Bald Eagles No Longer Endangered
The United States Endangered Species List Loses the Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle has returned from near-extinction to occupy North American skies in increasing numbers. Bald Eagles aren't endangered or threatened any longer.
The United States Government has announced that the Bald Eagle, nearly extinct in the 1960s, has recovered sufficiently to be removed from the Endangered Species List. The species was listed as endangered in 1967—since that time, it’s been illegal to hunt or disturb the birds in any way. In addition, the pesticide DDT, responsible for causing abnormally thin egg shells in birds of prey, was banned.
The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds (Christopher Perrins ed., Firefly Books, 2003) offers the following facts about the bald Eagle:
- In the 1600s, there may have been up to 500,000 Bald Eagles in North America.
- Numbers of Bald Eagles fell due to human persecution, habitat loss, and pesticide use.
- DDT was banned in 1972.
- By 1995 there was a significant increase in Bald Eagle numbers.
- In 2003, there were an estimated 100,000 Bald Eagles in North America.
The return of the Bald Eagle is a great conservation accomplishment. It’s encouraging to know that we’ve apparently managed to save the Bald Eagle, but sobering to think that while one bird was recovering, many more went into decline—at least 12% of the bird species described in the IUCN Red List are threatened.
Read about other endangered birds:
