The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the Trump administration for failing to protect the Florida pine snake under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The pine snake lives in Florida, along with three other states: South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
“These amazing snakes are hidden gems of the Southeast, but if they don’t get Endangered Species Act protections soon there’s a real chance they could go extinct,” said Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center, in a statement.
“Florida pine snakes are secretive, but that doesn’t mean their plight should be ignored," Scanlan said.
The lawsuit, said Center for Biological Diversity officials, was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Florida pine snakes are "large snakes that spend most of their time underground, using their spade-shaped head to dig or occupying burrows made by other species," according to the Center. They mostly live in "sandy, open-canopied pine upland ecosystems" of the region's coastal plain.
Center officials said high numbers of the slow-moving snakes are killed by motorists on road and that people also kill them "intentionally, mistaking them for rattlesnakes because they hiss and have a similar appearance."
The Center first petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Florida pine snakes under the Endangered Species Act in 2012.
“Protecting Florida pine snakes will also help safeguard the incredible biodiversity and natural beauty of the pine uplands,” said Scanlan. “So much damage has already been done but the Fish and Wildlife Service has a chance to live up to its mission and protect these pine snakes along with the places they call home.”
