19 Oct 2015

Endangered species list open for unique fauna

9:13 am on 19 October 2015

Officials from the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office are in American Samoa to solidify plans to list five species as endangered.

The acting field supervisor Krisiti Young and a biologist, James Kwon, are meeting with local agencies to gather more information about the species proposed for protection.

The species are the Ma'o birds, the Pacific sheath-tailed bat, the Sisi snail and the Tutuila tree snail.

Ms Young says this is the first time species endemic to American Samoa have been proposed for the endangered species list.

Kristi Young says a 60-day consultation period is now open.

"People can submit written information about the proposal or any information that people have, or stories about the history of these species here because they are very endemic, many of them are unique to American Samoa."

Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Pago Pago, American Samoa. Photo: AFP