Walking with the Alligators

Walking with the Alligators
A Florida Alligator

December 18, 2011

What Not Making the Right List Means for Animals at the End of the Log

When two of the most respected scientific sources not only agree, but also offer pretty much the same solution to a problem, those who care for wildlife must pay attention.
This week, both the Scientific American and the Center for Biological Diversity have come to a consensus about the ESA List and the animals not on it.
They both believe that the animals who do not make the ESA List, but remain only on the IUCN Red List, are at peril.
The fact is that those on the ESA List, get both the money and the muscle needed to protect them, those on only the IUCN List do not.
While these animals wait to be upgraded to a place where they may find some safety and have a chance to make it, many may die or become extinct languishing on the wrong List.
Once again, the United States lags behind the rest of the world in its attitude towards threatened animal species and remains buried in paperwork.
Lives are at stake and we must end this bureaucratic bungling.
Could it be that the reason behind all of this delay is once again, money?
Moving animals onto the ESA List, means that more money will need to be allotted to these new members and a lot of money will need to be spent by a country already in an economic freefall.

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