Researchers say endangered mouse never existed | Billings Gazette

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Researchers say endangered mouse never existed


Associated Press
A species of animal that had been considered by
biologists to be a Preble's meadow jumping mouse,
above, is probably the same as the Bear Lodge meadow
jumping mouse. The Preble's meadow jumping mouse
was listed as a federally protected species.

Associated Press

CHUGWATER, WY (AP) - After six years of regulations and restrictions that have cost builders, local governments and landowners on the western fringe of the Great Plains as much as $100 million by some estimates, new research suggests the Preble's mouse never actually existed. It instead seems to be genetically identical to one of its cousins, the Bear Lodge meadow jumping mouse, which is considered common enough that it does not need federal protection.

The new research could lead to loss of the Preble's threatened status and removal from Endangered Species Act protection. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to decide that question in December.

"We're trying to be deliberate in our work, trying to get the best science we can and review of the science we do have, in making this decision. Because we know it is very important and serious to a lot of people," said Ralph Morgenweck, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver. "But I would also say it is a lot more complicated than what it appears to be."

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