The Endangered Species Act in Kansas
The light yellow-shaded areas of these maps represent counties or regions where an Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed species is believed or known to be present in the State of Kansas. The data are current as of March, 2019, and are derived from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Environmental Conservation Online System’s (ECOS) ESA dataset. There may be other federally listed species that are not currently known or expected to occur in Kansas, but they are covered by the ESA wherever they are found unless they are part experimental non-essential populations.
There are presently seventeen ESA listed species in Kansas, fifteen of which are animals, and two that are plants.
The American burying beetle is listed as endangered wherever it is found, except when listed as an experimental population. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in the southeastern part of the state.
The Arkansas River Basin shiner is a small fish listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several counties in the southwestern part of the state.
The Black-footed ferret is listed as endangered wherever found, except where listed as an experimental population. In Kansas it occurs only as a single experimental, non-essential population in south-central Logan County.
The Gray bat is listed as endangered wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in Crawford County.
The Least tern is the smallest of the gull and tern family and is listed as endangered wherever it is found. Fairly widespread throughout the Central United States, in Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several regions of the state.
Mead’s milkweed is a milkweed native to the Central United States that is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several of the states eastern counties.
The Neosho madtom is a small freshwater catfish that is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several counties in the southeastern part of the state.
The Neosho mucket is freshwater mussel that is listed as endangered wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several counties in the southeastern part of the state
The Northern long-eared bat is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in many counties in the central and eastern part of the state.
The Pallid sturgeon is listed as endangered wherever it occurs, with the majority of its range in the Missouri River system. It is believed or known to be present in Kansas in five of the state’s northeastern counties.
The Piping plover is a migratory shore bird that is listed as endangered or threatened depending on which of two population groups it belongs to. In Kansas it is listed as threatened and is believed or known to occur in one county in the Red Hills, one county in the central part of the state and two adjoining counties in the northeastern part of the state.
The Rabbitsfoot is a freshwater mussel that is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several counties in the southeastern part of the state.
The Red knot is a migratory bird that winters in Central and South America. It is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to be present in a four county region in the center of the state.
The Spectaclecase is a fairly widespread freshwater mussel that is listed as endangered wherever it is found. In Kansas, the Spectaclecase is believed or known to occur in just Linn County in the southeastern part of the state.
The Topeka shiner is a small fish that is listed as endangered wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in several counties in the eastern part of the state, as well as one western county.
The Western prairie fringed orchid is a terrestrial member of the orchid family that is listed as threatened wherever it is found. In Kansas it is believed or known to occur in a few northeastern counties.
The Whooping crane is a migratory bird that summers in the north and winters along the Texas coastal region. In Kansas it is periodically present in the west-central part of the state during its autmn and spring migrations.