#endangered

We need you to help us save a law that we've used to protect and recover endangered species like the wolverine and manatees over the past 50 years.

The Endangered Species Act is a wildly effective and widely popular law. But the Trump administration is trying to weaken the law in return for political support from extractive industries – sending American wildlife on a path to extinction.

Don’t let the Endangered Species Act be dismantled and public interest be denied. Take action today and speak up to defend U.S. wildlife.

"In one of Africa’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable thing has happened—the scimitar-horned oryx, once declared extinct in the wild, is now classified only as endangered.

It’s the first time the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization, has ever moved a species on its Red List from ‘Extinct in the Wild’ to ‘Endangered.’

The recovery was down to the conservation work of zoos around the world, but also from game breeders in the Texas hill country, who kept the oryx alive while the governments of Abu Dhabi and Chad worked together on a reintroduction program.

Chad... ranks second-lowest on the UN Development Index. Nevertheless, it is within this North African country that can be found the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, a piece of protected desert and savannah the size of Scotland—around 30,000 square miles, or 10 times the size of Yellowstone.

At a workshop in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena, in 2012, Environment Abu Dhabi, the government of Chad, the Sahara Conservation Fund, and the Zoological Society of London, all secured the support of local landowners and nomadic herders for the reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx to the reserve.

Environment Abu Dhabi started the project, assembling captive animals from zoos and private collections the world over to ensure genetic diversity. In March 2016, the first 21 animals from this “world herd” were released over time into a fenced-off part of the reserve where they could acclimatize. Ranging over 30 miles, one female gave birth—the first oryx born into its once-native habitat in over three decades.

In late January 2017, 14 more animals were flown to the reserve in Chad from Abu Dhabi.

In 2022, the rewilded species was officially assessed by the IUCN’s Red List, and determined them to be just ‘Endangered,’ and not ‘Critically Endangered,’ with a population of between 140 and 160 individuals that was increasing, not decreasing.

It’s a tremendous achievement of international scientific and governmental collaboration and a sign that zoological efforts to breed endangered and even extinct animals in captivity can truly work if suitable habitat remains for them to return to."

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1. Despite stiff political headwinds, tribe in Colorado brings utility scale solar project online

“Over the next year and half, solar panels capable of generating 270 megawatts worth of electricity, and 180 megawatts of battery storage will be built on tribal land in neighboring New Mexico[….] They started small with residential rooftop solar. Then came a one-megawatt array that helped power the tribal casino out on the highway. […] The demolition of a nearby coal fired power plant left behind a network of transmission lines and electricity customers [so is now the site of the new project].”

2. ‘Get the Flock Out’: Nationwide Backlash Grows Against AI-Powered Surveillance Tech

“There is growing action [link added by me]—both legal and otherwise—to end the use of ALPRs across the country. According to the public information project Ban Flock Cameras, 82 Flock contracts were terminated across 28 states between August 2021 and May 2026, with 39 of those cancellations occurring in the first five months of 2026 alone. Even Amazon-owned Ring announced earlier this year that it would stop doing business with Flock Safety.”

3. On the brink of extinction, the Javan green magpie gets a conservation lifeline

“With the new action plan, developed and agreed upon by 48 songbird experts, conservation groups are aiming to protect the bird’s montane habitat, engage with local communities to address trapping, and crack down on illegal trade over the next 10 years. Conservation translocations are planned to bolster the few remaining wild populations. For around a decade, [… facilities] have bred more than 130 birds in captivity as an “insurance policy,” Owen says.”

4. The Spectacular Regrowth of New England’s Forests

“”To give you an example, Massachusetts […] is 60 percent forested today. Now, it was probably 90 percent-plus forested when the Europeans arrived, but it went through a period in which 80 percent to 90 percent of the forest was removed[…. T]he Northeast temperature rise with global warming is significantly less because we are so heavily forested […] and it all happened because of what I call benign neglect [after farmers moved to Ohio in the 1850’s].””

5. The women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a Nigerian gorilla sanctuary

“Now, the collective meets twice a month to brainstorm strategies to combat threats to Afi’s biodiversity and review existing wildlife regulations. [They conduct] patrols, targeted at uncovering early signs of hunting, logging or wildfires[… and] the women’s group investigates allegations of wildlife crimes. […] In their homes, the women are also influencing what their families eat to eliminate threatened species from the local diet.”

Endangered axolotl release raises hopes for rare amphibian

One of the world's most endangered amphibians - the strange, perpetually smiling Mexican axolotl - has thrived after being released in artificial wetlands, scientists have discovered. In a study that provides hope for the long-term future of a creature that was pushed to the brink of extinction, scientists released 18 captive-bred axolotls in restored and artificial wetland close to Mexico City. The researchers fitted the animals with radio trackers and found that they "survived and foraged successfully at both sites" - even gaining weight. Lead researcher Dr Alejandra Ramos from the Autonomous University of Baja California said this was an "amazing result"...

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As few as 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states of the U.S.

The Center for Biological Diversity has sponsored legislation to bring wolverines back to California, and Colorado has begun a similar effort.

Please help us fight for imperiled species by giving to the Future for the Wild Fund.