No. 1254, July 18, 2024

Court Reverses Oil Lease Sale Threatening Belugas?

The Center for Biological Diversity and allies are celebrating : In response to our lawsuit, a judge just overturned an offshore oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet — the only home of a very special, . ?

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Among other things, the court ruled that in holding the sale, the Department of the Interior failed to fully consider how blaring vessel noise might hurt belugas. These whales “see” with sound via echolocation, which they use for hunting, avoiding obstacles, and finding each other. The sale could’ve also harmed critical habitat for federally protected sea otters.?

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“I hope this decision makes it clear to federal officials that they can’t keep ignoring the ways offshore drilling threatens Cook Inlet beluga whales,” said the Center’s Kristen Monsell. ?

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We’ll keep up the fight no matter what.

Rare Turtles Win Protection, Rare Tortoises Need It?

Responding to a 2010 petition and 2022 lawsuit by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally under the Endangered Species Act. Although the agency postponed habitat protection for another year, this listing may be just in time to help safeguard the beautifully patterned turtles from a plan to dam their namesake river in Mississippi and Louisiana.??

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Public input was a crucial part of this long-sought win. If you helped us advocate for these turtles, thank you.?

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Now another shelled southern reptile species — eastern gopher tortoises of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina — needs your voice. Following a different Center petition and lawsuit, in 2022 the Service denied them protection using what was just . These strong-legged, burrow-digging tortoises are in a fight for their lives as urban sprawl destroys their rapidly dwindling habitat. ?

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Study Highlights U.S. Role in Imperiled Bat Trade?

says trade in painted woolly bats, largely driven by U.S. demand, is probably unsustainable and illegal. In 12 weeks researchers found 856 listings — 62% by U.S. vendors — for dead bat decor on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, including 215 listings for painted woolly bats.?

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Coveted for their striking orange-and-black wings, painted woolly bats are illegally collected and killed in their native South and Southeast Asia and sold as decor globally. They’re declining, and since they have just one baby at a time, they’re especially vulnerable to trade. We’ve petitioned to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.?

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Researchers have also warned about bat trade’s potential to spread disease to healthy bat populations — and humans too.?

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Suing for the Sake of the Big Sandy

, northern Mexican garter snakes, and other rare and endangered species depend on precious desert waterways like Arizona’s Big Sandy River to survive — but federal agencies have been letting cattle tear up the vulnerable streamsides. So the Center and allies just and keep cattle out of delicate habitat.?

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As the Center’s Chris Bugbee told NPR, “What we’re trying to achieve is conservation and recovery of a variety of species that have been decimated, along with their habitat, by the cattle industry.”?

Critical Habitat Proposed for Barrens Topminnows?

At long last: In response to decades of Center advocacy, the Fish and Wildlife Service has for endangered Barrens topminnows, iridescent green fish from central Tennessee. They grow to 4 inches long and swim in clear, cold streams near the surface, where they eat mosquito larvae and other insects.?

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Critical habitat designation is key to federally protected species’ survival, helping make sure their homes aren’t harmed.?

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See what these flashy fish look like in our video on and .?

Revelator: Saving Sand?

Did you know there’s an increasing demand for sand? Mining for this seemingly abundant and common material harms humans, wildlife, and the environment — and fuels a lucrative and dangerous illegal industry.?

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And if you don’t already, for more wildlife and conservation news.?

That’s Wild: How Dice Snakes Try to Trick Death?

Pretending to be a corpse is a popular tactic when animals face predators who prefer their food fresh, but dice snakes go the drama queen route: When captured they thrash around squirting out (1) musk, (2) feces, and (3) blood from the mouth.?

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Not all of them do all three. Scientists observing dice snake fakery recently discovered that individuals who put on the most elaborate displays spent less time, in total, feigning their death throes — apparently the theatrics have an impact.?

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The next question, , is why any would-be snake eaters are put off by these death scenes. After all, meat doesn’t get much fresher than “just alive and acting completely bonkers, like, one second ago.”?

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Photo credits: Beluga whale by Michael J/Flickr; Pearl River map turtle by Cris Hagen/University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, baby gopher tortoise by Chris Potin/Mississippi Army National Guard; southwestern willow flycatcher by Jim Rorabaugh/USFWS, northern Mexican garter snake courtesy USFWS; painted woolly bat by Abu Hamas/Wikimedia; Barrens topminnows at Tennessee Aquarium by Tierra Curry/Center for Biological Diversity; sand and gravel mine courtesy BLM Nevada; dice snake by Payman Savash/Wikimedia ().?

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We’re thrilled to let you know that the Center for Biological Diversity has been nominated for the Charity Navigator Community Choice Awards, empowering supporters to recognize and celebrate the exceptional work of top-rated charities.

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Our four-star rating and unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability, and effectiveness earned us the nomination. And it wouldn't have been possible without your continuous support and trust.

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When the Center wins, Charity Navigator will shine a spotlight on our organization, bringing more awareness to our important work to save life on Earth.?

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Thank you for your support. Together we can continue the fight to protect wildlife and the places they call home.?

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The Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephants are a beloved and intensively studied population that range between Kenya and Tanzania. For 30 years these famed cross-border elephants have been safe from trophy hunters — but not anymore. ?

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Over the past nine months, five iconic males have been killed for hunting trophies in Tanzania — including several super-tuskers, males with tusks weighing 100 pounds or more. Sadly the bodies of these venerable elephants were burned and buried, which prevented positive identification of all who were shot, but one was identified as Gilgil. About 35 years old, Gilgil was on the brink of reaching his reproductive peak. Now some 20 to 25 other mature males with ranges that include Tanzania and who have large, intact tusks are also at risk. ?

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The Amboseli elephants are the longest-studied elephants in the world. Much of what we know about elephants today comes from over 50 years of dedicated research on these creatures. We can’t let them be suddenly, cruelly gunned down for sport. ?

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Photo of the elephant Craig, Amboseli ecosystem courtesy of Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

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P.O. Box 710
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Compassionate Living's partner has a new??called the Vegan Studies Initiative, VSI, that promotes veganism as an expression of multispecies nonviolence. In their upcoming Monthly Speaker Series, Dr. Cheryl Abbate will talk about vegan grey areas--the complicated ethical questions about the consumption of animals and animal by-products. For instance, is it permissible to eat eggs from a chicken living in an animal sanctuary? What about animals such as oysters, mussels, and scallops? In her talk, Dr. Abbate will defend a moral framework that enables us to answer these, and other related complicated questions about vegan ethics in a morally consistent way. ?

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to learn more about all they offer.?

When Kimberly Carroll was first becoming an animal activist, she asked herself “Who is caring for the caretakers?” She has since dedicated herself to helping build resilient, mentally and emotionally healthy advocates.

Kimberly is a?, campaigns strategist with?,?director of?, and a director with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank. With over 14 years as a coach and almost 20 years as an activist, Kimberly and Hope discuss issues that face vegans like feelings of social isolation, overwhelm, and guilt. about the well-being of animals, advocates, and vegans!

Copyright ? 2024 Compassionate Living,

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Issue 37 | July 2024

If you’re like me, it hurts to see food wasted at dinner tables and at restaurants, weddings, and birthday parties; on cruise ships and at vacation destinations; in hospitals, zoos, museums, and aquariums — but also on farms and fishing operations. The amount of is almost too big to wrap our heads around. But we can stop it.

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Just how bad is food waste for the planet? The annual emissions footprint of wasted food in the United States is the equivalent of driving more than 59 million passenger vehicles for a year.

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Uneaten meat and dairy carry the biggest footprint, producing about one-third of the emissions, plus 75% of the habitat loss, associated with food waste. But too often overlooked is the marine life accidentally caught, killed, and discarded as “bycatch,” including threatened and endangered species like sea turtles and whales. ()

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As you watch the Olympics this year, consider this: Wasted food wastes so much water it could fill 16 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. Twenty-one percent of freshwater use goes to growing food that’s never eaten, even as we face water shortages across the West.

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Wildlife can’t afford the cost of all that wasted food. Neither can most people.

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Data shows that households produce about half of all wasted food each year. Of course, all that waste hurts our pocketbooks, too. While Center supporters are by no means average, the average American wastes $759 on uneaten food, according to an analysis from ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste.

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And all that wasted food could provide about 71 billion meals to people facing food insecurity. (, director of ReFED.)

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Before you say it, let me: It’s not just individuals. There’s no question that food waste is a systemic issue, normalized at the institutional level. Even if we all joined together to eliminate food waste in our homes, big businesses still bear responsibility too.

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That includes grocery stores that don’t track and report their total volume of food waste — and who encourage poor shelf-stocking strategies — knowing that some food waste must be built into their bottom line.

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But there’s also restaurants that please their customers by serving outsized portions, especially of meat. Food waste is a problem at city and federal levels as well, including the Department of Defense, which is a substantial purchaser of food.

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with the Food and Environment Reporting Network, we need laws and regulations from the government to hold industry accountable and make food-waste prevention a requirement.

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That’s why the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recently released for reducing food loss and waste is important. The national strategy focuses on prevention, with a goal of reducing national food waste by 50% by 2030. Now the plan needs to be put into action to protect wildlife and nature.

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How You Can Help

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Read and share our guides:

Read and share our reports:

I hope you’re enjoying your summers, spending time outdoors when you can, hiking, swimming, building your garden, reading about nature, fighting for the planet, and being a friend to the wild world in any way you can. Let’s add wasting less food to that list.

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For the wild,

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Photo via Canva.

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