SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Illinois officials are set to remove the peregrine falcon from the state’s threatened species list.
The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers reports the bird will be taken off the list in the coming weeks after action by a legislative committee. The formal removal process has been going on for more than three years, after the bird has made a comeback in the state.
The peregrine falcon was once on the U.S. endangered species list, as the use of the pesticide DDT in the mid-20th century caused its population to decline severely. It was removed from the national list in 1999.
Illinois State University zoology professor Angelo Capparella says the peregrine falcon’s comeback is a success story of the endangered species designation.