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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Feds Showing More Love for Uglier Endangered Species

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(Newser) – When you’re an endangered species jockeying for federal funding, good looks are historically a plus. That may be changing, the Washington Post reports. In the past, researchers note, “there has been a very heavy bias toward ‘charismatic megafauna’—relatively large, well-known birds and mammals.” But in recent years, smaller, less attractive animals, and even plants, have seen a boom in protection funding.

A beetle that mates inside rotting animal corpses is getting three times the money it did 10 years ago. But while the Fish and Wildlife Service maintains it doesn’t discriminate, it still seems that way. The Chinook salmon alone gets as much as 72% of the list combined. “Can we do that for the Furbish lousewort?” a scientist wondered. “I’m not sure.”

A young chinook salmon.
A young chinook salmon.   (AP Photo)
Fishing industry officials discuss the plight of the Chinook salmon.
Fishing industry officials discuss the plight of the Chinook salmon.   (AP Photo)
A pair of young peregrine falcons.
A pair of young peregrine falcons.   (AP Photo)
A bald eagle.
A bald eagle.   (AP Photo)
Tiny fish, including delta smelt, caught in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, are seen through a microscope this 2005 photo.
Tiny fish, including delta smelt, caught in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, are seen through a microscope this 2005 photo.   (AP Photo)
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You can't disregard any of the pieces of the puzzle if you want to save all the pieces of the puzzle. You can't kind of cherry-pick and say, "Oh, yes, let's have a world where there's charismatic mammals but let's ignore the minnows." - Trent Orr, Earthjustice

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3 comments
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JonmarkP
Jun 29, 09 1:59 PM CDT
Would this include Barbara Bush, or is she not considered "endangered" by virtue of having been created in a laboratory? Reply
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riffran
Jun 29, 09 3:01 PM CDT
Yep right along another endangered species. Liberalis intelligentus last documented sighting in 1946 Reply
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radnip
Jun 30, 09 3:19 AM CDT
I thought polar bears were still doomed...Does that bode well for the 'uglier' species? Reply
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