Three species in US recovered from ‘endangered’ list

WASHINGTON: The longnosed bat and gypsum wild buckwheat may be removed from the list of endangered species, while Kuenzler hedgehog cactus will be down listed to threatened, according to a US wildlife conservation agency.

The move reflects full recovery of the first two species and significant progress with the third, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The bat, buckwheat and cactus are all found in the Southwest, a hotspot of biodiversity and a locus for habitat protection and other measures undertaken under the US Endangered Species Act for a host of species.

Among these measures, several lesser long-nosed bat maternal colonies in southern Arizona and New Mexico were gated to prevent human disturbance of the springtime homes of thousands of bats, including newborns. In addition, the plants that the bats feed on before migrating to central and southern Mexico were given relief from intensive livestock grazing.

“The recovery of this amazing flying mammal and these two tenacious plants, along with many other species that recovered over the past eight years, shows the Endangered Species Act is working,” said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Centre for Biological Diversity in the US. “The Act has saved more than 99 per cent of the creatures and plants placed under its care from extinction. And it has put hundreds more, including the three graduating today, on the road to recovery,” said Robinson.

So far 32 species have fully or partially recovered under the administration of the outgoing US President Barack Obama, while another 12 have been proposed as recovered.