Posts Tagged with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

This is a crime

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Yea they bite hard !!!

Posted by Hunter Hardesty on Thursday, March 7, 2019

Literally. Harassing pelicans & other wildlife is illegal in Florida. It is unfortunate that Hunter Hardesty, of Davidson, Maryland, it such a poor example of a human being that he would first lure, then JUMP ON a wild pelican for a Facebook photo op. But here he is. So let’s take a quick look at what laws he may have broken.

Don’t Feed the Birds

Intentional feeding or the placement of food that attracts pelicans and modifies the natural behavior of the pelican so as to be detrimental to the survival or health of a local population is prohibited.

Florida Administrative Code 68A-4.001

Even beyond the law, feeding wild water birds like this Brown Pelican is bad for them – and not just from jerks like Hunter Hardesty jumping on top of them. The University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, UF/IFAS Extension, has an excellent explanatory publication:

Why Shouldn’t We Feed Water BirdsDownload
Brown Pelican (photo courtesy: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren; Wiki Commons)

Cruelty to Animals

A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

Florida Statute 828.12

The video clearly shows Hunter Hardesty tormenting this pelican; treating it in a cruel and inhumane manner.

Endangered Animals

The brown pelican was delisted in the United States in 1985 and the current brown pelican now exceeds historical numbers. However, this species is still considered endangered throughout the rest of its range.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

So Hunter Hardesty may not have broken any U.S. laws protecting endangered species, he certainly doesn’t regain any ethical ground with his stunt. The National Audubon Society includes the brown pelican on it’s “Climate Endangered” list, as does the Endangered Species Coalition. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service notes:

Brown pelicans were almost entirely lost from North America between 1950 and 1970…

Modern threats to brown pelicans include oil spills and pollution, human disturbance of nesting colonies, and entanglement in fishing gear or debris.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Social media shaming can be misused, but in this case I do hope Hunter Hardesty will face charges and public censure for his actions. This isn’t a matter of “did he or didn’t he”. He chose to record & share his harassment & endangerment of a hapless brown pelican on Facebook, then followed it up with this gem:

For more information about protecting Florida’s wildlife and environment, I recommend another publication from University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation:

Laws that Protect Florida’s WildlifeDownload

Mr. Skink Goes to Washington

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The Center for Biological Diversity is raising the alarm for the Florida Keys Mole Skink. The pink-tailed lizard lives along the shoreline in the lower Florida Keys. It is threatened with extinction by climate-induced sea level rise and encroaching development.

“The Florida Keys mole skink is one of the rarest and most mysterious of Florida natives. This small, five-inch-long lizard has shiny, armor-like scales, a pinkish-red tail and a brown body.” (photo courtesy: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

Center for Biological Diversity is Suing to protect the Florida Keys Mole Skink

Last Monday, the Center “filed a formal notice of its intent to sue the Trump administration for denying protection to the Florida Keys mole skink under the Endangered Species Act.”

Florida Keys Mole Skink is “a secretive animal, living under rocks, leafs, debris and washed-up beach vegetation called tidal wrack. It’s also the southernmost U.S. mole skink, found mainly in Dry Tortugas and the Lower Keys along Florida’s shoreline, living in sandy areas where it burrows deep for refuge.” (photo courtesy: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

[Monday’s] filing noted that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied the skink protection in October despite devastating threats from flooding caused by rising seas, which are expected to inundate nearly half the lizard’s coastal habitat and underground burrows by 2060 and accelerate through the end of the century. Along with climate change, the animal is also threatened by ongoing urban sprawl in the Keys.

 

“Without help the Florida Keys mole skink is definitely headed for extinction,” said Elise Bennett, a Center attorney dedicated to protecting rare reptiles and amphibians. “This little lizard’s only home, the Florida Keys’ sandy coast, is being submerged by rising seas and battered by increasingly intense storms. If we don’t curb greenhouse gas pollution, this lizard and so many other plants and animals will be lost forever.”

In April 2010, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “to list 404 aquatic species from the southeastern United States, including the Florida Keys mole skink, under the Endangered Species Act.” Despite initial positive reviews from the federal agency, the Center has had to file years of legal actions to move the petition along. Then, after violating a court-ordered deadline of September 30, 2017, the federal agency abruptly denied the Florida Keys Mole Skink any protection.

Colorful lizard stands to lose all remaining coastal habitat to sea-level rise by the end of the century

“Its populations are currently in sharp decline because of urban development in the past and sea-level rise now and in the future, which causes flooding that destroys its habitat. Human population has spurred development along the shoreline in the Florida Keys, destroying many of the nooks and crannies this mole skink calls home.” (photo courtesy: Jake Scott, Center for Biological Diversity)

Florida Keys mole skinks can be found in the lower keys in Monroe County, Fla., and are known from the Dry Tortugas. They live along the shoreline around 20 to 31 inches above sea-level in sandy areas where they burrow into the soil and use driftwood, debris and tidal wrack as cover. Although population size for the Florida Keys mole skink is unknown, they have been in steady decline, with one estimate concluding there are between six and 20 populations left.

 

Because they live on shorelines, Florida Keys moles skinks are imminently threatened by rising seas, which are projected to continue to rise 14 to 34 inches by 2060, and 31 to 81 inches by 2100. The decision to deny protections to the skink only looked at a 30- to 40-year timeframe, finding the species will lose at least half its range to sea-level rise during that time. The decision ignored available projections that reflect 100 percent habitat loss through the end of this century.

 

Due to the small number of remaining populations and their vulnerable island locale, these skinks are also at risk of sudden population crashes from extreme weather events fueled by climate change. In September storm surge from Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever seen in the Atlantic Ocean, inundated the Florida Keys.

The Florida Keys mole skink is protected under Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule. It is time that the federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does the same under the Endangered Species Act.

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