The Center for Biological Diversity
Some good news for one of our favorite scaled friends: Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes slithered closer to getting Endangered Species Act protection on Wednesday. After a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the species may warrant protection and will now get an in-depth review. The world's largest rattlesnake was once abundant in the pine forests of the Southeast, but today only 2 percent to 3 percent of its original habitat still exists.
The snake's story is all too common among reptiles and amphibians. Herpetofauna, as they're known, are in the midst of a mass extinction crisis -- yet are seldom protected under the Endangered Species Act, making up only 58 of the 1,400 total species that are currently federally protected.
The Center for Biological Diversity is working to change that, not just through our long history of fighting to save these animals but also by hiring the country's first-ever lawyer devoted entirely to amphibians and reptiles. We hope you'll help us with this critical work by making a gift now to save them.
Read a lively Huffington Post op-ed on the issue by the Center's Noah Greenwald, find out more in our press release and then take action to help save snakes from brutal rattlesnake roundups.
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