Saving (Just the Popular) Species

The bald eagle is one of the Endangered Species Act's successes. The iconic bird of prey was officially delisted on June 28, 2007. Credit: stock.xchng

Saving species has become a popularity contest.

"The furry, the feathered, the famous and the edible have dominated government funding for protected species," writes David A. Fahrenthold in the Washington Post.

Some 1,300 species are listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. government. There have been success stories, but globally scientists worry that we could be in an era of unprecedented species loss that will get worse as human populations place greater demands on the planet's land area and resources, and as human-induced climate change makes remaining habitats more challenging. Many species are known to be on the brink of extinction.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they no longer care about beauty when deciding which species to protect and how, Fahrenthold writes.