WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2025— The Trump administration today proposed removing protections for several species that look similar to threatened and endangered wildlife, including the puma, shovelnose sturgeon and several species of blue butterflies and turtles.

These protections are critical tools to prevent threats to the federally protected Florida panther, Miami blue butterfly, pallid sturgeon, bog turtle, desert tortoise and Pearl River map turtle.

“It’s disturbing to see the Trump administration moving to strip crucial Endangered Species Act protections from yet more animals, with potentially devastating consequences,” said Lia Comerford, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Nothing has changed for these pumas, blue butterflies, sturgeon and turtles. They stil

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