Center for Biological Diversity

To us, every day is Endangered Species Day. The extinction crisis looms over our planet, threatening everything from whales in our oceans to wildflowers in the desert, wolves in the mountains, and butterflies in our backyards. For the past 37 years, the Center for Biological Diversity has stood on the front lines fighting for species big and small — in the courts, in communities, and in the wild places they call home. We’ve helped win protections for hundreds of imperiled species and more than 700 million acres of habitat because every species matters. Every wolf pack. Every sea turtle hatchling. Every ancient redwood tree. Every living thing fighting to survive in a rapidly changing world. This work has never been more urgent. But hope for the future is in the work we do. Because when people come together to fight for the wild, we win. And we will never stop fighting for a future where endangered species are not just remembered — but alive, thriving, and protected for generations to come. For the wild. 🌎 Join us ➡️ biodiv.us/join

Today is #EndangeredSpeciesDay. There's no better way to celebrate than by helping protect endangered species. Last month Trump's Extinction Committee gave oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico a sweeping exemption under the Endangered Species Act. With this exemption the administration could lease more public waters for drilling, and fossil fuel companies could build more infrastructure for new deepwater drilling projects, all at the expense of critically endangered species like Kemp's ridley sea turtles and Rice's whales. Here's where you come in: Call your U.S. Representative today and urge them take action to protect endangered species in the Gulf and end the expansion of offshore drilling. Call the Congressional switchboard to be connected to your Representative's office now: 202-224-3121.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of roadless national forests since 2001. These forests are sanctuaries for grizzly bears, gray wolves, salmon, spotted owls, and hundreds of other species. But now, the Trump administration wants to strip protections from 45 million of those acres— threatening vulnerable species, fouling precious water, and raising wildfire risk. This would be the single largest evisceration of public lands protections in American history. We have another chance to keep wild forests safe — for good. Members of Congress have introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act. This legislation will restore much-needed safeguards to roadless areas in forests — and then make those safeguards permanent. Speak up for the wild and urge your legislators to cosponsor this critically important legislation. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4u47Ni4

Did you know there are wild jaguars in the United States? In fact, at least nine jaguars have been documented in the U.S. Southwest since 1996. Our remote trail cameras recently captured footage of a wild jaguar moving through a Sky Island mountain range south of Tucson, in the ancestral lands of the Tohono O'odham. The striking footage, captured by the Center's Russ McSpadden in 2026, offers a rare glimpse of one of North America's most endangered mammals. The videos show a large adult male jaguar nicknamed “Cinco” by the Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center in 2025 after it became the fifth jaguar documented through the group’s monitoring efforts in the region. Take a moment to enjoy this spectacular footage, featuring three new jaguar clips as well as other species that roam the wildlands of the Southwest. Learn more about our work to protect and restore jaguars ➡️ https://bit.ly/4wr7yzh

There are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales left on Earth, with only an estimated 70 reproductively active females. One major threat they face: deadly vessel strikes. Vessel strikes are one of the two most common causes of death for right whales, along with fishing gear entanglements. This week, the Center and our allies filed a legal intervention to help fight a lawsuit aimed at overturning a seasonal speed rule protecting North Atlantic right whales from deadly ship strikes. We're working to defend the speed rule against a lawsuit brought by a New York vessel owner fined for violating seasonal speed limits. The existing speed limits and areas they cover are based on scientific data. Research has shown they have reduced the risk of fatally striking a right whale by up to 90%. We're doing all that we can to maintain the speed limit to save these whales. Learn more about our lawsuit: https://bit.ly/4u1PWIF

They may look as cute as your favorite housecat, but we *strongly* advise you not to try to psp, psp, psp at a Canada lynx. These beautiful animals need help. Their snowy habitat is fast disappearing and they need critical habitat to survive and recover. The Center has worked for decades to help this valiant but vulnerable predator including helping prevent them from getting caught in hunting traps and working to protect the habitat they need to survive. Learn more about these fluffy-footed felines and our work to protect them. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4wefT9g

As soon as this week, Alaska state game agents could resume shooting as many bears as possible from helicopter across 40,000 square miles. The state claims it’s to boost a struggling caribou herd, but there is no scientific evidence that shows killing bears will help. And, despite an ongoing lawsuit brought by us and @alaskawildlifealliance to stop this, an Alaska Superior Court just ruled that the state can continue its bear killing program — even though the program’s legality is in question. At least 186 brown bears and five black bears have been killed under Alaska’s brutal predator-control program since 2023 — including dozens of cubs. We want to see the caribou herd thrive, but the state hasn't shown that the unrestrained killing of bears is going to help us get there. We will keep fighting to defend these animals and the wild places they need to survive. Please support our fight to protect Alaska's bears with a gift to the Future for the Wild Fund. ➡️ https://bit.ly/3QZos7S

We just released a new case study and the results are grim: Elephant trophy imports are soaring in Trump's second term. The Trump administration permitted the import of more than 300 elephant trophies in 2025, based on federal government records obtained via the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. By comparison, the first Trump administration reported importing 114 elephant trophies in 2018 Hunting elephants for sport takes the biggest, healthiest males out of the population, skewing elephant genetics and harming their social fabric. With so many trophy hunters coming from the United States, our government should be helping to police the trophy trade, not rubberstamping imports. Learn more by reading our case study. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4uy2043

Tragic news: Whales are dying at alarming rates along the West Coast. Dozens have been found dead off California, Oregon, and Washington this year, and the count is still rising. According to a new study focusing on the San Francisco Bay, nearly 1 in every 5 gray whales entering the bay dies — and more than 40% of the time, ship strikes are the cause. There's a way we can help: limiting vessel speeds in key whale habitat. This is a tried-and-true way to reduce tragic whale deaths and injuries, especially for mothers and calves, who are at greater risk from ships because they spend a lot of time near the ocean's surface. Join us in urging NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Coast Guard to require vessel speed limits where whales are most likely to be. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4ncB082

What do monarch butterflies, vaquita porpoises, jaguars, and sea turtles have in common? They all benefit from a critical international trade agreement among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It's called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and it provides environmental investigation provisions that let the three nations hold each other accountable for protecting the planet and wildlife. The three countries are now in discussions to update the trade agreement. We need to make sure they maintain and strengthen environmental provisions — rather than gut them, leaving some species high and dry. Take action today: Help us urge the U.S. trade representative to strengthen these provisions so the agreement has strong enforcement mechanisms holding all three countries accountable. ➡️ https://bit.ly/4cOvwg6 📹: Russ McSpadden/CBD