Information About US Endangered Species

The US Endangered Species Act (ESA) was established in 1973 to protect endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems on which they depend. The ESA is administered jointly by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Department.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA maintain a superb database of the species currently protected under the ESA (this database is called the 'Threatened and Endangered Species System' or 'TESS').

I have summarized some of the data available at the TESS website for quick reference. The following pages provide a breakdown of threatened and endangered animals in the US according to animal group. Entries on these lists provide links to species profiles within the TESS database:

• US Endangered Amphibians (A&W Fact Sheet)
• US Endangered Birds (A&W Fact Sheet)
• US Endangered Fishes (A&W Fact Sheet)
• US Endangered Mammals (A&W Fact Sheet)
• US Endangered Reptiles (A&W Fact Sheet)

Find out more: Threatened and Endangered Species System (TESS) (US F&WS)

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