For Immediate Release, December 29, 2014

Contact: Taralynn Reynolds, (520) 345-5713, treynolds@biologicaldiversity.org

40,000 Free Endangered Species Condoms Handed Out to Ring in New Year

New Year’s Eve Campaign Focuses on Sex, Condoms and Wildlife Extinction

TUCSON, Ariz.— This New Year’s Eve, the busiest night of the year for getting busy, the Center for Biological Diversity is drawing attention to the connection between safe sex and saving wildlife by handing out 40,000 free Endangered Species Condoms with the help of 500 volunteers across the country.

Volunteers will be handing out condoms at office parties, masquerade balls, shopping malls, doctors’ offices, bars, family gatherings and New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Alligator snapping turtle
Photo courtesy Center for Biological Diversity. Design by Lori Lieber. Artwork by Roger Peet © 2012. Photos are available for media use.

“More people wind up having sex on New Year’s Eve than any other time in the year, so it’s the perfect opportunity for people to talk about how wearing a condom can help save room on our planet for wildlife,” said Taralynn Reynolds, the Center’s population and sustainability organizer. “With more than 7 billion people on the planet, we can no longer ignore the fact that rampant human population growth and overconsumption are driving species extinct.”

Every day 227,000 people are added to the planet, leaving less room for wildlife. According to a new report in Nature, 22,413 species are currently at risk of extinction. Unsustainable growth of the human population — which tops 7 billion today and could hit 12 billion by 2100 — is a key driver of environmental crises around the globe, including the loss of wildlife.

“We have the knowledge necessary to stop species from going extinct,” Reynolds said. “Universal access to family planning, reproductive healthcare, and women and girl’s education saves human lives and wildlife. Talking about population can feel awkward, but it’s a critically important conversation. Besides, who wouldn’t want to ‘wrap with care’ if it could save the polar bear?”

The Endangered Species Condoms come in colorful packages featuring six different endangered species and information to help volunteers start the conversation about the impact of runaway human population growth on polar bears, panthers and other imperiled wildlife. The Center has given away more than 600,000 Endangered Species Condoms since 2009 through a volunteer network of more than 50,000 people nationwide.

The Center’s Population and Sustainability program promotes a range of solutions, including universal access to birth control and family planning, as well as education and empowerment of women and girls. The program’s holiday outreach also includes the new infographic “The Most Wasteful Time of Year,” which highlights the effects of wanton holiday-season overconsumption on wildlife.

To find out if Endangered Species Condoms are being given away in your area, please contact Taralynn Reynolds at treynolds@biologicaldiversity.org.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 800,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

 


Go back