A nonprofit is trying to save a highly threatened species from falling off the map before it's too late.
The Center for Biological Diversity shared a press release about its lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that aims to protect the blue tree monitor lizard from the rampant pet trade.
In 2024, the service implemented emergency measures to temporarily designate the lizards as endangered, but those protections expired at the end of last year. That could spell doom for the species' survival.
"It's gut-wrenching that federal officials have already recognized the immense danger these lizards are in but are now leaving them in limbo," said Dianne DuBois, a staff scientist at the center.
At the time of the measures, the service said that the pet trade "may soon lead to the extirpation of the species."
Indonesia has already prohibited exports of the endangered lizard, but that hasn't stopped poachers from illegally capturing and selling them.
The lizard is found only in the wild on one Indonesian island, Batanta, and a combination of the pet trade and habitat loss has "devastated" its natural population, per the release.
Despite the protections, the center noted that its popularity in the U.S. is only increasing. They're sought after for their distinctive blue and green scales, and a Google search shows they can sell for thousands of dollars.
"U.S. consumers can be a powerful and sometimes destructive force," DuBois explained. "As the biggest market for blue tree monitors globally, the United States has an obligation to stop exploiting this species before it causes an extinction halfway around the world."
The center pointed out that letting the protections lapse seems part of a broader trend in the Trump administration. Since taking over, it hasn't used the Endangered Species Act once to safeguard any species.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 The International Union for Conservation of Nature designated blue tree monitor lizards as endangered in 2017, and the center said their numbers are dwindling in areas where they were once prominent.
"Unless we get a ban on trade very soon, we risk losing this species forever," DuBois said.
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