Venus fly trap not to be listed as endangered species

The Venus Fly Trap will not be listed on the Endangered Species List, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife announced.

The agency says the carnivorous plant is not facing an imminent threat of extinction now or in the foreseeable future and therefore does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

While the Venus flytrap occupies a narrow geographic range – growing wild only in North and South Carolina – the species is predicted to remain stable, because protection and active management is expected to remain unchanged.

The Venus flytrap still remains a state threatened species, though, under North Carolina law, and all populations are protected, making it a felony to poach them.

Venus flytrap grows in long-leaf pine wetlands in the coastal plain and sand hills of southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina.