Environmentalists today petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to add a hooting California bird called the Mount Pinos sooty grouse to the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
Once found high in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains, the bird has since been driven out of most of its habitat in recent decades, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The lovely Mount Pinos sooty grouse could easily go extinct without immediate federal protection,” said Brian Segee, endangered species legal director at the center, adding that “these captivating birds have already disappeared from Southern California, including their namesake Mount Pinos, and without protection their remaining populations could be lost forever.”
The environmental group’s petition cites logging, livestock grazing and loss of high-elevation forest and meadow habitat due to climate change as among the leading threats to the species, with hunting a danger as well.
