Endangered Species: Species Information (Factsheets)

There are over 1,300 species listed as either endangered or threatened in the United States under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service, in the Department of the Interior, and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, in the Department of Commerce, share responsibility for administering the ESA. Their responsibilities include:

• listing and delisting species,
• designating critical habitat,
• developing recovery plans, and
• evaluating the status of the species every 5 years in five-year reviews.

NMFS manages the marine species, and the FWS manages the remainder of the listed species, the terrestrial and freshwater species. Through the Listing Program, FWS and NMFS determine whether to add a species to the Federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. Once listed, a species is afforded the full range of protections available under the ESA, including prohibitions on killing, harming, or otherwise "taking" a species.

EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs has 12 species-specific Fact Sheets that offer a summary of these listed species, including their status, description, range, habitat, biology and behavior. One of these Fact Sheets, for the Karner blue butterfly, is found in conjunction with Endangered Species Protection Bulletins for specific counties in Michigan and Wisconsin. View EPA's 12 endangered species fact sheets.

To find information on the threatened and endangered species that FWS and NOAA Fisheries Service protect, please visit their websites:

FWS Endangered Species Web site
NOAA Fisheries Service Endangered Species Web site