Top 10 Most Endangered Animals - OneKindPlanet

Top 10 Most Endangered Animals · 10. Gorillas · 9. Rhinos · 8. Sea turtles · 7. Saola · 6. North Atlantic right whale · 5. Tooth-billed pigeon · 4. Gharial · 3. Kakapo. Close OneKindPlanet|AnimalTop10s|Top10MostEndangeredAnimalsShareForsomespecies,timeonplanetEarthisrunningout.Humanbeingsarethegreatestthreattothesurvivalofendangeredspecieswithpoaching,habitatdestructionandtheeffectsofclimatechangecausingalotoftheproblems.Readontolearnaboutsomeofthebeautifulcreaturesmostinneedofourhelp,protectionandconservation. 10.GorillasGorillasarefascinatingcreaturesthatshare98.3%oftheirDNAwithhumans!Theyarecapableoffeelingemotionslikewedoandevenbehavelikeussometimes–didyouknowtheycanlaugh? Therearetwospecies,theEasternGorillaandtheWesternGorilla,andtheybothhavetwosubspecies.ThreeoutoffourareCriticallyEndangeredontheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies.Theonlyonethatisn’tistheMountainGorilla,asubspeciesoftheEasternGorilla,whichisconsideredEndangered. Atthetimeofwriting(June2020),thereareonlyaround150to180adultCrossRiverGorillasleftinthewild.Likemanyendangeredanimals,theirdeclineismostlyduetopoaching,habitatloss,disease,andhumanconflict.Gorillasarealsoslowtorecoverastheyhavealowreproductiverate,meaningfemalesonlygivebirtheveryfourtosixyears.Onefemalewillbreedthreeorfourtimesinherlifetime. ReadMore 9.RhinosThenameRhinocerouscomesfromtwoGreekwordsRhinoandCeros,whichwhentranslatedintoEnglishmeannosehorn!It’saveryfittingname,don’tyouthink?Unfortunately,though,poachingfortheirdistinctivehornsistheirbiggestthreat.TheyareusedinTraditionalChinesemedicineanddisplayedasastatussymbolanddemonstrationofwealth.TheyaresohighlyprizedthataJavanrhinohorncansellforupto$30,000perkgontheblackmarket. Becauseofthis,threeofthefivespeciesofrhinocerosareamongthemostendangeredspeciesintheworld:theblackrhino,theJavanrhino,andtheSumatranrhino.TheJavanrhinoistheclosesttoextinctionwithonlybetween46to66individualsleft,allofwhichareinUjungKulonNationalParkinIndonesia. ReadMore 8.SeaturtlesNextonourendangeredspecieslistareseaturtles.TwospeciesofseaturtlearecriticallyendangeredontheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies:HawksbillTurtlesandKempsRidleyTurtles.LeatherbackseaturtlesareclassifiedasVulnerable,thoughthepopulationisdecreasingandseveralsubpopulationsarefacingextinction. Huntingisoneofthebiggestthreatstoseaturtles,withpoacherstargetingtheireggs,shells,meatandskin.Theyarealsoatriskfromhabitatloss,bycatch,andpollutionaswellasclimatechange.Sandtemperaturedeterminesthesexofhatchlingswitheggsdevelopingasfemalesinwarmertemperatures.Thatmeansevensmalltemperaturechangescouldskewthesexratioofpopulations.Furthermore,breedingbeachescoulddisappearunderwaterwithsea-levelrise. ReadMore 7.SaolaTheSaolaisoneoftherarestlargemammalsonEarth.Itwasfirstdiscoveredin1992intheAnnamiteRangeinVietnam,aneventsoexcitingitwashailedasoneofthemostspectacularzoologicaldiscoveriesofthe20thcentury. TheSaolaiselusiveandsorarelyseenit’sknownastheAsianunicorn!Populationnumbersarehardtodeterminewithanyaccuracy,butitisconsideredcriticallyendangered,anditisoneoftherarestlargeterrestrialmammalsonEarth.   ReadMore 6.NorthAtlanticrightwhaleItwaswhalersthatgavetheNorthAtlanticrightwhaleitsname.Theyaregentlegiantsthatstayclosetocoastsandspendalotoftimeatthesurfaceskimfeedingonzooplankton,allofwhichmakesthemaneasytargetandthe‘rightwhaletohunt’.Theywerealmostwipedoutbyhuntersaftertheirmeatandoil-richfatknownasblubber,andarenowoneofthemostendangeredlargewhales.Therearecurrentlyonlyaround400ofthemleft,andonlyabout100breedingfemales.Theyarenowprotected,andhuntingisillegal,butpopulationrecoveryisslow.Femalesdon’tbreedforthefirsttenyearsoftheirlifeandthenwillgivebirthtoasinglecalfeverysixtotenyears. Theyarestillverymuchatriskofextinction,withboatstrikesandentanglementinfishinggearsomeofthebiggestthreats.Vesseltrafficalsocreatesnoisethatinterfereswiththeirabilitytocommunicate.Whalesusesoundtofindmates,locatefoodandavoidpredators,aswellastonavigateandtalktoeachother.Itreallyisanessentialsense.Finally,climatechangeandchangingseatemperaturesmayaffectfoodavailability,whichwillhaveaknock-oneffectonsurvivalandreproductiverates. 5.Tooth-billedpigeonFollowingtheexampleoftheirrelativetheextinctdodo,tooth-billedpigeonsaredisappearingatanalarmingrate.TheyonlyliveonSamoaandtherearecurrently70to380leftinthewild,withnocaptivepopulationstoaidconservationefforts.Verylittleisactuallyknownabouttooth-billedpigeons.Theyareelusiveandveryrarelyseen. Inthepasthuntinghasplayedabigpartintheirdeclineandhaskilledthousandsofindividuals.Itisillegaltoday,buttooth-billedpigeonsarestillkilledaccidentallyduringhuntsforotherspecies.Currently,oneoftheirmainthreatsishabitatloss.Largeareasoftheirhomehavebeenclearedtomakespaceforagriculture, destroyedbycyclonesortakenoverbyinvasivetrees.Theyarealsoatriskofpredationfrominvasivespecies,includingferalcats. 4.GharialGharialsarefish-eatingcrocodilesfromIndia.TheyhavelongthinsnoutswithalargebumpontheendwhichresemblesapotknownasaGhara,whichiswheretheygettheirname.Theyspendmostoftheirtimeinfreshwaterrivers,onlyleavingthewatertobaskinthesunandlayeggs. Unfortunately,Gharialnumbershavebeenindeclinesincethe1930sand,sadly,thislargecrocodilianisnowclosetoextinction.Thereareonlyaround100to300leftinthewild.Theirdeclineisduetoseveralissues,thoughallhuman-made.Habitatloss,pollutionandentanglementinfishingnetsposesomeofthebiggestthreats,alongwithpoachersthattargetthemforuseintraditionalmedicine.  3.KakapoKakaposarenocturnalground-dwellingparrotsfromNewZealand,andyetanotherexampleofananimalbroughttotheedgeofextinctionbyhumans.Theyarecriticallyendangeredwithonlyaround140individualsremaining,eachonewithanindividualname. TheywereoncecommonthroughoutNewZealandandPolynesiabutnowinhabitjusttwosmallislandsoffthecoastofsouthernNewZealand.OneofthemainthreatstoKakaposispredationfromintroducedspeciessuchascatsandstoatsthathuntusingscent.Akakapo’snaturalreactionistofreezeandblendinwiththebackgroundwhenthreatened.Itiseffectiveagainstpredatorsthatrelyonsighttohuntbutnotsmell.Femalesalsoleavethenestunattendedwhenfindingfood,leavingtheeggsfreelyavailabletopredators. Intensiveconservationmeasuresmeanthepopulationisontheincreasenow,whichispositive.But,geneticdiversityislowamongtheremainingkakapo,whichcouldaffectsurvivalinthefuture,especiallyiftheyarestruckbyadisease. 2.AmurLeopardUnfortunately,Amurleopardsareoneoftheworld’smostendangeredbigcats.TheyareasCriticallyEndangeredontheIUCNRedListofThreatenedSpecies,andbetween2014and2015,therewereonlyaround92Amurleopardsleftwithintheirnaturalrange.Thatnumberisnowestimatedtobelessthan70. Likeallspeciesonourendangeredlist,humansaretheirbiggestthreat.TheirbeautifulcoatsarepopularwithpoachersasaretheirboneswhichtheysellforuseintraditionalAsianmedicine.Theyarealsoatriskfromhabitatlossdueprimarilytonaturalandhuman-madefires.ClimatechangeisalsochangingAmurleopardhabitatandleadingtoadecreaseinpreyavailability.   1.VaquitaThevaquitaisboththesmallestandthemostendangeredmarinemammalintheworld.IthasbeenclassifiedasCriticallyEndangeredbytheIUCNsince1996,andin2018,therewereonlyaround6to22vaquitasleft.Thelatestestimate,fromJuly2019,suggeststherearecurrentlyonly9. Theirbiggestthreatisfromtheillegalfishingoftotoaba,alargefishindemandbecauseofitsswimbladder.Vaquitasaccidentallyendupentangledinthegillnetssetfortotoabaanddrownbecausetheycannolongerswimtothesurfacetobreathe.ConservationeffortsledtotheintroductionofabanongillnetsinvaquitahabitatbackinJuly2016,butillegalfishingcontinues,andthethreatremains.Effortsnowfocusonenforcingthebanongillnetsandpersecutingthosethatusethem.Conservationistsarealsoworkingtodecreasedemandfortotoaba,whichisaprotectedspecies. ReadMore .ThispagewaslastupdatedinJune2020byOneKindwritersStephanieRoseandJaneWarley. 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