Stories from the Home Page
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Golden conure. Credit: Carlos Reis/Creative Commons
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Golden Conure Status Improves, Prompting Downlisting ProposalSeptember 4, 2018The golden conure, a bright yellow bird in the parrot family found only in Brazil’s south Amazon Basin, is more widespread and abundant than previously thought – with an estimated population up from 2,500 to nearly 11,000 birds. Due to its improved status, we are proposing to downlist the golden conure from endangered to the less critical category of threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but it will remain protected as it still faces risks from deforestation and habitat loss. |
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Golden conure. Credit: Carlos Reis/Creative Commons
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A female Poweshiek skipperling is placed on a flower. Credit: Vince Cavalieri/USFWS
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Can Eight Butterflies Make a Difference? You Bet!August 30, 2018Eight butterflies may not seem like a lot. But when you are talking Poweshiek skipperlings, an endangered species with just 500 individuals estimated worldwide, it is significant. This summer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and international partners in the butterfly’s conservation released eight captive-reared Poweshiek skipperling butterflies at sites in Michigan and Manitoba. The releases were the world’s first release of captive-reared Poweshiek skipperlings. |
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A female Poweshiek skipperling is placed on a flower. Credit: Vince Cavalieri/USFWS
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Paddlers “Float the Fork.” Credit: Haley Hutchins/AmeriCorps
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Hope FloatsAugust 27, 2018After removing three dams and picking up more than 61,000 pounds of trash, even a car, a restoration project on West Virginia’s West Fork River is bearing fruit. Conservationists, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the local community have been working for nearly a decade to repair the broken river. |
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Paddlers “Float the Fork.” Credit: Haley Hutchins/AmeriCorps
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A pair of wild whooping cranes land at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Klaus Nigge/USFWS
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Wild Whooping Crane Population in Texas Breaks the 500 MarkAugust 27, 2018The estimates are in and the numbers are impressive! For the sixth year in a row, the wild population of endangered whooping cranes that winter at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding habitats in south Texas has increased in size, and for the first time the population has topped the 500 mark. |
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A pair of wild whooping cranes land at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Klaus Nigge/USFWS
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A young visitor to San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge finds humor in handling fake animal scat. Credit: Lisa Cox/USFWS
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Ewww, Gross. Tell Me MoreAugust 17, 2018Want to turn the uncurious into avid nature fans? Show them something gross or slimy. Many things we instinctively shy from as slimy, smelly, weird or grotesque also fascinate us. |
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A young visitor to San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge finds humor in handling fake animal scat. Credit: Lisa Cox/USFWS
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Jose L. Roig has been participating in the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program since 2013, using his coffee plantation as a habitat to benefit seven animals and plants that are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Credit: Photo courtesy of Jose L. Roig
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Aid in the ShadeAugust 15, 2018Once the immediate crisis of Hurricane Maria had passed last fall in Puerto Rico, the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program got to work with shade-grown coffee plantations in the region. Working with a local partner, the Partners Program is providing about 2,000 native shade trees that will be planted soon. This helps not only coffee growers but also wildlife, with one plantation serving as home to seven endangered species. |
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Jose L. Roig has been participating in the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program since 2013, using his coffee plantation as a habitat to benefit seven animals and plants that are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Credit: Photo courtesy of Jose L. Roig
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Hyacinth macaw. Credit: Hank Gillette / Wikimedia Commons
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Hyacinth Macaw Listed as Threatened Under Endangered Species ActAugust 10, 2018The hyacinth macaw, the largest species of parrot in the world, will now be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. At risk from deforestation and illegal harvest for the pet trade across Central and South America, only three small populations of this magnificent bird remain, the largest in Brazil. With its listing, the Service has finalized a special rule that will ensure protection for the species but allow continued import and export of certain captive-bred hyacinth macaws and domestic trade across state lines, activities which are not a threat to macaws in the wild. International trade in macaws is tightly regulated under the Wild Bird Conservation Act and CITES |
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Hyacinth macaw. Credit: Hank Gillette / Wikimedia Commons
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Purchases of golden eagles and other protected bird parts occurred in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and Iowa, and in some cases, over the internet. Credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS
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Bird Traffickers SentencedAugust 9, 2018Nineteen people have been sentenced for various wildlife law violations. The sentencings, including fines, prison and more, are the result of the Service’s Project Dakota Flyer, focusing on the unlawful trafficking of protected migratory birds, primarily bald and golden eagles. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota calls Dakota Flyer one of the largest wildlife trafficking investigations in the Midwest in recent history. |
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Purchases of golden eagles and other protected bird parts occurred in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and Iowa, and in some cases, over the internet. Credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS
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Sarah and Ryan Voiland have owned and operated Red Fire Farm since 2007. Credit: Isaac Burke/USFWS
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Nature's Good Neighbors: Getting into the WeevilsAugust 9, 2018Conservationists, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have come to the aid of an organic vegetable farm in western Massachusetts fighting an invasive plant, mile-a-minute vine. Besides the hard work of weeding, they are using a biological control agent: weevils. |
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Sarah and Ryan Voiland have owned and operated Red Fire Farm since 2007. Credit: Isaac Burke/USFWS
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Video: Name That Refuge: Culture & History Quiz Credit: USFWS
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Test Your KnowledgeAugust 9, 2018The U.S. Fish and Wildlife conserves thousands of cultural, historic and archaeological resources on national wildlife refuges. Take our 12-question “Name That Refuge: Culture & History Quiz” to see how much you know about those resources. There are two ways to take it. You can click on the video of the quiz to do all of the questions at once, quickly. Or you can search #WildlifeRefugeQuiz on Twitter to take the quiz one question per day through August 20. |
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Video: Name That Refuge: Culture & History Quiz Credit: USFWS
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Grants will go toward improving outdoor recreational opportunities within the Delaware River watershed. Credit: Rachel Dawson/NFWF
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Service Supports Delaware Watershed Conservation EffortsAugust 8, 2018The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have launched the $4.3 million Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund to support the protection, restoration and conservation of fish and wildlife habitats in the Delaware River Watershed, which provides drinking water for more than 15 million people. |
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Grants will go toward improving outdoor recreational opportunities within the Delaware River watershed. Credit: Rachel Dawson/NFWF
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A western meadowlark sings while perched on a pole at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Wenshu Chen/USFWS
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Songbirds, Shorebirds and Other Migratory Birds to Benefit from $18 Million in FundingAugust 8, 2018Each spring, the air fills with the calls of millions of migratory birds making their annual journeys from wintering grounds in the Southern Hemisphere to breeding grounds in North America. Yet populations of many birds are in decline as a result of habitat loss and degradation. Thanks to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants program, however, these long distance travelers will benefit from $18 million in federal and matching funds. |
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A western meadowlark sings while perched on a pole at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. Credit: Wenshu Chen/USFWS
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Sea otters interact in the mostly male "bachelor" raft in coastal California. Credit: Lilian Carswell/USFWS
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Keeping Sea Otters WildJuly 31, 2018Recently, an online video went viral showing a southern sea otter jumping into a kayak in coastal California. While aww-inspiring for sea otter lovers, too-close encounters like this could have unintended and tragic consequences for both sea otters and people. |
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Sea otters interact in the mostly male "bachelor" raft in coastal California. Credit: Lilian Carswell/USFWS
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Western snowy plovers fledged at Huntington State Beach. Credit: Joanna Gilkeson/USFWS.
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Help the Monarch Butterfly: Join the 2018 International Monarch Monitoring BlitzJuly 30, 2018Through August 5, citizens from Canada, Mexico and the United States are invited to join the second International Monarch Butterfly Monitoring Blitz to help identify the monarch butterfly's breeding sites that are essential to its survival. We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hope you'll join us! |
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Western snowy plovers fledged at Huntington State Beach. Credit: Joanna Gilkeson/USFWS.
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A small male hybrid Bengal tiger cub, named Moka, receives a health check at Paul Harter Veterinary Hospital at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Credit: San Diego Zoo Global
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Big Cat Rescued From Smugglers Celebrates Tiger Day in New HomeJuly 27, 2018July 29 is Global Tiger Day, and this year, a hybrid Bengal tiger will have something special to celebrate. Seized from smugglers attempting to enter the United States 11 months ago, the tiger now has a permanent home at a sanctuary in California. While the U.S. Department of Justice was successfully prosecuting the smugglers, the Service, with many partners, helped the tiger recover from the smuggling ordeal and found it a permanent home. |
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A small male hybrid Bengal tiger cub, named Moka, receives a health check at Paul Harter Veterinary Hospital at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Credit: San Diego Zoo Global
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