Center for Biological Diversity

110 Success Stories for Endangered Species Day 2012

Gulf Coast        


Arctic peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus tundrius)

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 6/2/1970Recovery plan: 6/30/1991
   

Range: AL(m), AK(b), AZ(m), AR(m), CA(m), CO(m), CT(m), DE(m), DC(m), FL(m), GA(m), ID(m), IL(m), IN(m), IA(m), KS(m), KY(m), LA(m), ME(m), MD(m), MA(m), MI(m), MN(m), MS(m), MO(m), MT(m), NE(m), NV(m), NH(m), NY(m), NM(m), NJ(m), NC(m), ND(m), OH(m), OK(m), OR(m), PA(m), RI(m), SC(m), SD(m), TN(m), TX(m), UT(m), VT(m), VA(m), WA(m), WV(m), WI(m), WY(m) ---

SUMMARY
The Arctic peregrine falcon declined due to the egg shell-thinning effects of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides. Its listing as an endangered species in 1970 (along with other birds of prey) prompted the EPA to ban DDT in 1972. Counts of migratory Arctic falcons increased from 103 in 1976, to 1,017 in 2004. The species was downlisted to threatened in 1984 and delisted in 1991.

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Atlantic green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas)

Status: Threatened/EndangeredCritical habitat: 9/2/1998
Listed: 7/28/1978Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: AL(s), CT(s), DE(m), FL(b), GA(b), LA(s), MA(s), MS(s), NY(s), NJ(s), NC(b), PR(b), RI(s), SC(b), TX(s), VI(b), VA(m) ---

SUMMARY
The Atlantic green sea is threatened by egg collection, hunting, vandalism, disturbance while nesting, beach development, habitat loss, and sea level rise. Its population has increased in the United States since being listed as endangered in 1978, but systematic surveys only began in 1989. It grew by 2,206% in Florida between 1989 and 2011 (464 to 10,701) and has achieved its population size recovery goal.

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Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 9/2/1998
Listed: 6/2/1970Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: AL(s), CT(o), DE(o), FL(b), GA(o), LA(s), MD(o), MA(o), MS(s), NY(o), NJ(o), NC(o), PR(b), RI(o), SC(o), TX(s), VI(b), VA(o) ---

SUMMARY
Globally, the number of hawksbill sea turtles may have declined by as much as 80 percent over the past century due to commerce in their shells, poaching, habitat loss, bycatch and entanglement in marine debris. Although hawksbill numbers continue to decline globally, at protected beaches on Mona Island, Puerto Rico, nests increased from 177 in 1974 to 332 in 2005.

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Atlantic piping plover (Charadrius melodus (Atlantic DPS))

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 7/10/2001
Listed: 12/11/1985Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: AL(s), CT(b), DE(b), FL(s), GA(s), LA(s), ME(b), MD(b), MA(b), MS(s), NH(b), NY(b), NJ(b), NC(b), PR(s), RI(b), SC(b), TX(s), VA(b) ---

SUMMARY
Atlantic piping plover populations initially declined due to hunting and the millinery trade. With these eliminated, it increased in the first half of the 20th century, but began declining after 1950 due to development, beach crowding and predation. It was listed as 1985 after which intensive habitat protection and control of recreationists and predators, increased its U.S. population from 550 pairs in 1986 to 1,550 in 2011, reaching its overall U.S. recovery goal in 3 of the last 5 years.

 

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Bald eagle (continental U.S. DPS) (Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Continental U.S. DPS))

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: AL(b), AZ(b), AR(b), CA(b), CO(b), CT(b), DE(b), DC(b), FL(b), GA(b), ID(b), IL(b), IN(b), IA(b), KS(b), KY(b), LA(b), ME(b), MD(b), MA(b), MI(b), MN(b), MS(b), MO(b), MT(b), NE(b), NV(b), NH(b), NY(b), NM(b), NJ(b), NC(b), ND(b), OH(b), OK(b), OR(b), PA(b), RI(b), SC(b), SD(b), TN(b), TX(b), UT(b), VT(b), VA(b), WA(b), WV(b), WI(b), WY(b) ---

SUMMARY
The bald eagle declined throughout the lower 48 states, and was extirpate from most of them due to habitat loss, persecution, and DDT-related eggshell thinning. The banning of DDT, increased wetland protection and restoration, and an aggressive, mostly state-based reintroduction program caused eagle pairs to soar from 416 in 1963 to 11,052 in 2007 when the eagle was removed from the endangered list.

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Bayou darter (Etheostoma rubrum)

Status: ThreatenedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 9/25/1975Recovery plan: 7/10/1990
   

Range: MS(b) ---

SUMMARY
The Bayou darter, endemic to the Bayou Pierre area in Mississippi, is threatened by habitat loss and degradation due to floodplain and channel modification, agriculture, gravel mining, and oil exploration and transport. Neither historic nor recent population estimates are available for the Bayou darter, but a range expansion within Bayou Pierre has been documented over the past 30 years.

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Big Bend gambusia (Gambusia gaigei)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 9/19/1984
   

Range: TX(b) ---

SUMMARY
The Big Bend gambusia was once completely extirpated from the wild by water diversions and exotic fish introductions. Reintroduced from three survivors in 1957, the total wild population grew to about 50,000 by 2005.

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Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 8/8/1988
   

Range: AZ(b), CO(b), MT(b), SD(b), UT(b), WY(b) --- KS(x), NE(x), NM(x), ND(x), OK(x), TX(x)

SUMMARY
The black-footed ferret was nearly driven extinct due to the elimination of prairie dog colonies by habitat destruction, shooting and plague. It was thought extinct until 1964, extirpated from the wild in 1974, thought extinct again in 1979, then rediscovered in 1981. All ferrets were captured in 1987. A reintroduction program increased wild ferrets from 0 in 1991 to about 1,410 in 2010.

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Brown pelican (Eastern DPS) (Pelecanus occidentalis (Atlantic/Eastern Gulf Coast DPS))

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 10/13/1970Recovery plan: 6/30/1980
   

Range: AL(b), CT(o), DE(s), FL(b), GA(b), ME(o), MD(b), MA(o), NH(o), NY(s), NJ(s), NC(b), RI(o), SC(b), VA(b) ---

SUMMARY
Reproductive failure due to eggshell thinning, caused by the pesticide DDT, was the main cause of brown pelican population declines. The pelican has recovered, but now faces threats from offshore oil and wind development, rising sea levels and hurricanes. Brown pelican nests on the Atlantic Coast increased from 2,796 in 1970 to 15,670 in 1999; on the eastern Gulf Coast, nest numbers increased slightly from 5,100 in 1970 to 5,682 in 1999. The eastern brown pelican was delisted in 1985 due to recovery.

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Concho water snake (Nerodia paucimaculata)

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: 6/29/1989
Listed: 9/3/1986Recovery plan: 9/27/1993
   

Range: TX

SUMMARY
The Concho water snake became and endangered species due to range loss and the threat of future habitat loss and fragmentation from the construction of a reservoir. Between its 1986 listing and 2011 delisting, its range increased from 199 to 233 river and shoreline miles.

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Brown pelican (Western Gulf Coast DPS) (Pelecanus occidentalis (Western Gulf Coast DPS))

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 10/13/1970Recovery plan: 6/30/1980
   

Range: LA(b), MS(s), TX(b) ---

SUMMARY
The brown pelican declined due to hunting, habitat loss and reproductive failure from eggshell thinning caused by the pesticide DDT. It continues to be threatened by offshore oil development, rising sea levels and hurricanes. It was listed as endangered in 1970. Nests in Texas increased from eight in 1970 to 6,136 in 2008. In Louisiana nests increased from 25 in 1971 to 17,000 in 2005 before Hurricane Katrina. It declined to 10,114 just prior to the gulf oil spill of 2010.

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Eggert's sunflower (Helianthus eggertii)

Status: DelistedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 5/22/1997Recovery plan: 12/9/1999
   

Range: AL, KY, TN

SUMMARY
Eggert's sunflower was threatened by development, agriculture, herbicides and fire suppression. At the time of listing in 1997, there were 34 known sites for Eggert's sunflower. When delisted in 2005, there were 287 known sites, many of which were protected by cooperative management agreements.

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Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 6/2/1970Recovery plan: 7/30/2010
   

Range: AL(o), AK(s), CA(s), CT(s), DE(s), FL(s), GA(s), HI(s), LA(o), ME(s), MD(s), MA(s), MS(o), NH(s), NY(s), NJ(s), NC(s), OR(s), PA(s), RI(s), SC(s), TX(o), VA(s), WA(s) ---

SUMMARY
Fin whales were hunted in all the world's oceans for the first three-quarters of the 20th century, causing population decline. Ongoing threats include illegal and legal whaling, vessel collisions, fishing gear entanglement, reduced prey and noise. Total population size is unknown, but both the North Atlantic and North Pacific populations increased between 1995 and 2009.

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Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 9/24/1976
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 10/3/2001
   

Range: AL(o), CT(o), DE(o), FL(b), GA(b), LA(o), MD(o), MS(o), NY(o), NJ(o), NC(o), RI(o), SC(o), TX(o), VA(o) ---

SUMMARY
The Florida manatee is imperiled by habitat loss, coastal development, and motor boat collisions. It was listed as endangered in 1967, but range-wide systematic surveys were not instituted until 1991. The manatee increased 227% between 1991 and 2011 (1,478 to 4,834 manatees). Local surveys indicate the manatee has been increasing since the 1970s.

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Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 11/1/2008
   

Range: FL(b) --- AL(x), AR(x), GA(x), LA(x), MS(x), SC(x), TN(x)

SUMMARY
The Florida panther was reduced to near extinction by habitat loss, hunting, persecution, and vehicle collisions. Vehicle collisions, habitat loss and fragmentation, lack of sufficient wildland areas, and in-breeding depression remain current threats. Its population size when listed as endangered in 1967 is unknown, but may have been a little larger than the 30-50 animals recorded throughout the 1980s. The population began to grow after a genetic intervention in 1990s, reaching 130 panthers in 2010.

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Gray bat (Myotis grisescens)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 4/28/1976Recovery plan: 7/1/1982
   

Range: AL(b), AR(b), FL(o), GA(o), IL(o), IN(o), KS(o), KY(b), MS(o), MO(b), NC(o), OK(o), TN(b), VA(o), WV(s) ---

SUMMARY
Gray bats declined due to mining, cave disturbance, vandalism, persecution, flooding, deforestation and possibly pesticides. In 2010, they were found with white-nose syndrome, but it is not known if the fungus is lethal to them or not. There were likely at least 5 million gray bats in 1970. At listing in 1976, the gray bat was declining, to a low of 1.5 million bats in 1992. Numbers reached 3.4 million in 2006, the most recent rangewide estimate.

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Gray wolf (Southwest DPS) (Canis lupus (Southwest DPS))

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 4/28/1976Recovery plan: 9/15/1982
   

Range: AZ(b), NM(b) --- CO(x), OK(x), TX(x), UT(x)

SUMMARY
Hunting and trapping resulted in the extirpation of Mexican gray wolves from the United States by 1970. Wolves captured in Mexico were used to establish a captive-breeding program and as of 2010, there were about 50 Mexican gray wolves in the wild.

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Great Lakes piping plover (Charadrius melodus (Great Lakes DPS))

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 7/10/2001
Listed: 12/11/1985Recovery plan: 9/8/2003
   

Range: AL(s), FL(s), GA(s), LA(s), MI(b), MS(s), NC(s), SC(s), TX(s), VA(s), WI(b) --- IL(x), IN(x), MN(x), NY(x), OH(x), PA(x)

SUMMARY
Early declines in Great Lakes piping plover populations were due to hunting, egg collecting and the millinery trade; later declines were the result of development, predation, and human recreation in plover nesting habitat. When the Great Lakes piping plover was listed as endangered in 1985, only 19 pairs remained. It increased to 55 pairs in 2011 and its range had expanded to the south, east and west.

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Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 6/2/1970Recovery plan: 11/15/1991
   

Range: AL(o), AK(s), CA(s), CT(s), DE(s), FL(s), GA(s), HI(s), LA(o), ME(s), MD(s), MA(s), MS(o), NH(s), NY(s), NJ(s), NC(s), OR(s), RI(s), SC(s), TX(o), VA(s), WA(s) ---

SUMMARY
Humpback whale populations were greatly depleted by commercial whaling by the early 1900s. In 1966, the entire North Pacific humpback population was thought to number only around 1,200 animals. As of 2010, the total population of North Pacific humpback was estimated at 21,808.

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Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 12/2/1970Recovery plan: 9/22/2011
   

Range: AL(o), CT(s), DE(s), FL(o), GA(s), LA(m), ME(s), MD(s), MA(s), MS(m), NH(s), NY(s), NJ(s), NC(s), PR(o), RI(s), SC(o), TX(b), VI(o), VA(s) ---

SUMMARY
More than 40,000 Kemp's Ridley sea turtles once nested in a single day on one beach in Mexico, but egg collection, oil drilling, development, and commercial fishing extirpated it from the United States by the 1950s. It was listed as endangered in 1970 and was reintroduced to Texas in 1978. There was little progress until 1995. The population reached 199 in 2011. The Mexican population grew from a low of 740 in the mid-1980s to at least 11,600 nests in 2006.

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Mississippi Sandhill crane (Grus canadensis pulla)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 6/30/1975
Listed: 6/4/1973Recovery plan: 9/6/1991
   

Range: MS(b) --- AL(x), FL(x), GA(x), LA(x), TX(x)

SUMMARY
Less than 2 percent of the Mississippi sandhill crane's wet pine savanna habitat remains. It was to a single population of 40 birds in 1973, threatened by habitat loss, predation, isolation, harassment, contaminants and hurricanes. The release of captive-bred sandhill cranes began in 1981, and the wild population increased from 33 birds in 1989 to 135 birds in 1993. The population has remained relatively steady due to ongoing captive augmentation with 110 birds in 2009 and 2011.

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Northern Aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis septentrionalis)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 2/25/1986Recovery plan: 6/8/1990
   

Range: AZ, NM, TX

SUMMARY
Aplomado falcons are threatened by widespread habitat encroachment resulting from control of range fires, intense overgrazing, agricultural development, channelization of desert streams, pesticide exposure and predation. The falcon was completely extirpated from the United States by 1960. In 2011 there were 79 falcons in the reintroduced population in south Texas; there are also experimental populations in west Texas and southern New Mexico.

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Northern Great Plains piping plover (Charadrius melodus (Northern Great Plains DPS))

Status: ThreatenedCritical habitat: 9/11/2002
Listed: 12/11/1985Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: MT, ND, SD, NE, KS, CO, MN, IA, OK; SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, TX, PR

SUMMARY
The Northern Great Plains piping plover was listed as endangered in 1986 due to threats from habitat loss, predation and disturbance. The number of Northern Great Plains piping plovers in the United States has increased from about 1,000 adults when ti was listed as an endangered species in 1985 to 2,959 adults in 2006.

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Red wolf (Canis rufus)

Status: Endangered Critical habitat: none
Listed: 3/11/1967 Recovery plan: 10/26/1990
   

Range: FL(b), MS(b), NC(b), SC(b), TN(b) --- AL(x), AR(x), DE(x), DC(x), GA(x), IL(x), IN(x), KY(x), LA(x), MD(x), MO(x), OH(x), OK(x), PA(x), TX(x), VA(x), WV(x)

SUMMARY
Red wolves were decimated by habitat loss and shooting. From a population of only 17 red wolves in 1980, captive breeding and release to the wild have resulted in a total population of 300 in 2011.

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Snail darter (Percina tanasi)

Status: ThreatenedCritical habitat: 4/1/1976
Listed: 10/9/1975Recovery plan: 5/5/1983
   

Range: AL(b), GA(b), TN(b) ---

SUMMARY
Impoundments in the Tennessee River drainage caused the extirpation of the snail darter from parts of the mainstem and the lower reaches of the major tributaries of the Tennessee River. Assuming that all natural populations existed in 1974, the number of snail darter populations has increased from six to nine through reintroductions and the recolonization of historic habitat.

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Texas wild rice (Zizania texana)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 7/14/1980
Listed: 4/26/1978Recovery plan: 2/14/1996
   

Range: TX(b) ---

SUMMARY
Texas wild rice populations declined due to lowered water levels in the San Marco River, river dredging and damming, and riverside construction. In recent years, recreational impacts have become a concern. From a low point of only 454 square meters being occupied, the Texas wild rice benefitted by conservation actions such that 4,161 square meters were occupied by 2006.

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Tulotoma (Tulotoma magnifica)

Status: ThreatenedCritical habitat: none
Listed: 1/9/1991Recovery plan: 11/17/2000
   

Range: AL

SUMMARY
The tulotoma declined due to dams and water quality degradation. Ongoing threats include droughts, spills and pollution. Since listing in 1991, the tulotoma increased from 10,000 to more than 100 million individuals as of 2011. The number of populations also increased from six to 10.

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Whooping crane (Grus americana)

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: 5/15/1978
Listed: 3/11/1967Recovery plan: 3/30/2007
   

Range: CO(m), FL(b), GA(m), IL(m), IN(m), KS(m), KY(m), MT(m), NE(m), ND(m), OK(m), SD(m), TN(m), TX(s), WI(b), WY(m) --- AL(x), AR(x), DE(x), DC(x), IA(x), LA(x), MD(x), MN(x), MS(x), MO(x), NJ(x), NC(x), OH(x), SC(x), UT(x), VA(x), WV(x)

SUMMARY
The whooping crane declined precipitously in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to hunting and habitat loss. It remains threatened by habitat degradation, collisions with power lines, and oil and gas development. When listed as endangerd in 1967, the whooping crane consisted of 43 wild and 7 captive birds. By 2011, it had grown to 437 wild and 162 captive birds.

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Wood stork (U.S. breeding DPS) (Mycteria americana (U.S. breeding DPS))

Status: EndangeredCritical habitat: none
Listed: 2/28/1984Recovery plan: 5/18/1999
   

Range: AL(s), FL(b), GA(b), MS(s), NC(s), SC(b) ---

SUMMARY
A loss of suitable wetland feeding habitat reduced wood stork populations from an estimated 15,000-20,000 pairs in the late 1930s to around 5,000 pairs in the late 1970s. The number of wood stork nesting colonies increased from 29 at the time of listing in 1984 to 71 in 2002 and numbers of nests increased from an estimated 6,040 in 1984 to approximately 12,000 in 2009.

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