Trump administration moves to gut a core endangered species protection

At the centre of the change is what it means to “take” an endangered animal, something that has long been prohibited under the Act.

In what would be a seismic shift, the Trump administration is quietly moving to strip a core protection of the Endangered Species Act, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times.

Under a new interpretation of the law’s language outlined in the memo, the accidental killing or injury of an animal would no longer be considered illegal; only actions specifically intending to target an animal would.