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The most endangered animals of the world

9/18/24

This year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies almost four thousand animal species as critically endangered. These are species that face serious threats and could become completely extinct in the near future. In the following overview we will introduce several of them.

Photo:Pixabay

Rhinos

Endangered species of rhinos include black, Javan, northern white and Sumatran. Most of these creatures are on the verge of extinction due to poaching and the illegal horn trade. Other species are losing their natural habitats and cannot cope with climate change.

Manchurian leopard

This beautiful big cat currently lives mostly in the Russian protected area of the Land of the Leopards. Leopards are critically endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. Nowadays there are already the last hundred Manchurian Leopards left in the wild.

Orangutans

All three orangutan species are classified as critically endangered. The Borneo, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans face threats from fires and habitat destruction due to new palm oil plantations. Unfortunately there are no data that would record the numbers of individual species.

Gorillas

Both gorilla species are critically endangered. There are about 2,600 eastern gorillas left but the number of western gorillas is unknown. The good news is that the number of mountain gorillas which are a subspecies of the eastern gorilla is increasing.

African elephant

The African elephant is found in sub-Saharan Africa and is critically endangered due to poaching and habitat loss. Civil wars in the place of their occurrence also have a negative effect on population reduction.

Saola

The Saola or Asian unicorn is a forest cattle native to Vietnam and Laos. It resembles a deer in appearance and is critically endangered mainly due to commercial hunting. There are only a few hundred Saol left in the wild.

Kakapo owls

It is the largest flightless parrot in the world and is found in south-west New Zealand in the number of about 120. It is endemic and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Other well-known animals on the verge of extinction include North Atlantic whales, several species of penguins, hammerhead sharks, Asian turtles, lemurs, red-fronted macaws or the pygmy three-toed sloth.

Source:IFAW/Editorial