before tHe endangered SPecies act
The Endangered Species Act was created to protect animals that are in danger of extinction. Before the act animals were at risk of becoming extinct. We were losing the ability to maintain the natural habitat of precious species. Poaching, capturing, harming, killing, and harassing an animal was a legal act. Before the Endangered Species Act was established there were multiple efforts to save endangered species, such as the early United States Wildlife Law, the Lacey act of 1990, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and the Endangered Species Act and Wildlife Protection Laws. People were not held responsible for their actions towards animals and did not follow anything, except for their moral beliefs of what was right and what was wrong.