Wildlife Weekly Wrap-Up

7th Orca Calf Born
This past week, the Center of Whale Research announced that a new calf was born to the endangered Southern Resident orcas! The seventh addition to the pod is L123, and the calf’s birth increases the orca population size to what experts believe is about 83. Experts will be monitoring the new calf for the next several weeks, and we’ll give you updates when we can. While news of a newborn calf is exciting, it’s tempered by the reality that this new addition has a limited supply of wild Chinook salmon to eat from. For the growing orca population to survive, more wild Chinook salmon need to be restored before it’s too late. We look forward to the day when there can be celebrations all around for a newborn orca calf. We urge local, state and federal agencies to make that a reality sooner rather than later through wild Chinook salmon restoration efforts.

Racing Extinction
The world premiere of Racing Extinction happened last week on Discovery, Animal Planet and the Science Channel around the world in 220+ countries. Defenders is a proud partner of this film, which highlights the plight of endangered species around the world, and encourages everyone, everywhere, to do something to make a difference. 11.6 million Americans tuned in to watch the documentary, which also features one of our board members and master wildlife photographer, Joel Sartore. If you didn’t get the chance to watch the premiere, don’t worry – you can pre-order the DVD or stream or download it on iTunes and Amazon now! And if you did watch the film and are looking for ways to take action to help wildlife, learn more at www.defenders.org/racing-extinction.

Pro-ESA Resolution Passes in New Mexico
On Tuesday, Bernalillo County passed a resolution supporting the Endangered Species Act (ESA), ultimately sending a strong message back to Congress to stop attacking the bedrock conservation law. New Mexico is home to more than 60 different threatened and endangered species, including the Mexican spotted owl, New Mexico meadow jumping mouse and the Southwest willow flycatcher. The county and its 500,000+ residents are not alone in passing this kind of pro-ESA resolution. The City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, the city of Las Cruces, and Dona Ana County have all passed resolutions in favor of upholding the ESA in the past year. Los Alamos County will be voting on a resolution in January. If Los Alamos County votes in favor of the ESA, seven New Mexican municipalities, totaling over 1.2 million residents, will have passed pro-ESA resolutions by the beginning of next year. Thank you, New Mexico, for speaking loud and clear to protect the ESA!

New Oil and Gas Regulations From the Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued draft regulations to prevent avoidable damage from oil and gas drilling on National Wildlife Refuges. When the federal government acquires land for refuges, it frequently only secures rights to the land surface—not whatever’s under the ground. That means private energy companies and others that retain the subsurface rights can still drill for oil and gas there, even though it’s designated wildlife habitat owned by the federal government. These new regulations would strengthen safety and environmental protection standards for drilling. Defenders of Wildlife looks forward to working with the Service to secure the strongest oversight rules possible for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Threats to Wildlife Hide in Spending Bill
Congress has pushed back the deadline for passing its final bill to fund the federal government, and there are still a slew of anti-wildlife amendments or “riders” that could be added to the legislation. These include riders that would block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from cracking down on the illegal ivory trade, weaken the Endangered Species Act, and force construction of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, jeopardizing wildlife refuges and wilderness protections on public lands across the country. Tell Congress to stop attacking our lands air, water and wildlife and leave these bad riders out of the final funding bill!