SAVE HORSESHOE CRABS FROM MASS DEATH
Dating back to before the dinosaurs, #HorseshoeCrabs are among the Earth's most ancient animals. They've survived for almost half a billion years, but now, in North America, they're at great risk: Each year the #BiomedicalIndustry "harvests" nearly a million crabs to drain their blood. That blood is used in #pharmaceuticals that save human lives — but at a terrible cost to the crabs and the species that depend on them, like #endangered #RedKnots.
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With their #populations at historically low levels, these critters need relief fast.
Luckily a synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood already exists. Europe and Japan have used it for years. Now the U.S. Pharmacopeia — which sets standards in compounding, biologics, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and other fields — has released draft guidelines that would allow the #synthetic alternative in the #UnitedStates, too.
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The alternative is a huge step up from crab blood: It will better protect human health, save millions of horseshoe crabs, and benefit shorebirds like red knots, who need horseshoe crab eggs to fuel their epic migrations.
Help give imperiled horseshoe crabs and shorebirds a fighting chance. Tell the U.S. Pharmacopeia you support a synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood because it's safer and more sustainable.
- Center for Biological Diversity
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Protect Horseshoe Crabs 🦀
#HorseshoeCrabs are one of the most ancient #species on the planet: They've been here since before there were dinosaurs. But in the blink of an eye — in the past three decades — their #populations have crashed. #CommercialFishers chop them up for bait, and the #BiomedicalIndustry drains them of their blood for #MedicalTesting (even though safer synthetic alternatives are available).
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Both of these pressures are driving horseshoe crabs toward #extinction. So in 2024 the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the federal government to protect them under the #EndangeredSpeciesAct.
As we wait for that process to unspool, these ancient creatures desperately need help from the states where they live.
Several states, including #Connecticut and #NewJersey, already have laws banning the harvest of horseshoe crabs.
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The #bans have helped bring more abundant #WildlifePopulations and healthier coastal #ecosystems.
Now #NewYork is poised to join the club. The state legislature recently passed the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, a bill to ban horseshoe crab harvesting in New York. But to become law, this crucial legislation needs the governor's signature.
Horseshoe crabs support scores of other species on land, in the sea, and in the air — including shorebirds like federally protected #RedKnots.
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#RedKnots make one of the world's longest annual migrations and eat #HorseshoeCrab eggs to fuel their epic journeys. As horseshoe crab populations have plummeted, so have numbers of red knots.
Call on #NewYork Gov. #KathyHochul to sign the #HorseshoeCrabProtectionAct and give imperiled horseshoe crabs — and red knots — a fighting chance at #survival.
- Center for Biological Diversity
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anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖
