Endangered Species of Our Worldfrom A to ZJessica Lowdermilk

A is for African Elephant• The African elephant once roamed

the entire continent of Africa. Populations have been reduced to groups in scattered areas south of the Sahara Desert.

• Demand for ivory, combined with habitat loss, has led to a dramatic decline in all elephant populations in the last few decades.

**Humans have become their direct competitors for living space. Human populations in Africa have quadrupled since the turn of the century.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_elephant.htm

B is for Black-footed ferret• The rarest native mammal in the

United States, is the black-footed ferret.

• This small carnivore once was widely distributed throughout Canada and the United States.

• Massive hunting and poisoning campaigns against the prairie dog, its main food source, caused the black-footed ferret to decline.

• By 1985, there were just 10 known black-footed ferrets in the wild and they were taken into captivity. Since then, the ferrets have been reintroduced to a few limited areas in the state of Wyoming. http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_ferret.htm

C is for Coral Reef

• Coral reefs provide homes for about a third of all fish species on Earth and numerous other marine organisms.

• Coral reefs play a fundamental role in protecting coastlines from erosion and contribute to the formation of white sandy beaches

• These complex, fragile ecosystems are deteriorating at an alarming rate worldwide. ***Causes of endangerment are pollution, overexploitation and human recreation.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_coralrf.htm

D is for Dolphin

• Dolphins are part of the family of toothed whales that includes orcas and pilot whales.

• Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish.

• Causes of endangerment: Marine pollution, habitat degradation, harvesting, low frequency sonar, entanglement in fishing gear and boat traffic.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/dolphin.php

E is for Ethiopian Wolf

• The Ethiopian wolf is a very rare canine species. It is only found in Ethiopia.

• Presently, the Ethiopian wolf population may be less than 200.

• Causes of endangerment: reduction of habitat due to agriculture and disease (rabies and distemper) transmitted through domestic dogs.

http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?view=c&ID=1&sp=152

F is for Florida Manatee• Manatees inhabit warm waters of the

Western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil where they live in coastal waters, freshwater inlets, and river mouths.

• In the past, humans hunted manatees extensively for their meat, fat, and tough hides. In some parts of the Caribbean and South America, manatees are still hunted for food.

• Powerboats are now the greatest threat to manatees. Manatees are slow, near-surface swimmers, and the number of collisions with motorboats is increasing at an alarming rate.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_manatee.htm

G is for Gray Whale

• The gray whale's range formerly included the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

• Causes of endangerment:Commercial whaling, now regulated by the International Whaling Commission (IWC)Air pollution has depleted the ozone layer above the Antarctic. Boat collisions Overfishing (heavily depleted many fish stocks around the world and removing food sources can harm the whales that depend on those fish) Whales also can become entangled in fishing nets,

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_grywhale.htm

https://www.beyondthewall.com/xcart/images/T/t-1001956-55599.gif

H is for Hummingbird

• Hummingbirds are found only in the Western Hemisphere, from southeastern Alaska to southern Chile, although most live in the tropics.

• They have a specialized long and tapered bill that is used to obtain nectar from the center of long, tubular flowers.

• Historically, hummingbirds were killed for their feathers.  Today, habitat loss and destruction are the hummingbird’s main threats.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/hummingbirds.php

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/bird/animated_hummingbird_sm.gif

I is for Indian Python

• The Indian python is a highly arboreal snake, once fairly common throughout the jungles of India, Sri Lanka, and the East Indies.

• Snakes are important in controlling pest species, such as rodents, rabbits, and insects. For centuries, humans have killed pythons out of fear.

• The python's jungle habitat is disappearing as trees are cut down for lumber, firewood and to make room for spreading human settlement and agriculture.

J is for Jaguar

• The jaguar can be found in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and from Mexico all the way down to Patagonia. It is rare in the United States.

• The jaguar makes its home in a wide-variety of habitats including deciduous forests, rainforests, swamps, grasslands and mountain scrub areas.

• Causes of endangerment: Human population growth, agricultural expansion, hunting and poaching by livestock ranchers.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/jaguar.php

K is for Kakapo• There once were hundreds of

thousands of kakapos on the islands of New Zealand in the south Pacific.

• Today only about 40 kakapos survive in the wild on two small islands off the coast of New Zealand's South Island.

• Like several other birds unique to New Zealand, the kakapo has been removed throughout most of its range due to habitat destruction and predation.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_kakapo.htm

L is for Lynx

• Once hunted and trapped for their fur, the lynx is now protected from all hunting in the U.S., except in Alaska

• Lynx depend on areas with abundant snowshoe hare populations and lots of deep, soft snow where they have a competitive advantage over coyotes, bobcats and other predators. So the greatest threat faced by lynx today is the destruction of their habitat – logging destroys hare habitat and climate change has lessened snowfall.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/lynx.php

M is for Malayan Sun Bear

• Named for the golden crescent, or "U" shaped golden patch on their chest, Malayan sun bears are otherwise all black with smooth, short fur. They are increasingly rare residents of tropical rainforests in southern China, Burma, Malaysia, Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Borneo.

• Many bear species suffer from excessive killing and dramatic habitat loss worldwide. 75 percent of their former habitat gone.

• Their habitat has been destroyed by logging and conversion to agriculture. http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_sunbear.htm

N is for Numbat• The numbat is also called an anteater• There are extinct throughout much of their

range. It survives in the wild only in a small area in the southwest corner of Australia.

• The numbat's better-known relatives are the kangaroos and koalas.

• Their habitat has been cleared for agriculture and destroyed by brush fires. In addition, the slow-moving and easy-to-catch numbat is killed by introduced dogs, cats, and foxes.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_numbat.htm

O is for Orangutan

• The Orangutan is found on the Malaysian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

• Orangutans are omnivorous; they eat both plants and animals.

• Logging brings another problem for the orangutans: logging roads make forests more accessible. Poachers come into the forest on logging roads, shoot mother orangutans, and capture the babies.

http://www.animatedpics.org/images/animalanimatedgifs/Orangutan.gif

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_orang.htm

P is for Panda

• The Panda’s forest habitat, in the mountainous areas of southwest China, has become fragmented and populations are small and isolated from each other.

• Poaching remains an ever-present threat.

• Today, only around 61 percent of the population, or about 980 pandas, are under protection in reserves

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/giantpanda/panda.html

Q is for Queen Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly

• The Queen Alexandra birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world. With a wingspan reaching nearly 10 inches (25 cm) in the large females, this butterfly is larger than many birds!

• Butterflies are essential to plant survival as pollinators. Flitting from flower to flower to feed, butterflies carry pollen from one plant to another

• Butterflies are in peril worldwide.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_buttrfly.htm

R is for Red Wolf

• Almost hunted to the brink of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rounded up fewer than 20 pure red wolves to be bred in captivity in 1980. Thanks to captive breeding programs, more than 100 red wolves were released and currently live in the wild.

• Red wolves tend to form pair-bonds for life. • Threats to the red wolf: habitat loss due to

human development, deaths by motor vehicles and illegal killings.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/red_wolf.php

S is for Siberian Tigers

• It is estimated the wild population of Siberian tigers at around 350-450 tigers.

• with the primary threats to its' survival in the wild being poaching and habitat loss from intensive logging and development.**In addition, the continuous creation of new logging roads provide poachers with access to formerly remote areas.

http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_siberian_tiger.htm

T is for Thick-billed parrots

• The thick-billed parrot is one of only two species of parrot that once inhabited the United States (the other is the Carolina parakeet, which is unfortunately extinct).

• The thick-billed parrot used to live in Arizona, but is now found only in northern Mexico.

• In their current range in Mexico, they are threatened primarily by logging and trapping for the pet trade. 

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/thick-billed_parrot.php

U is for Utah prairie dog

• Located in the southwestern quarter of Utah.

• The Utah prairie dog is currently listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened.

• Major threats to the species include habitat loss (through development and drought) and poisoning.

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/utprairiedog/

V is for Vaquita• The vaquita, also known as the Gulf of

California harbor porpoise, is rarely seen in the wild.

• Approximately 400 to 600 vaquita may remain in the wild.

• The greatest threat to the remaining vaquita is incidental death caused by fishing gear. Vaquita are known to die in gillnets set for sharks and other marine species.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/vaquita.php

W is for Woodpecker

• Woodpeckers can be found in wooded areas all over the world.

• Causes of endangerment to the woodpecker: Loss of habitat, human intrusion and pesticides

• The ivory-billed, red-cockaded and imperial woodpeckers are all listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/woodpeckers.php

X is for Xantus Murrelet

• A Xantus is a small seabird found in the California current system in the Pacific Ocean.

• It is threatened by predators introduced to its breeding colonies and by oil spills.

**much of its population lives near the busy shipping lanes connecting Los

Angeles to other ports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xantus's_Murrelet

Y is for Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey

• The yellow-tailed woolly monkey is a rare species found in the mountainous area of northern Peru.

• Classified as one of the top 25 most endangered primates in the world.

• Causes of endangerment: Some are caught and sold into pet trade. Hunting and loss of habitat due to construction of new roads, agriculture, logging, and cattle ranching. http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?

view=c&ID=11&sp=288

Z is for Zebra

• Their stripes are believed to be camouflage devices that help zebras hide well in the grass.

• While the plains zebra populations are considered stable, Grevy's and mountain zebra are endangered.

• The zebra's biggest threats are habitat loss due to ranching and farming and competition for water with livestock. They are also hunted for their skins.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/zebra.php