 89 males were spotted performing breeding displays known as “booming” at the Service’s Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and on private ranch lands.

News Release »
A Remarkable Return »


Yangtze Sturgeon Illustration
Yangtze Sturgeon Illustration by Josephe Huët / Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'histoire Naturelle http://ow.ly/Wy9P50EweU8

Yangtze Sturgeon Receives Endangered Species Act Protection

April 26, 2021

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the Yangtze sturgeon, a freshwater fish found within the upper and middle Yangtze River system in China, warrants listing as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Threats to the fish are principally the presence of dams and partly bycatch. The species is also negatively impacted by industrial pollution, riverbed modification and hybridization with non-native sturgeon.

News Release »

A close up dwarf-flowered heartleaf.
When the dwarf-flowered heartleaf was protected in 1989, there were only 24 known populations. Today, there are at least 119 populations. Credit: USFWS

Collaboration Spurs Recovery of Carolina Plant, Proposed Removal From Endangered Species List

April 23, 2021

Partnerships across the Carolinas have led to the latest Endangered Species Act success story: the recovery of the dwarf-flowered heartleaf. Because of its comeback, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the plant from the endangered species list.

News Release »