An increasing number of animals and plants were listed as endangered and threatened species in 1985, according to the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while a record four species were removed from the endangered and threatened species list because they have recovered to the extent that they no longer require such protection.
The brown pelican in the eastern United States and eastern Gulf of Mexico became the first species to be removed from the list due to recovery, having fully recuperated from the devastating effects of DDT and other pesticides on its reproduction. Pelicans in the western Gulf and California remain endangered, however.
"Nearly one quarter of all listed U.S. endangered and threatened species were added in 1984 and 1985," notes William P. Horn, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. "In a way that may be bad news, because listings acknowledge the declining status of animals and plants. But it's good news in the sense that we are now able to grant these species the full protection of the Endangered Species Act and take steps to help them recover.
