Endangered Species

For the diminutive Egyptian tortoise, the Reptile House at the Baltimore Zoo may now be a more congenial place than back home on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.Herders, pet traders, farmers and developers have wiped out the species in Egypt, and it is vanishing in Libya and Israel. In this decade it has become the most endangered of the world's turtles, and one of the most endangered animals of any species.But in Baltimore, the zoo crew has turned a closet full of plastic tubs and electric lights into one of the most successful nonprofit Egyptian tortoise nurseries in the world.

The death of the giant panda, Hsing-Hsing, a few weeks ago saddened his keepers at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and was a blow to zoo visitors who looked forward to observing the cuddly native of China.But Hsing-Hsing's death from kidney disease also highlights the debate over the plight of endangered animals and whether artificial reproduction -- perhaps even cloning -- should be used to keep them alive as man destroys their habitats.The National Zoo doesn't expect to find a replacement anytime soon for Hsing-Hsing, the 28-year-old giant panda who charmed children and their parents after the Chinese government presented him to the United States as a gift in 1972.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- What do a hessel's hairstreak, dwarf wedge mussel, fat pocketbook, and grizzled skipper have in common?They are among 14 spineless creatures officially "endangered" recently, when the state revised its endangered species list for the first time in 12 years.Of the approximately 850 vertebrate species and 10,000 invertebrates in New York, 11 species have rebounded over the last decade.Three -- including the bald eagle -- were upgraded from endangered to threatened by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

WASHINGTON -- The bald eagle is about to soar off the endangered species list.The majestic national bird was emblematic of how America poisoned its environment when it nearly disappeared from the lower 48 states 35 years ago. Now its recovery symbolizes how the nation can solve its ecological problems, experts said.With hoopla befitting a national symbol's recovery, the Clinton administration will announce its proposal to take the bald eagle off the critical list on or near the Fourth of July, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said.

That tortoise shell bracelet may be appealing, and those ivory bookends might seem like a great buy, but federal authorities are warning that such items are subject to confiscation at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. They come from endangered animals.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have set up a new exhibit at the airport that warns travelers against buying animal products as souvenirs. Wildlife Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark said she wants to stop vacationers from wasting their money and fueling the illegal wildlife market.

THE SLOW-footed, sleepy, portly Delmarva fox squirrel is the subject of a controversial program of the Endangered Species Act that a Queen Anne's County developer hopes to use to build homes along the banks of Winchester Creek.A sighting of the rare squirrel at the planned Homeport development near Grasonville prompted the federal government to consider the project's impact on the protected species. An environmental lawsuit then prodded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose a "Habitat Conservation Plan" for the rodent on the 57-acre farm.

FOR THE FIFTH YEAR in a row, Talbott Springs Elementary School pupils have raised money to help the National Zoological Society in its efforts to save threatened animals.Under the direction of Gifted and Talented Program resource teacher Carrye Jones, the pupils sold art and crafts on the theme of endangered animals at an Endangered Species Bazaar at Chatham Mall in March.Sales of items such as tote bags with hand-painted gorillas, emperor penguin hand puppets, Indiana bat bookmarks and an Atlantic green turtle tea set brought in more than $2,000.

THE WOLF, after making remarkable recoveries in the Great Lakes region and the Rocky Mountains and on the verge of leaving the federal endangered species list, is threatened in Yellowstone National Park by old foes -- ranchers and farmers.While park visitors and rangers have cheered the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone, the American Farm Bureau Federation says the 1995 experiment violates the Endangered Species Act.It has gained support from a federal judge who has ordered removal of the "nonessential" gray wolves.

President Clinton's proposed budget for fiscal 1998 includes a $1.3 billion budget for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with significant increases in funding for endangered species, wildlife habitat restoration, refuge operations, fisheries and migratory bird management."

PILANDABA, South Africa -- One day this week, a big game hunter will pay $20,000 to hunt and kill a white rhinoceros on the Pilanesberg game reserve near here, bagging himself a wildlife trophy and -- believe it or not -- helping to protect the species.As soon as the rhino -- one of 45 allowed to be hunted in South Africa yearly -- is dead, scientists from the privately funded Wildlife Breeding Research Center will collect the sperm or eggs from its body in an effort to prevent the future extinction of the species.

If you think the Bush administration has done all the damage it can to the rules that protect our health, environment and personal rights, think again. In coming weeks, the lame-duck team is expected to issue last-minute rules that could gut the legal protections of the Endangered Species Act, give the FBI greatly expanded powers to spy on ordinary Americans and limit access to care for women seeking abortions, among dozens of other controversial new interpretations of federal law that are being rushed through required administrative reviews with extraordinary haste.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has identified eight current and historical rare, threatened and endangered species of animals in Howard County. Listed by their scientific and common names, they are: Etheostoma vitreum, or glassy darter, a member of the perch family that is endangered in Maryland, although it is secure in its range globally. Gallinula chloropus, or common moorhen, a duck-like bird that the state considers likely to become extirpated, although it is secure in other parts of its range.

BOISE, IDAHO -- Since the first captured Canadian gray wolves bounded out of their cages 10 years ago and disappeared into the trees, the animals that once were hunted to near-extinction throughout the West have become a rare success story for the Endangered Species Act. Thanks, in part, to strict federal protection, nearly 900 wolves now roam in scores of packs across their historic range. The wolves' comeback is all the more remarkable given the hatred that heralded their reintroduction, followed by a campaign of shooting and poisoning that continues.

The federal government is no longer considering listing the Eastern oyster as an endangered species, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday. A spokeswoman for NOAA said the agency dropped the idea because the petition to list the oyster, which is native to the Chesapeake Bay, was withdrawn by the Maryland-based environmental consultant who proposed it in January. The consultant, Wolf-Dieter N. Busch, a fisheries biologist who retired in 1999 after 35 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said he backed off because the proposal was causing fear of a federal crackdown on oyster harvesting in other parts of the country, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

SUPREME COURT nominee Judge John G. Roberts Jr. hasn't generated a lengthy paper trail revealing his views on environmental law, but he's left the equivalent of a few Post-It Notes. Scrutinizing his handful of opinions and articles, environmental groups are getting nervous about his potential impact on environmental law, especially given his long career at the center of the Republican legal establishment. If confirmed, Mr. Roberts could tip the balance on a closely divided court in cases involving the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, control over private property and other hot-button issues.

Charlie Stine splashes through Massey Pond, jabbing his long-handled net into the water like a very impatient crabber. He's wearing waders, and he's up to his hips in water trying to catch predatory fish he thinks prey on his beloved tiger salamanders. A respected ecologist who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University, Stine first found tiger salamanders at this pond in Kent County nearly 50 years ago. He's returned many, many times every year since trying to pry out the secrets of this very elusive creature.

WASHINGTON - Commercial fishing advocates from Louisiana to Rhode Island joined Maryland in objecting to the proposed listing of the Eastern oyster as an endangered species, saying it's unnecessary and would kill the troubled industry. "We believe this petition is a misuse of the Endangered Species Act," said S. Lake Cowart Jr., vice president of the Cowart Seafood Corp. of Virginia. "The Eastern oyster is not in danger of extinction; healthy populations exist in the Gulf Coast states and the north Atlantic, which makes up the majority of its range."

GROVE POINT - Jim Twohy's waterfront home might soon tumble into the Chesapeake Bay from atop a 60-foot cliff. He wants to build a wall to save the house, but some meddlesome neighbors are standing in the way. The neighbors are puritan tiger beetles, a threatened species half an inch long. To protect the bugs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to stop construction of a rock barrier that Twohy and his civic association say is necessary to prevent a half-dozen houses from toppling into the water.

Two tiny out-of-state vacationers have given wildlife biologists a "Eureka!" moment. A couple of endangered bats - chestnut brown with a Garbo-esque shyness and a Chuck Yeager need for speed - have relocated from the deep recesses of a limestone cave to leafy hickory trees in Carroll County. They're called Indiana bats, although these two winter in Pennsylvania's Canoe Creek State Park. And fewer than 400,000 of them are left in the United States. Biologists have long suspected that Indiana bats make the trek to Maryland each summer to fatten up on bugs and have their young.

ON JUNE 3, on its front page, this paper - along with most others in the region - carried news that went to the heart of why we're not making good environmental progress. None of the articles mentioned the environment. They proclaimed only good news: Consolidations in the military and national security will shift 10,000 jobs to Maryland. State officials are "spreading word of boon to local governments," the headline said. "The possibility of more jobs is always good news," said a spokeswoman for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who had lobbied Congress and the Bush administration long and hard to gain this plum.