*sniff
Posted on 04/09/2007 1:51:43 PM PDT by Loyalist
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it is considering reclassifying the manatee as threatened instead of endangered, a move that would indicate the animal has rebounded from the brink of extinction.
The manatee would still remain protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill the animals.
A five-year Fish and Wildlife review of manatees is set to be released later this week, agency spokesman Chuck Underwood said. He would not say whether it will recommend the changed status because it is not yet complete.
"Even if we propose the reclassification, that does not change any of the federal protections out there at all," Underwood said. "And it could take some time before we ever reach a point of formally proposing reclassification."
According to an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post, the service will says that the manatee "no longer meets the definition of an endangered species."
Underwood would not confirm the memo's assertion on Monday, but said reclassification is under consideration.
Endangered status means an animal is at a foreseeable risk of extinction. Threatened status means a species could become endangered in the future if protections are not maintained.
This year's annual manatee census recorded 2,812 of the animals, also known as sea cows, in Florida water. Last year, scientists found 3,116.
In 1991 -- the survey's first year -- 1,267 manatees were counted in the state.
Patrick Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, said a classification switch could mean changes in boating and development restrictions that were established to protect manatees.
"This is not the time to be moving to say that they're going to be downlisting (the manatees) and then dilute the protection for them," Rose said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted last year to change the manatee's status from endangered to threatened.
Must have finally figured out you can’t make love to a Boston Whaler.
*sniff
good. block another liberal gain.
That sound you hear is dozens of Freepers scurrying to be the first to post that ‘Oh the Hugh Manatee’ pic.
TOO LATE!!! MWAHAHA.
More disenfranchised Floridian minorities!
That’s an odd way to phrase the headline—you’d think it’d be more celebratory, no?
I must say, having spent a lot of time on and under the water while there, I was inclined to agree with the more environmentalist viewpoint on this one. The damage to the area caused by fast, irresponsible boating was pretty easy to see.
However, holding development hostage to cute animals is a risky strategy for the environmental movement, as this shows. Better to work on common interest in overall preservation raising property values for everyone.
Not the most attractive of animals but they are very gentle and very curious. Back before the tree huggers made it illegal to touch them, we used to hitch rides on their backs all the time down in Crystal River, FL. They actually seemed to enjoy it as well.
The only downside to it was the fact that it was often very difficult to judge how far they had actually swam because the visibility was not always the best. More than once I was faced with a 1/2 -3/4 mile swim back to the rest of the divers!
Environmentalists will now demand we kill manatees, in order to keep them endangered.
Don’t underestimate their madness - they could really do that.
Don’t know. Is tasty manatee still a member?
IAT”OTHM!”P
Beef! They're what's fer dinner!
Actually, there's a reason they're called sea-cows, they're actually as stupid as cows (beeves).
It's surprising that they didn't go extinct over 100 years ago ................ FRegards
As Rush said a few weeks back, if you want to make sure there’s an abundant supply of endangered animals, take them off the endangered list and let people hunt them for food. Restaurants will subsidize farms full of the critters to make sure there’s an ample supply for their tables.
Related topic question: I was watching the “Our Planet” series last night...they showed a sea-cow herd of thousands off the coast of Western Australia..can’t remember what they’re called, but they sure looked like manatees. Anyone know..is it a subspecies?
A manatee even made it up to Memphis, Tennessee, last fall. Stayed too long, it succumbed to the cold and died.
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