Major environmental groups have put the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on notice for not adequately protecting the West Indian Manatee in recent years, as more than 4,000 have died.
In November, conservationists filed a petition urging the federal fish and wildlife service to undo their 2017 decision to lower the protections for the species and restore the animal to fully endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The agency, by law, must determine within 90 days whether the information in the petition warrants uplisting the manatee from threatened to endangered. More than 150 days have gone by without any action by fish and wildlife, the conservation groups said.
“I’m appalled that the fish and wildlife service hasn’t responded to our urgent request for increased protections for these desperately imperiled animals,” said Ragan Whitlock, a Florida-based attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s painfully clear that manatees need full protection under the Endangered Species Act, and they need it now.”
The ESA defines “endangered” as a species on the brink of extinction, and “threatened” is a creature in peril that will likely qualify as “endangered” in the foreseeable future.
“The government’s lack of urgency in responding to the mass deaths of manatees is deeply concerning."
- Ben Rankin with the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, and others sent a notice earlier this week of their intent to file a lawsuit. The notice is required before suing a federal agency.
“The government’s lack of urgency in responding to the mass deaths of manatees is deeply concerning," said Ben Rankin, a student attorney at the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic. “This cherished species badly needs protection from the federal government, and it shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get the fish and wildlife service to perform its legal duties.”
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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