Wildlife Inspector Jacinto Gonzalez with a sea turtle. Photo courtesy of Jacinto Gonzalez

Wildlife inspectors are our nation’s front-line defense in the fight against wildlife trafficking. These highly trained professionals facilitate the legal wildlife trade, while keeping a vigilant eye out for illegal wildlife being smuggled into and out of the United States. They enforce U.S. federal laws that protect wildlife and plants and can identify wildlife species. They do so much more, too. Wildlife Inspector Jacinto Gonzalez, for instance, recently represented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and participated in a sea-turtle rescue in Texas.

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Building Grassy Lake dam. Photo by Civilian Conservation Corps

Richard Kanaski, one of our archaeologists, is compiling information about the little-known history of the African-American Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees throughout the South. His immediate goal: Apply for National Register of Historic Places status for Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge. His ultimate goal: Shine a spotlight on the major, yet largely hidden role played by African Americans in rebuilding this country from the depths of the Great Depression.

Unsung Heroes of American Conservation

Wisdom, a mōlī (Laysan albatross) and world’s oldest known, banded wild bird, hatched a new chick this week at Midway Atoll. Biologists first observed the egg pipping on January 29. Pipping is when a young bird begins to crack the shell of the egg when hatching. After several days, the chick hatched on February 1.

• Wisdom's Blog
• Life Among the Albatross 

Conserving the nature of America for over 150 years. #WeAreUSFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has protected America’s stunning diversity of native fishes, plants, wildlife, and habitats for over 100 years. From counting birds to combating crime — and from stocking fish to genetics and forensics research — we’re an international wildlife conservation leader informed by science and supported by partnerships.

Our work is as diverse as the people and places we serve, conserving America’s natural heritage, wild lands and waters, and imperiled species for future generations.

Discover 10 facts you might not know about the only federal agency focused first and foremost on wildlife conservation for the continuing benefit of all Americans.

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There are a lot fewer Gambian giant pouched rats crawling and Northern African pythons slithering around South Florida today than there were a decade ago thanks to ongoing and successful early detection and rapid response efforts. (At left: John Woolard, USDA Wildlife Services, displays a Gambian giant pouched rat. This is the world’s largest rat, weighing up to nine pounds. The average size is three pounds, measuring 20-35 inches from the head to the tip of the tail. USDA Photo)

 “While invasive species prevention is the first line of defense, even the best prevention efforts won’t stop all exotic species from establishing and eventually spreading across Florida,” says Biologist Art Roybal, our invasive species coordinator for South Florida. “I can say, however, that early detection and rapid response practices have effectively curbed the spread of these particular rats and pythons in Florida over the past decade.”

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Aaron Ohrn of Iowa DNR shows off a female walleye. Older big walleye retain PIT tags for long periods new industry-funded research shows. Photo Courtesy of Iowa DNR

Anglers enjoy walleye in two places: on the end of a line beneath glassy water and crackling in hot spattering oil lathered in batter. Walleye possess inherent sporting qualities and their value as table fare is beyond compare. 

Fishery management biologists have intense interest in walleye conservation and that interest is manifest in recent research in tag retention funded through excise taxes paid by manufacturers of fishing gear and on motor boat fuels. Our Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program administers such research grants via Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration.

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A nuthatch visits a suet feeder in Minnesota. Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS.

Do you feed birds in your yard? Welcome to the club. Bird feeding as never been so popular. But … can you do it without endangering the wild birds you love? 

Feeding Birds Raises Ethical Questions

African manatee. Photo by Lucy Keith-Diagne/African Aquatic Conservation Fund

The African manatee is the least studied and most threatened of the world’s three manatee species, and for more than a decade, Dr. Lucy Keith-Diagne has been working tirelessly to change this. As of 2021, this elusive, understudied, and threatened mammal is benefitting from a strengthened network of researchers and conservationists, some of whom received strong support from one of the successful MENTOR programs within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s International Affairs program.

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