The extinction of animal species has serious implications in that the disappearance of even one group of animals could have unwanted effects on other animals, plants and humans. The loss of seemingly small and trivial animals, for instance, could prompt a chain reaction that could disrupt ecological balance and affect the population and survival of the animals' preys and predators as well as the food chains that involve these animals.
It is for the avoidance of such consequences that conservation groups and the government promote and adopt measures that would protect endangered animals including two butterflies that can be found in South Florida, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday will be officially considered as endangered under the federal law.
Once the Florida leafwing and Bartram's scrub-hairstreak butterflies are included in the Endangered Species Act, which will become official come Sept. 11, capturing or harming the butterflies or their larvae will become illegal to protect the animals' dwindling population.
Thousands of acres in Monroe and Miami-Dade Counties will also be designated to be the butterflies' critical habitat but this apparently poses a problem as a large tract of the area circles Zoo Miami and includes areas where a developer has been in the early stages of building a shopping center and apartments.
Federal officials said that the listing and designation of the habitat won't stop the development but the area needs to be carefully managed. Developers should also obtain construction permit to avoid conflicts with the law.
"Anything that's going to be done with these animals has to have our review," said Mark Salvato, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're not to the finish line yet, but it would be pretty bad if someone knew this was going forward and rushed to mow down butterfly habitat."
The listing of the two Florida butterflies in the endangered species list is part of a 2011 settlement of a lawsuit filed by the conservation group Center for Biological Diversity, which claimed that the wildlife agency failed to come up with measures and actions to protect over 700 wildlife species it has flagged as likely endangered. The group wanted the agency to speed up the protection of the threatened species.
"This is an important victory for these two struggling Florida butterflies," said Jaclyn Lopez, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity. "This designation should help protect the rare and disappearing pine rocklands that are important habitat for a host of Florida species."
