On January 17, 2014, President Obama signed into law the $1.1 trillion dollar Omnibus Spending Bill, thereby funding the federal government through October 1. Included in the Bill was a provision directing the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate an exemption that exempted the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), the dama gazelle (Gazella dama), and the addax antelope (Addax nasomaculatus) from the Endangered Species Act. The rider was introduced by Representative John Carter (R-Tex). As we recently reported, proponents of the rider believe that exempting the species will incentivize ranchers to maintain their populations in order to profit from hunting revenue. Since the species were re-listed as endangered in 2012, their populations have fallen significantly.
