Because the world is always changing, no information regarding the status of any creature on the planet should be engraved in stone while it still lives and reproduces. It is only proper that so-called "Red" and "Endangered Species" lists be continually reviewed and updated, so that if a species should become threatened or even in actual danger of extinction, the information on its changed status would be published and steps taken to evaluate its life chances under all circumstances. Sometimes, both monitored and unregulated trade in species thought to be at risk can be temporarily diminished or even halted, through increased surveillance and law enforcement efforts. Sometimes, environmental threats can be discovered and mitigated in order that certain species shall benefit and thrive once more. Everyone in the professional wildlife management community agrees that species welfare in the environment must be evaluated through scientific means, so that neither willful neglect nor ignorance shall adversely affect species at risk.

However, in a growing number of cases, species may be inappropriately retained on "endangered" lists, for other than reasons of biological reality. This has been seen with some whale species, although scientific investigation of their numbers, fertility rates, and general health has shown that these animals are not in any danger of extinction from any cause, yet they remain on the Appendix I of CITES. The species remain "paper endangered" in order that political objectives shall be met. Those objectives appear to be the political security of those government administrations whose leaders fear slanderous attacks on them for "endangering" whales through decisions to remove them from an "endangered" status at CITES and the IWC.

Another case is that of a species of sea turtle. The Leatherback turtle has been on the US Endangered Species List for years. However, it may no longer be truly endangered, as its numbers appear to be increasing dramatically in the Atlantic as far north as Nova Scotia, where it feeds heavily on jellyfish from May through October, and then heads back down into the warm Caribbean to lay its eggs.

Fred Bonner, outdoor writer for the Washington Daily News, recently reported that Canadian scientists have been counting, tagging and releasing Leatherback turtles off Nova Scotia in an effort to establish a reasonable population profile and to record the northern part of their life histories. Bonner's piece, "Sea Turtles Might Not be Endangered" appeared on January 6, 2004, and cites a Dalhousie University report that increasing hundreds of the huge "most endangered" of the sea turtles are now regularly appearing off the coast. Furthermore, it is commercial fishermen who are reporting their growing abundance, and who are contributing to the turtle log effort.

Bonner, however, doubts that Leatherbacks will ever be removed from the US Endangered Species List. His opinion is that the nature of modern bureaucracy is that such designations "need" to be maintained in order that civil service jobs not be lost, and that "environmentalists" shall "not be upset". Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect, on the contrary, that environmentalists would be delighted to hear that an endangered species had truly recovered? Yet, this is apparently not the case.

We applaud all those scientists whose work involves honest discovery of the biological status of species, whether they be "endangered" or not. Their work is vital to an understanding of the natural world, and of those environments that are so heavily impacted by people. We recognize the political implications of listing and delisting species of wildlife and plants, and feel that there is an encouraging trend in this area. The Gray whale was properly delisted. Minke whales should be recognized as extremely successful in their environments in all the worlds oceans, and they should be removed from the Appendix I of CITES.

The US government is currently conducting a study of Pacific Humpbacks in order to determine if they have recovered from historical commercial whaling. Bowheads have been found to be increasing in the Arctic, in spite of the fact that they are being hunted regularly in a sustainable way by Inuit peoples.

Despite the political goals of certain "environmentalist" NGOs and the threats they pose to governmental officials, science is slowly being recognized as the only valid measure of success for individual species and their ecosystems. IWMC hopes that in the near future, "Endangered Species" lists shall more closely approximate biological reality.