Trump administration moves to gut a core endangered species protection
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At the centre of the change is what it means to “take” an endangered animal, something that has long been prohibited under the Act.
PHOTO: AFP
Catrin Einhorn
WASHINGTON - In what would be a seismic shift, the Trump administration is quietly moving to strip a core protection of the Endangered Species Act, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times.
Under a new interpretation of the law’s language outlined in the memo, the accidental killing or injury of an animal would no longer be considered illegal; only actions specifically intending to target an animal would.