New Stamps Spotlight Endangered Species; Feature Florida Panther

The Laysan teal (Anas laysanensis)
is the world’s rarest duck.
Populations have dramatic ups and
downs within its small home range in
the northwestern Hawaiian islands.
Careful reintroduction of captive-
bred populations, introductions to
other well-suited islands, and
eradication of invasive rodents are
bolstering hope for its survival.

The Black-footed ferret (Mustela
nigripes) is one of America’s most
endangered mammals. In the late
19th and early 20th centuries, when
grassland was largely converted
to farmland, the resulting decline
in prairie dog populations deprived
the ferrets of their food source.
Conservation efforts have
bolstered populations, though
diseases still imperil the species.

The Wyoming toad (Anaxyrus
baxteri). A few years after a
dramatic 1970s population crash,
this toad was feared extinct—and
did indeed die out in the wild.
Existing today mostly through
captive-breeding programs, they
are being cautiously reintroduced
to carefully monitored Wyoming habitat. Like amphibians worldwide,
this species is hypersensitive to pollution and fungal infections.

The Attwater’s prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupidoattwateri),
One of America’s rarest birds, is the namesake of a Texas refuge
established to prevent its
extinction. Unrestricted early-20th
century hunting collapsed
populations of this grouse species,
and humans have repurposed most
of its former coastal prairie
habitat. Further, invasive fire ants
decimate insects the chicks need
for nutrition.

The Thick-billed parrot
(Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha). By
around the early 1990s, the parrot
had disappeared from its U.S. range
in the Southwest. Mexican forests
are now the bird’s only home; the
cutting of old-growth trees
threatens the survival of this
beautiful parrot. Trapping for the
illegal pet trade may also
contribute to ever-shrinking flock sizes.

The Nashville crayfish
(Faxoniusshoupi) lives only in the
streams around its namesake city.
Promising programs involve the
community to remedy habitat
degradation caused by
agricultural runoff, siltation, and
invasive species. Measures include
habitat revitalization and stenciled
“No Dumping” signs on storm drains
that spill into this endangered
invertebrate’s home waters.

The Mexican gray wolf
(Canis lupus baileyi) is the nation’s
rarest gray wolf subspecies. For
three decades it virtually
disappeared from its U.S. range in
New Mexico and Arizona until it was reintroduced in 1998. Today its
numbers are growing steadily. Cooperative efforts with Mexico
give wildlife biologists hope for
wolf recovery.

The Candy darter (Etheostoma osburni). For the last few decades, the gene pool of the candy darter has become diluted from interbreeding
with an invasive, more aggressive
darter species—likely introduced
as live bait. Anglers can help by not
discarding unused live bait in
streams anywhere, and by not using live bait at all in the candy darter’s Virginia–West Virginia range.

The San Francisco garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia).
The beautifully colored snake lives in grassy aquatic habitats on
California’s San Francisco
Peninsula and environs. One of the
first species listed as endangered,
its imperilment partly results from diminishing populations of the
frogs it favors as food, and by
habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni). Populations of these sheep are again rebounding
after dramatic changes. Though the sheep have adapted to withstand drought, competition with
introduced livestock for scarce
water and forage took a huge toll
in the early 20th century. After a
midcentury comeback, an epidemic struck in 1978. Captive breeding and careful management are keys to the latest rebound.

The Florida panther (Puma
concolor couguar), the only East Coast cougar, is now isolated and restricted to about five percent of its historic range due to increased
human population and land
development in the Southeast.
Vehicle collisions take a toll on the
panther’s numbers, so drivers in
this wildcat’s habitat are asked to
be particularly alert and slow
down.

The Key Largo cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus allapaticola). Larger and differently colored
than other cotton mice, this mouse
now ranges solely on its namesake Florida island. It depends on
hardwood forest habitat that is
now diminished and fragmented.
Pets prey on the mouse, so keeping house cats indoors can help
preserve this animal.

The Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri),
darker and smaller than other
marsh rabbit subspecies, feeds on grasses, succulent herbs, and
sedges in the Florida Keys. Its
native marshland range has been reduced by development and
isolated by rising sea level; its
numbers have been diminished by
pet cats, vehicle collisions, and
storm surges.

The Vancouver Island marmot
(Marmota vancouverensis). Captive breeding programs may be the
only way to save this marmot. Transformation of its habitat due
to logging and climate change and increased predation, including by invasive species, have contributed
to its imperilment. This large
ground squirrel is named after its
home in British Columbia, Canada.

The Mississippi sandhill crane
(Antigone canadensis pulla).
Through a managed breeding flock, numbers of the crane are being bolstered but are still perilously
low. Captive-bred birds are regularly introduced into a wetland wildlife refuge in Mississippi that bears the subspecies’ name. Land development and invasive plants have gradually diminished the Gulf Coast habitat of this four-foot-tall bird.

The Roanoke logperch (Percina
rex). River engineering and water pollution from erosion have taken
their toll on the logperch. This
small fish uses its pointy nose to
flip stones on the bottoms of
streams, revealing aquatic insects
to eat. However, dirt in the water interferes with their feeding, and
only a few isolated populations are left in rivers in VA and NC.

The Piping plover (Charadrius
melodus). Especially endangered in
the Great Lakes area but also
found along the Atlantic coastline, the
piping plover nests directly on sandy areas such as beaches, tidal flats,
and sandbars. It is vulnerable not
only to predators but also to
human activity, including flooding
when waters are released from
river dams.

The Masked bobwhite quail
(Colinus virginanus ridgwayi).
Believed extinct a century ago, this quail is on its way to a comeback at
a southern Arizona refuge, where it
has been captive bred from parents discovered in nearby Sonora,
Mexico. Foster fathers of a similar subspecies teach and protect reintroduced chicks, and habitat restoration provides appropriate vegetative cover from predators
and desert heat.

The Guam Micronesian kingfisher (Halcyon cinnamominacinnamomina)
is now virtually extinct in the wild. Conservation in captive breeding programs is its only hope. Invasive brown tree snakes eat their eggs
and are largely culpable, though
other invasive species, human development, and insecticide use
have also taken a toll.

The golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia), a small songbird ranging in Texas, Mexico, and Central America, is vulnerable to habitat loss; the forests where it breeds are being cut for logging
and to clear land for agricultural
use and other development. To
thrive, this warbler requires
sizable areas of tall, dense, mature forest.