JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — When is the last time you saw a bumblebee in Wyoming? Many Equality State residents may have never observed one in their lifetime.
The decline of the American bumblebee has been well-documented. Now comes word the pollinating species is thought to have disappeared from 8 states in total, including Wyoming, and could be headed to extinction.
Some are calling for the bumblebee to be placed under the Endangered Species Act before they are gone from the face of the earth. A petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and Bombus Pollinators Association of Law Students calls for immediate action.
“The American bumble bee was once the most common bumble bee species in North America, but without immediate action to protect it under the ESA, it will continue its alarming decline towards extinction,” the petition’s authors wrote.
In Wyoming—as well as in Idaho and six other states—the bee has reached a “Critically Endangered” status, if not completely eliminated.
“There are 11 records of the American bumblebee in Wyoming and the last observation was made in 1997 (Richardson 2020). Surveys referenced by Cameron et al. (2011) and Koch et al. (2015) failed to find any American bumblebees in Wyoming (USBombus),” the report read.
The American bumblebee exists at only 11% of its historic relative abundance, and its current range has contracted by 19% according to an IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) assessment. The number of recent observations in the northeast and northwest have been reduced to zero or near zero in several states including: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
