Environment

Let the Eagle Soar: Baldies removed from Endangered list

by Kaitlin | June 28, 2007 at 03:07 pm

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Oh to be in a Colbert Report writer's meeting today: the Bald Eagle (the Comedy Central host's official spirit animal, inspiring a namesake...and another namesake) has been officially removed from the Endangered Species List. It's an unprecedented event, but the removal has been widely approved. Populations of breeding pairs have soared from 417 to over 10 000 since the Bald Eagle was added to the list. Bald eagles can now be found in 48 states. Thanks, Colbert! I mean...um...thanks, scientists!

The bald eagle was first listed as "endangered" in 1967, after a
decades-long decline caused by hunting, poisoning, and the
eggshell-thinning effects of the pesticide DDT. The act provided
protection for the birds' habitat, and their populations began to
rebound, helped by the banning of the use of DDT in 1972.