3 iconic animals show the value of the US Endangered Species Act – and the harm in stripping it away

A Trump administration rule that took effect Sept. 14 redefines harm under the Endangered Species Act to cover only direct injury or killing, removing a half-century-old interpretation, upheld by the Supreme Court, that counted habitat destruction as harm. A companion memo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director further limits violations to intentional killing, meaning a ship strike on a whale or habitat loss from construction would no longer qualify unless the harm was deliberate.

The administration also finalized removal of the Blanket 4(d) Rule, which had automatically protected species listed as threatened. Researchers point to the Florida panther, with an adult population estimated between 120 and 230, the North Atlantic right whale, down to about 380 animals, and the monarch butterfly, whose population has dropped roughly 80% in a decade, as species whose habitat-dependent protections would effectively disappear under the new reading even though they remain listed on paper.

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