A once rare Colorado River fish, which had dwindled to only about 100 left of the species, has been pulled from the brink of extinction.
The government will seek to reclassify the razorback sucker from endangered to threatened. That means it’s still at risk of extinction, but the danger is no longer immediate.
Razorback suckers once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but by the 1980s they dwindled to about 100. Researchers blame non-native fish that preyed on the razorback suckers, and dams that disrupted their habitat.
Biologists increased their numbers to over 50,000 by raising the fish in hatcheries, removing predators and changing dam operations.
Earlier this year, the government recommended changing the humpback chub from endangered to threatened.