All posts by Jeff

USFWS to downgrade status of C. granti from Endangered to Threatened

Chilabothrus, Conservation

UPDATE:  Comments have been closed; now we wait for a decision based on your   feedback.

Per the USFWS:  This proposal is based on a thorough review of the best available scientific data, which indicate that the species’ status has improved such that it is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.  We are also proposing a rule under the authority of section 4(d) of the Act that provides measures that are necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of the Virgin Islands boa.  Further, we are correcting the List to change the scientific name of the Virgin Islands boa in the List from Epicrates monensis granti to Chilabothrus granti to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy.
This was posted on 30 September and your opportunity to comment closes on 30 November, 2020.  See the Federal Register Posting here.

Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?

Boa, Chilabothrus, Conservation, Corallus, Natural History, Tropidophis

Mr. James Peters, after spending several months in the Virgin Islands region in 1917, returned with rather unfortunate news of the bank.  He reported the fauna was, sadly, “depleted and fast disappearing” .  Schwartz and Henderson in 1975 were of the hope that the future survival of the West Indian Herpetofauna was brighter than it indicated at the time .  Powell & Henderson highlighted the plight of the West Indian herpetofauna in 2008 .  Daudin & De Silva (2011) remarked, “The general situation is so desperate that even the most deliberate conservation efforts will probably amount to salvage operations” .

“If we continue down that path”, has become, “Because we continued down that path.”  A decade later it appears we are reaching the point of no return.   The billions of dollars flooding into the Caribbean for myriad purposes are paving it end-to-end.   Surely not, you say?  Well, let’s take a trip down memory  deforestation lane, shall we? Continue reading Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides? →