Endangered Species

Many skins that entered the United States were listed as having originated in places where the species was abundant and unprotected. However, they were in fact illegally killed in a protected country. For example, alligators were protected by law in the United States, but many were nonetheless killed by poachers, smuggled to Europe, and then imported back into the United States as crocodiles.

In 1970, New York State passed endangered-species legislation known as the Mason Act. Designed to stop the type of circumvention of law described above, the Mason Act banned commerce in any crocodilians—alligators, crocodiles, and their relatives—whether endangered or not. The law also banned all trade in other species—such as leopards, cheetahs, polar bears, red wolves, vicuñas, tigers, and snow leopards—no matter what country they came from originally.

Since New York is the center of the fur and fashion industries, the Mason Act has proved to be one of the most potent pieces of legislation ever passed to protect endangered species. Some of the most important points in the Mason Act were incorporated into the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act also included the first legislation to protect a previously overlooked group: endangered insects. In 1975, 41 species of butterflies were placed on the U.S. list of threatened and endangered species, protecting them from interstate shipment, commercial sale, and mass collection.

In 1977, the United States signed the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES). This treaty seeks to protect threatened animals in all countries by making it illegal to sell them across international boundaries. But by 2005, President George W. Bush and his administration had proposed an amendment that would loosen restrictions on hunting, capturing, and importing endangered animals. And the Endangered Species Act itself is now being challenged by landowners, developers, industry, and the U.S. Congress.

The Future

The outlook for endangered species is not without its bright spots. In 2005, the population of critically endangered California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) reached 279, thanks to the breeding of chicks in captivity for release into the wild. After years of protection, nearly every species of whale has posted a gain in population. Red wolves (Canis lupus niger) reintroduced into the North Carolina lowlands have produced pups. In Florida, the once-endangered alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has rebounded in great numbers. Protection laws and the banning of DDT in the United States helped the bald eagle recover. In 2005, there were more than 7,000 breeding pairs in the wild. The bird may even be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species. Similar success with other species may depend on legislation, habitat restoration, and reintroduction programs.