Last November, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed “delisting” Yellowstone Park's grizzly bears from their "threatened" status, declaring them recovered. However, not everyone agrees:
The scientists and researchers said in their letter that an isolated population of 500 to 600 bears does not constitute a biologically recovered one.Here's hoping that their efforts are successful in keeping the bears protected.
A population of 2,000 to 3,000 is needed for genetic diversity and to withstand regional variations such as food sources, they said. A smaller one is likely to go extinct, they argued.
Categories: endangered species | grizzly bears | Yellowstone
