For the First Time Ever, Bees Are Added to the Endangered Species List
In a positive move for bees, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has added seven species of yellow-faced bees in Hawaii to the endangered species list.
These are the “first bees in the country to be protected under the Endangered Species Act,” according to the Xerces Society, a non-profit organization that petitioned the Food and Wildlife Service in 2009 to protect the bees. This decision follows the proposed listing of the rusty patched bumble bee — a once-common species endemic to North America that has faced a drastic decline in number.
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