Last fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced their intention to “delist” the ivory-billed woodpecker, pulling it from the official record of endangered species. That’s not because it had miraculously recovered, but because it was believed to be gone entirely—extinct.
Ivory-billed experts were furious.
“Absurd,” one said. Another declared himself “blindsided.”
Soon, a team of scientists announced that they had photographic proof of the ivory-billed woodpecker’s continued existence. Other ornithologists called this new evidence dubious.
The whole kerfuffle at least gave the ivory-billed woodpecker a brief reprieve: earlier this month, USFWS granted itself an extra six months to contemplate whether or not this bird exists.
