Who decides on what animals are a protected species?
Individual governments. A protected species is any plant or animal a government declares by law to warrant protection. Most protected species are considered either threatened or endangered. In these cases, a government establishes certain rules regarding the speciesspeciesspecies, that if violated, can result in fines or criminal prosecution. Protected species laws differ from government to government. In the US, state laws may declare a species protected, while federal laws do not. In most cases a federally declared protected species must be respected by the state. Protected species laws tend to aim specifically at maintaining habitats, but some problems exist. Not all countries honor protection of given species. This is particularly important to animals living in the sea. When the US first declared humpback whales as a protected species, some countries still caught and killed them. One government cannot stop another government from reducing the numbers of a protected species. Pressur
