Federal government declares 21 species extinct

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared 21 species extinct Monday, including 10 birds and two freshwater fish.

The species, which the agency removed from the list of those protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to extinction, are part of a list of 23 that were proposed for delisting two years ago. At the time, the proposed list included the ivory-billed woodpecker, which at the time had its last commonly accepted sighting in 1944. However, the woodpecker was not among the final list.

“The Service will continue to analyze and review the information before deciding whether to delist the ivory-billed woodpecker,” the agency said.

Earlier this year, ornithologists from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pa., said they had seen an ivory-billed woodpecker, the latest of several officially unconfirmed sightings since the last commonly accepted one in 1944.

FWS outright withdrew the delisting proposal for another species in the original list of 23, the Hawaiian perennial herb Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis.

Species included in the final delisting include the Bachman’s warbler — a bird species previously found in Florida and South Carolina — as well as several Hawaiian species, including the large Kauai thrush, the Molokai creeper and the po’ouli. FWS also delisted the little Mariana fruit bat and two fish species — the San Marcos gambusia and the scioto madtom — and eight mussel species.

Of the delisted species, all but two were first listed as endangered before 1990, and none had a confirmed sighting in the 21st century.

“Federal protection came too late to reverse these species’ decline, and it’s a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it’s too late,” FWS Director Martha Williams said in a statement. “As we commemorate 50 years of the Endangered Species Act this year, we are reminded of the Act’s purpose to be a safety net that stops the journey toward extinction. The ultimate goal is to recover these species, so they no longer need the Act’s protection.”

The advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife said the delistings illustrated the need for FWS to increase its funding for endangered species conservation. The group has called for the service to increase its ESA budget from $331 million to $841 million.

“Many of these species were added to the Endangered Species Act when they were too far gone to truly benefit from its life saving protections,” said Lindsay Rosa, vice president of conservation research and innovation at Defenders of Wildlife, in a statement. “This announcement reinforces the need for fully funding the Act so that future species listings aren’t delayed or falling through the cracks.”