US law protecting endangered species hampered by poor resources, study says

Findings highlight how Endangered Species Act has failed in recovering flora and fauna through its 50 years

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has long been hampered by inadequate resources, leaving the US's foremost law for protecting plants and animals filled with delays and failures in species recovery, researchers said on Wednesday.

The findings, published in the scientific journal Plos One on the eve of the law's 50th anniversary, helped shed light on why, despite hundreds of species listed, only 54 in the country have fully recovered.