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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature:  Endangered Animals


The US Endangered Species Act (ESA) is Federal legislation that aims to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend. The ESA was signed into law by President Nixon in December, 1973. The ESA protects plant and animal species and is jointly administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries. Its aim is twofold: to provide protection for species that are in danger of extinction and to conserve the habitats on which those species depend.

Endangered animals include the San Joaquin kit fox, Point Arena mountain beaver, Pacific pocket mouse, salt marsh harvest mouse, Morro Bay kangaroo rat (and five other species of kangaroo rat), Amargosa vole, California least tern, California condor, San Clemente loggerhead shrike, San Clemente sage sparrow, San Francisco garter snake, five species of salamander, three species of chub, and two species of pupfish.

Eleven butterflies are listed as endangered and two as threatened on the federal list are California species. Among threatened animals are the coastal California gnatcatcher, Paiute cutthroat trout, southern sea otter, and northern spotted owl.
California condors are the largest flying birds in the world The Resources Agency of California's Department of Fish and Game is especially active in listing and providing protection for rare, threatened, and endangered fauna. Joint efforts by state and federal wildlife agencies have established an ambitious, if somewhat controversial, recovery program to revitalize the dwindling population of the majestic condor, the largest bird native to the US.

California condors are one of the largest flying birds. At one time there were thousands of them in the wild, ranging across the western United States and into Mexico. Native American tribes have great respect for the condor and see it as a symbol of power. They call it the thunderbird because they believe it brings thunder to the skies with the beating of its huge wings.

Destruction of habitat, poaching, and lead poisoning almost wiped out the California condor population. In 1982, only 22 birds remained in the wild. The San Diego Zoo was given permission to begin the first captive propagation program for California condors. The program also involved the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, the National Audubon Society, and the Los Angeles Zoo.
California is home to an incredibly diverse biota, boasting 563 birds, 96 reptiles, 190 mammals and well over 5000 species of plants. And the numbers only tell part of the story. The geographical diversity which is responsible for this great biological diversity has also helped to preserve many unusual species, for example, giant redwoods and California Condors.

California is also home to an incredible diversity of humans, over 30 million of us and counting. As we occupy more and more space and demand more and more resources, we are disrupting the delicate systems which maintain the state's great biotic diversity. Some bioregions have almost completely succumbed to the pressures of development, such as the Central Valley, historically a mosaic of marshes, grasslands, and riparian. Clearly California's biodiversity is being seriously impacted. Many of California's 60 fish species are listed or are proposed for listing as threatened or endangered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
discover California mammals like the endangered red wolf California has a total of 290,821 acres of National Wildlife Refuges. The mission of these refuges and the Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

California's National Wildlife Refuges protect numerous tracts of California's diverse landscape for the benefit of abundance of wildlife. The refuges are home to millions of migratory birds. California's National Wildlife Refuges are scattered throughout the state, however, many are concentrated in the Sacramento and Central Valleys. The refuges offer opportunities for bird-watching, viewing numerous other types of wildlife, fishing, hiking and environmental interpretation, and simply enjoying nature.
The California Fish and Game Code considers that endangered and threatened species are of ecological, educational, historical, recreational, esthetic, economic, and scientific value to the people of the State of California. The State of California has legislation that allows the state to protect endangered and threatened species by acquiring land for these species to protect, restore and enhance the habitat of these species. 

Sadly some animals in California have already reached extinction. Animals like the  wolf, the Southern California kit fox, the grizzly bear, the Saber-Toothed Cat, American Lion, Short-Faced Bear, Western Horse, Western Camel, the Ancient Bison, and others. While not extinct the American bald eagle came very close, before it was helped.

Extinct mammals, like the saber-toothed cats and mammoths, and birds, like Merriam's Teratorn and Grinnell's Eagle, roamed the Los Angeles Basin for several hundred thousand years. These and other extinct species were entrapped and their remains were preserved between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago at Rancho La Brea, during the last of four great Ice Ages at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.
Endangered Birds      Endangered Fish      Endangered Mammals      Endangered Reptiles      Endangered Amphibians
 
 
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