what was the purpose of the endangered species act
Endangered Species Act of 1973 The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. ยง 1531 et seq.) is one of the few dozens of US environmental laws passed in the 1970s, and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).[1] Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" the ESA "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost."[2] The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Apex predator Because apex predators have powerful effects on other predators, on herbivores, and on plants, they can be important in nature conservation.[21] Humans have hunted many apex predators close to extinction, but in some parts of the world these predators are now returning.[22] They are increasingly threatened by climate change. For example, the polar bear requires extensive areas of sea ice to hunt its prey, typically seals, but climate change is shrinking the sea ice of the Arctic, forcing polar bears to fast on land for increasingly long periods.[23]