ETWP; Proposed Reclassification From Endangered to Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From Guam, and Proposed Threatened Status for the Mariana Fruit Bat From the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposes reclassification from endangered to threatened status pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), for the Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus mariannus mariannus) from Guam, and threatened status pursuant to the Act for the Mariana fruit bat from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). This subspecies is restricted to the Mariana archipelago, comprised of the Territory of Guam and the CNMI. The Mariana fruit bat is listed as endangered on Guam, and the populations on the southern islands of the CNMI (Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan) are candidates for listing. Recent evidence suggests that inter-island movement between Guam and other islands throughout the archipelago is not a rare event; hence, the Mariana fruit bats on Guam are no longer believed to represent a population distinct from those in the CNMI. Similarly, the populations of Aguijan, Tinian, and Saipan are not believed to be distinct from one another or from populations on other islands in the archipelago. Therefore, for the purposes of this proposed rule, all Mariana fruit bats in the Mariana Island archipelago are considered to represent one population. Mariana fruit bats are known from all of the islands of the Mariana archipelago, and throughout this range they are threatened by illegal hunting, degradation and loss of habitat from feral animals and through the development of forested areas, the potential for extinction of subpopulations from naturally occurring events such as typhoons, and predation by the brown tree snake. This proposal, if made final, would implement the protection provisions provided by the Act.