The Quino checkerspot butterfly in California and the earless monitor lizard in Washington may receive protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The California Fish and Game Commission voted in mid-August to declare the checkerspot buttery a candidate species under the state’s ESA. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will now conduct a review to determine whether the species should receive permanent protections under the act.
In Washington, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the earless monitor lizard as threatened under the federal ESA. The listing would ban U.S. imports, exports and sales of earless monitors that are taken from the wild.
