Fish and Wildlife Service November 9, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to list the Egyptian tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni), a terrestrial tortoise from Libya, Egypt, and Israel, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This determination also serves as our 12-month finding on a petition requesting that the Egyptian tortoise be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act. After a review of the best scientific and commercial information available, we find that listing the species is warranted. Accordingly, we propose to list the Egyptian tortoise, as a threatened species with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act (``4(d) rule''). If we finalize this rule as proposed, it would add this species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and extend the Act's protections to the species.