米、世界最大級のキツツキ含め２３種の絶滅発表

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米魚類野生生物局（ＦＷＳ）は２９日、「Ｌｏｒｄ　Ｇｏｄ　Ｂｉｒｄ（神の鳥）」の愛称で知られる世界最大級のキツツキを含む２３種の絶滅を発表した。（写真は１９３５年に米ルイジアナ州で撮影されたハシジロキツツキの静止画像。米コーネル大学鳥類学研究所提供）
　ＦＷＳは、政府の研究者が発見を断念したことから、鳥類、イガイ、魚類、植物、オオコウモリ計２３種を、「絶滅の危機にひんする種の保存に関する法律」（種の保存法）の対象から外すことを提案した。
　この中でおそらく最も有名なのは、世界最大級のキツツキで、鮮やかな白黒の羽毛ととがった羽冠、レモンイエローの目を特徴とするハシジロキツツキだ。
　この数十年間、米国南東部で何度か未確認の目撃情報があるが、１９４０年代を最後に生息を示す確かな証拠が確認されておらず、野鳥の観察者にとっては何としてでも見つけ出したい聖杯のような存在になっている。
　ハシジロキツツキは「Ｌｏｒｄ　Ｇｏｄ　Ｂｉｒｄ」と呼ばれているが、米コーネル大学鳥類学研究所の名誉所長、ジョン・フィッツパトリック氏によれば、これは「Ｌｏｒｄ　Ｇｏｄ，　ｗｈａｔ　ａ　ｂｉｒｄ（神よ、何たる鳥だ）」という表現から生まれたとされている。
　フィッツパトリック氏はＡＦＰに対し、「ハシジロキツツキを絶滅寸前まで追い込んだ根本的な原因は南東部の原生林の消失だ。これは南北戦争後に始まった」と指摘した。
　同氏は、他の鳥類の絶滅に関する政府の決定には同意するものの、ハシジロキツツキにはまだ希望があると思うとして、「１０年に１回は他国から信ぴょう性の高い報告があり、１９８０年代にはキューバからハシジロキツツキがまだ生息しているという報告があった」と話した。
　デブ・ハーランド内務長官は、「気候変動と自然地域の消失によって多くの種が危機にひんしている今こそ、米国の野生生物を救うために、積極的に協調的かつ革新的な取り組みに力を入れるべきだ」と述べた。
　米生物多様性センターの上席研究員ティエラ・カリー氏は、ジョー・バイデン政権が絶滅危惧種の保護に６０００万ドル（約６７億円）の予算増額を要求したことを評価する一方で、ＦＷＳの局長ポストがいまだ不在であることを批判。「絶滅は避けられないものではない。政治的な選択だ」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/01-16:18）

The United States on Wednesday declared 23 species extinct, including one of the world's largest woodpeckers, dubbed the Lord God Bird.
The announcement came via the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which proposed to remove the birds, mussels, fish, as well as a plant and fruit bat from Endangered Species Act protections because government scientists have given up on ever finding them again.
With climate change and natural area loss pushing more and more species to the brink, now is the time to lift up proactive, collaborative, and innovative efforts to save America's wildlife, said interior secretary Deb Haaland in a statement.
Perhaps the most iconic of the species was the Ivory-billed woodpecker, with the last indisputable evidence of its existence coming in the 1940s.
Noted for its striking black-and-white plumage, pointed crest and lemon-yellow eye, it has been something of Holy Grail for birders in recent decades, with numerous unconfirmed sightings over the years in the southeastern US.
The fundamental thing that drove the woodpecker down to near extinction was the loss of the southeastern first growth forests, which really started taking place after the Civil War, John Fitzpatrick, director emeritus of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, told AFP.
Fitzpatrick was part of efforts to search for the bird in Arkansas and other regions in the mid-2000s -- but added that, while he agreed with the government about its decision regarding the other bird species, he believed there is still hope for the woodpecker.
Every decade there have been reasonably credible reports coming out of the US, and in the 1980s out of Cuba, that it still existed, he said.
The species was revered not just by Alexander Wilson and John James Audobon, considered the founding fathers of ornithology, but also by collectors who hunted them.
Its nickname, Lord God Bird, was said to be derived from the expression Lord God, what a bird, said Fitzpatrick.
Other species declared extinct include Bachman's warbler, a songbird last documented in Cuba in 1981, and eight species of freshwater mussel, which rely on healthy streams and clean reliable water.
Eleven species from Hawai'i and Guam are included in the list, including the Kauai akialoa and nukupu'u, known for their long, curved beaks, and Kauai 'o'o that was said to have a haunting call.
Also lost was San Marcos gambusia, a freshwater fish from Texas last spotted in 1983.
- Climate pressure -
Despite the sad news, Fitzpatrick said there was some cause for optimism.
Since it was enacted in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of plants and animals under its care.
These include bird species like the whooping crane, which numbered as few as 16 individuals in the 1940s but have since recovered to 500 or 600.
On the other hand, today's endangered species also have to contend with the pressures of climate change.
Saltmarsh sparrows for example live in coastal marshes that are being rapidly disrupted by sea level rise.
Tiera Curry, a senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity, praised President Joe Biden's administration for requesting a hefty $60 million increase in endangered species protections, but criticized the fact a new FWS director had yet to be appointed.
Extinction is not inevitable. It is a political choice. Saving species isn?t rocket science. As a country we need to stand up and say we aren?t going to lose any more species to extinction, she said.