It always surprises (and saddens) me that despite the greater awareness and huge number of conservation programs, there is still a huge list of endangered animals. Evolution and man have already made innumerable species extinct, but at least there is effort being made to prevent more species suffering the same fate. Here’s just a small selection of endangered animals to give you an idea of how wide a range of wildlife is affected.
1 Northern White Rhinoceros
There are around ten in captivity and that could be just about it as the Northern White Rhino is currently listed as “believed to be extinct in the wild.” They are among the most endangered animals on the planet, and they are one of the biggest and most commonly quoted. There are various species of rhinoceros, most of which appear on the endangered list, and very few live outside of national parks and conservation areas. As recently as 2011, a sub species of the Javan rhino was declared extinct. In Africa, the white rhino (Near Threatened) and black rhino exist in larger numbers than a decade ago, but are a fraction of their number at the beginning of the 20th century.
Frequently asked questions
2 Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
People in North America say that this woodpecker is so endangered that it may have gone extinct already. There have been enough reports of sightings in recent years for it to be listed as not extinct, but as Critically Endangered. The woodpecker has a rough life as it has to find another bird’s nest to lay its eggs, and finding those nests is getting harder because there is just not enough suitable habitat for them.
3 Siamese Crocodile
They live in Southeast Asia and farm land chemicals have corrupted the water so the crocodiles are starving to death. This is one of the oldest species on the planet. This species was kicking around when the dinosaurs were here, and yet now there are only seventy left in the wild.
4 Northern Sportive Lemur
Remember the Madagascar movie? The lemurs in Madagascar are going extinct. This particular species is listed in the “25 Most Endangered Primates in the World.” Lemurs only live naturally in Madagascar and they are slowly being killed off by too much human interference. Soon the sequels to that movie will just be an empty island with a few endangered animals walking around the place. Although kudos has to go to Sir Richard Branson for his Necker Island Lemur breeding program, it would be a greater achievement if lemurs could thrive in their natural home.
5 Northern Right Whale
This is a whale that is going extinct. Their numbers bounced back a little when Japan agreed to stop hunting for a while, but now they have resumed commercial whaling, the Northern Right Whale numbers have fallen to terribly low amounts. They are the most endangered whale although other species are low in number.
6 Arakan Forest Turtle
This is such a rare turtle that it was declared extinct and then in 1994, they were rediscovered (actually in a food market!). It wasn’t, however, until 2009 when they were truly rediscovered in the wild. They only live on a few of the Arakan Hills in Myanmar and there are less than 100 in the entire world. This turtle has failed to respond well to captive breeding programs.
7 Chinese Giant Salamander
It is easy to find who is responsible for this one. The Chinese are eating them to extinction. They are not farming them; they are just killing ones in the wild. There will soon be none left. Normally an animal is farmed, but feeding and caring for them is very time consuming, long and expensive to the point where it is a lot cheaper to go out and hunt them in the wild. While it remains with us, the Chinese Giant Salamander is the world’s largest amphibian.
8 Giant Panda
This is another of the most commonly known endangered animals which is made more popular by the fact we cannot even breed them in captivity, which is usually our last resort for saving a species. The pandas have it tough in the wild, as they have to live in the mountains but travel to the flat land to eat, plus most of their habitat is becoming buildings and car parks.
9 Spix’s Macaw
The Spix Macaw is on the list of “25 Most Endangered Animals in the World.” They are so rare that the only ones in the world are in captivity. The last count showed that only 93 exist in the world. Ironically, their rarity makes their fertilized eggs highly valuable. It is a blue colored bird that used to live in Brazil. Weirdly enough, they are still endangered because every time they try to reintroduce them to the wild, there are people that catch them and sell them on as pets for a massive amount of money.
Not all the endangered animals are so cute they make you want to go ahh, but they all have a place and they all have a right to take up a small space on our massive Earth. Do you think it is right to care about animals going into extinction or do you just see it as a fact of life?
