The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is recommending 16 animal species be removed from the state’s threatened species lis.

The recommendations follow biological status reviews of 61 species that began in 2007. Eight of the 16 species recommended for de-listing can be found in Southwest Florida. They include the Black Bear, Brown Pelican, White Ibis, Limpkin, Snowy Egret, Gopher Frog, Florida Tree Snail and a fish called the Mangrove Rivulus.

The recommendations follow the adoption of a new system for identifying imperiled wildlife that the FWC adopted in September of 2010. “The old system was definitely broken,” said Dr. Elsa Haubold who manages the FWC’s biological review process.

“It was incredibly controversial and it was difficult to focus any attention on conservation of our listed species because a lot of the attention was what we call the species. We had a multi-category list. So one of the major changes that we made is that we now have a single category list. Either you’re at a high risk of extinction or you’re not.”

Wildlife Commission staff are in the process of creating a detailed management plan for each of the different species evaluated.

Those plans could take up to three years to complete and will include measures to keep the animals from slipping back into peril.