Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the Regulation That Excludes U.S. Captive-Bred Scimitar-Horned Oryx, Addax, and Dama Gazelle From Certain Prohibitions

Résumé

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are revising the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), by removing the exclusion of U.S. captive-bred live wildlife and sport-hunted trophies of three endangered antelopes-- scimitar-horned oryx, addax, and dama gazelle--from the prohibition of certain activities, such as take and export, under the Act. This change to the regulations is in response to a court order that found that the rule for these three species violated section 10(c) of the Act. These three antelope species remain listed as endangered under the Act, and a person will need to qualify for an exemption or obtain an authorization under the current statutory and regulatory requirements to conduct any prohibited activities.