Center for Biological Diversity


For Immediate Release, February 12, 2016

Contact: Leigh Moyer, (520) 623-5252 x 313, lmoyer@biologicaldiversity.org 

10,000 Endangered Species Condoms to Be Given Away for Valentine's Day

Condoms, Animated Video Highlight Impact of Human Population
Growth on Wildlife in Age of Dating App

TUCSON, Ariz.— With Valentine’s Day right around the corner and romance in the air, the Center for Biological Diversity is distributing 10,000 free Endangered Species Condoms across the United States to remind couples that safe sex saves wildlife. Condoms will be distributed at Valentine’s Day events on college campuses and in cities in 35 states.

A Guy and a Bear“Finding love can be hard in the human world, but as human population grows — and with it overconsumption — habitat loss, resource depletion and climate change make it next to impossible for wildlife to thrive,” said Leigh Moyer, the Center’s population organizer. “That’s why it is so important that we bring population growth back into the environmental conversation. Endangered Species Condoms make starting that conversation easier. They really get your attention.”

The Endangered Species Condoms are wrapped in colorful packages featuring six different endangered species and information about the impact of runaway human population growth on polar bears, monarch butterflies and other imperiled wildlife. The Center has given away 650,000 free Endangered Species Condoms since 2009.

“For the past two years I have been lucky enough to be able to a part of this important movement to educate people about how endangered species are threatened by human population growth,” said Melissa Tran, who will distribute condoms at Truman State University around Valentine’s Day. “I feel like I'm making a difference by actively educating my fellow peers.”

In addition to distributing Endangered Species Condoms, the Center is also releasing a short animated video featuring two friends, a human and a polar bear, and the complications the human dating scene can cause for the wildlife mating scene. The video shows the friends using a dating app to find matches in their area, similar to the types of apps used by millions every day across the United States, such as Tinder, where users “swipe right” to choose love or “swipe left” to keep looking. 

“With 50 million people swiping a collective 1.4 billion times on Tinder every day, isn’t it time for us to swipe right for wildlife?” said Moyer. “In the United States, half of all pregnancies are unplanned. We need to make sure that every person has the education and resources to decide if, when and how many children they have.”

The United Nations’ predicts that the world’s human population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and exceed 11 billion by 2100. The population of the United States is likely to reach 389 million in 2050, growing by more than 200 million people since 1950. The world’s human population is currently 7.4 billion.

Scientists agree that we are currently in the midst of the planet’s sixth mass wildlife extinction. While previous extinction periods were driven by geological or cosmic factors, the current crisis is caused by human activities.  

The Center’s population and sustainability program uses creative media to promote a range of common-sense solutions like access to family planning and reproductive health services, as well as education, opportunity and equal rights for women and girls.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 990,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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