Partnering to save endangered animals: Connecticut

We're so excited about the new interactive map highlighting endangered species efforts in each state across the nation. Each day we'll feature a state, partner and animal. Subscribe on the right to keep up!

Your only chance at seeing the tiny Puritan tiger beetle is in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the Connecticut River in New England. Historically, there were 11 populations along the Connecticut River, but only these two remain.

The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge has long been the driving force in protecting and restoring the embattled beetle population on state- and city-owned property in Massachusetts. It was only natural for them to lead the efforts to help protect and maintain the beetles' other population in Connecticut. Read more of the story.

Puritan tiger beetles are voracious predators, preying on other invertebrates
by chasing and catching them in a tiger-like manner. Credit: Susi von Oettingen/USFWS

Here are some other stories featured on Connecticut’s page:

• Small-whorled pogonia: This member of the orchid family grows in acidic soils on slopes near small streams in Litchfield and New London Counties. The plant is named for the whorl of 5 to 6 leaves near the top of the stem and beneath the flower. 
• Dwarf wedgemussel: This freshwater mussel inhabits streams in drainages and streams within Hartford and Tolland Counties. Poor water quality and habitat conditions have led to the decline of the species and threaten the remaining populations.
• Bog turtle: North America's smallest turtle, the bog turtle faces the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat from wetland alteration, development, pollution, invasive species and plant succession.
• Atlantic Coast piping plover: Find out how human activities affect this dainty, sand-colored shorebird on both its breeding and wintering grounds.  
• New England cottontail: This native rabbit’s population has plummeted over the last several decades, and though it’s disappeared from 86 percent of its historical range, the rabbit can be found in New Hampshire.