SAN ANTONIO – An owl that’s currently found in South Texas is listed under the Endangered Species Act — again.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl was listed as a threatened subspecies this week due to invasive species, urbanization, agriculture, forest production and climate change.
Recommended Videos
They are normally found in South Texas, Arizona and Mexico, but their populations have notably declined in those areas.
“The Endangered Species Act provides a critical safety net for fish, wildlife and plants and has prevented the extinction of hundreds of imperiled species like the pygmy-owl,” Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders said in a news release. “In addition, collaborative conservation efforts with a diversity of cooperators in Arizona, Texas and Mexico have further protected pygmy-owl habitat through habitat acquisition and protection in Arizona and have greatly enhanced our understanding of the species.”
The Center for Biological Diversity said the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl population in Arizona was listed as endangered from 1997 to 2006, but it lost its protections after a lawsuit from developers.
The new designation brings back protections through conservation planning and habitat acquisition, and also allows education and outreach activities, surveying and monitoring, and restoration.
The raptors grow 6-7 inches long, and weigh less than 2.6 ounces, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. They are known as secondary-cavity nesters, meaning they use cavities that were previously excavated by woodpeckers or others, and they eat insects, lizards and small mammals.
“The fierce little cactus ferruginous pygmy owl needs our care and protection and after a long fight it finally got it,” Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release. “If we lose this owl, we’ve lost the Sonoran Desert and so much more. We have to protect more of the natural world, invest in environmental restoration and phase out fossil fuels to halt this extinction crisis.”
Critical habitat designations from the FWS will be made in the future.
The FWS added that the animal is likely to become endangered due to further habitat loss, fragmentation and climate change.
Read also: