The four bumblebee species now come under California Endangered Species Act.
A court in California, in the United States, has in an order classified bumblebees as fish, thereby extending the legal protection of endangered species to them.
The ruling came on a petition filed by agricultural organisations, which sought legal protection for the bees. These organisations argued that the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) is only applicable to birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and plants and not insects.
They then filed a case against state wildlife officials, seeking to bring four bumblebee species - the Crotch, Franklin, the Suckley cuckoo and the Western bumble bee - under CESA. The Almond Alliance of California vs Fish and Game Commission then reached the California State Appellate Court of the Third District, where judges used liberal interpretation of the word "fish" to place bumblebees under it.
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In an explanation, the court said, the Endangered Species Act has granted the Fish and Game Commission classification ability to declare what is and is not an endangered species, Fox news reported.
The commission is also entirely responsible for compiling "a list of endangered species and a list of threatened species," as per the law and the commission's authority was also determined to be "not limited to listing just aquatic invertebrates," according to the court.
Before 1969, the California law defined fish as "wild fish, mollusks, or crustaceans, including any portion, spawn, or ova thereof." In the same year, the legislature expanded the definition of fish to include invertebrates and amphibians, the Fox News report further said.
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In the documents of the decision taken, the judges added, "We acknowledge the scope of the definition is ambiguous", thereby reversing a lower court's decision.
The supporters praised the surprising ruling by the court terming it as "a win for the bumblebees", as it will allow California to legally protect the bees and help maintain the state's biodiversity.