Chimpanzee

Pan troglodytes

The chimpanzee lives in the rainforest and savanna of equatorial Africa. Chimpanzees are typically 1 to 1.7 m tall and weigh 40 to 50 kg. They have light-coloured, black, or blotchy skin, and large protruding ears.
Partly because of their intelligence, these animals have been used extensively for scientific research. In 1961 the chimp Ham orbited the Earth in a rocket, preceding human astronauts. The demand for live chimpanzees for zoos and research has led to a significant decline in their population.
Chimpanzees eat plants, ants, termites, and occasionally meat. They live and travel in small groups, communicating and expressing their moods with a variety of hoots, grunts, roars, and screams. They apparently delight in their own sounds. Chimpanzees have also demonstrated the ability to use and make tools, share and cooperate for the common good, express complex emotions and communicate using sign language.

Carolina Parakeet

Conuropsis carolinensis

With the spread of agriculture, this brilliantly coloured bird developed a liking for the seeds of many kinds of fruit and grain crops. For this, and its habit of gathering in great destructive flocks, it was condemned as a pest and subjected to wholesale slaughter. Many were also sold as pets.
Once common in the southeastern United States, the Carolina parakeet became increasingly scarce as deforestation reduced its habitat. Already rare by the mid 1880s, its last stand was in Florida, where, in 1920, a flock of 30 birds was the last ever seen of the only native parrot of the United States.

American Alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

This reptile of the coastal marshes and inland waters of the southeastern United States is considered an endangered species. Relentless hunting for hides reduced the numbers drastically in the 1960s until state and federal laws provided for complete legal protection. In addition, there are now import and export restrictions controlling trade in alligators and their skins.
Although poaching and illegal trade are always a threat, the American alligator is recovering in the wild. There are also thousands of them in zoos where they breed successfully.

Pygmy Hippopotamus

Choeropsis leberiensis

The name hippopotamus comes from Greek and means “river horse.” Hippos, however, are not related to horses, but to pigs.
Although hippos once ranged through Europe and Asia, they are now found only in the African interior and on game reserves. The pygmy hippo, which is the smallest species, occurs in West Africa, especially in or near rivers, lakes, and swamps.
The common male hippo weighs up to 2,600 kg, but the pygmy hippo weighs only about 161-272 kg.
Common hippos are gregarious, live in herds, and are well adapted to life in the water. By contrast, the pygmy hippo is a shy, solitary, forest dweller that is still hunted by the natives for its meat. When encountering people, it flees at once into the nearest river or swamp. Their life span is about 35 years, and they have adapted well to life in zoological gardens, a hopeful sign, as they are threatened with extinction in their natural habitat. The major threats to this species are deforestation and hunting.

Sei Whale

Balaenoptera borealis

A smaller relative of the fin whale, the average length of the Atlantic Ocean males is 13 m; females are slightly larger. The largest measured female sei whale was 18 m in length.
In the western Atlantic, they migrate from Florida to Labrador and leave northern waters before September. They also occur all summer long off Canada’s West coast.
Normally found far off shore, they frequently feed on the surface by trapping schools of small fish or plankton.
These relatively small, lean whales are less profitable for whalers than the much larger blue whale. Nonetheless, fewer than 70,000 of the creatures are estimated to remain.
They are also preyed upon by killer whales.

Whooping Crane

Grus americana

Never very abundant, the whooping crane suffered in the late 1800s from indiscriminate shooting, habitat disturbance, and the draining of the large, isolated marshes that it frequented. In 1941 there were only 21 wild birds and two captives remaining. Today there are 300 whooping cranes in the world. The species is still on the endangered list and is carefully monitored.
Total legal protection, public interest, protected breeding grounds in Canada and wintering grounds in the United States, along with artificial incubation, foster parenting by sandhill cranes and the establishment of an additional breeding flock in Idaho, have all helped in rescuing the whooping crane from extinction.

Mountain Gorilla

Gorilla gorilla beringei
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This largest of the great apes inhabits a number of isolated areas on the forested mountain slopes of eastern Zaire and parts of Uganda and Rwanda. Its population is estimated at approximately 400. Although much of the animal’s range is within national parks and reserves, human's growing needs for farming and grazing lands have reduced these areas. These disruptions may also force other animals, such as elephant and buffalo, into a reduced habitat where they compete with the gorilla for the same foods.
Listed as an endangered species, the mountain gorilla has some protection in a ban among most zoos against the acquisition of specimens and in restrictive controls against international trade.

Galapagos Flightless

Nannopterum harrisi
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The Galapagos flightless cormorant evolved in an isolated island environment that was free of predators. The birds had no need to fly and eventually became flightless. However, the Galapagos Islands have not remained free of predators, and, consequently, this cormorant is now one of the world’s rarest birds.
Through the years, dogs, cats, and pigs were introduced to the Islands and have had a drastic effect on the cormorant population. As well, these birds had no fear of man and could be easily approached and picked up. There are now only about 1,000 flightless cormorants left and the species is listed as rare.

Fin Whale

Balaenoptera physalus

Sometimes called “the greyhound of the deep,” the average length of North Pacific males is 19 m; those found in the southern hemisphere may approach 25 m. These animals can reach speeds of up to 25 knots in short bursts. They usually appear in small groups of two to seven individuals. An adult fin whale may consume one to one and a half metric tons of food per day, feeding mainly on krill and occasionally herring.
Fin whales reach the Gulf of St. Lawrence on their northern migration in March and they are common off Newfoundland in June, usually appearing about 40 kilometres off-shore. They are also fairly common off Canada’s west coast most of the summer. Present numbers appear to be declining, and it is estimated that there are about 80,000 left.

Gavial

Gavialis gangeticus

This is one of the rarest crocodile species in Asia. It has become very depleted throughout its range, which includes all major rivers and waterways of northern India and Burma. Although officially protected, it has declined rapidly due to a trade in skins and incidental killing by fishermen. Increased river traffic and agriculture have also had an adverse effect.

Their future depends on strict law enforcement and observance of existing controls that restrict trade in skins. Another possibility is the establishment of captive breeding stock under nearly natural conditions. There are few specimens in captivity, and most of the conditions have not been favourable for breeding.

Giant Armadillo

Priodontes giganteus

This armoured mammal was once widespread in the tropical forests east of the Andes, from Venezuela to Argentina. The largest of the armadillos, the giant armadillo can grow up to 1.5 m in length and weigh up to 55 kg. They feed on ants, termites and the occasional snake.

The giant armadillo seems to have become scarce everywhere within its range because of overhunting, the expansion of settlement, and the corresponding loss of its forest habitat.

Black Footed Ferret

Mustela nigripes

Last noted in Saskatchewan in 1937, this weasel is now considered to be extirpated in Canada. It has fared little better in the United States. An animal of North America’s arid, shortgrass prairies, it lived primarily with, and on, prairie dogs.

Wide-scale poisoning programs to eradicate prairie dogs and the destruction of grassland habitat also killed off the ferret. It now survives in a few places in the western United States where ranchers are compensated for not molesting prairie dog towns and where management programs for the prairie dog and the ferret are being developed.

Coelacanth

Latimeria chalumnae

"Old fourlegs," the coelacanth (see-la-kanth), close to the stock that gave rise to the land vertebrates, is well known from the fossil record of 75 million to 400 million years ago. They were thought to be extinct until 1938 when one was caught off the coast of South Africa. A long search for their home ended in 1952 when they were found in the Comoros archipelago.

In 1975, it was discovered that the coelacanth is a "live bearer" when a 1.5 m mother was found to contain five young that were each a perfect 30 cm miniature of the adult. Of the specimens caught to date, the maximum weight has been 95 kg and the maximum length about 1.8 m.

Green Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Female green turtles return to the same beaches regularly and in great numbers to lay their eggs. Throughout history these turtles have been an important source of food to local human populations and sea voyagers. The green turtle was once common in the warm oceans of the world, but has become increasingly scarce in areas where it is commercially exploited. It is still common, however, in Hawaii, but now rarely nests in North America, although feeding areas in Florida still have fairly large populations. The green turtle can also be found around Australia.
There is a major remaining nesting site in the Galapagos Islands and also on Ascension Island in the south Atlantic, to which the females have to travel over 2,000 km from their feeding grounds. Brazil, Costa Rica, Malaya, the Philippines, and Indonesia maintain protected hatcheries and regulate the harvest of the species.
Although 58 countries have helped to protect the green turtle by joining an international convention controlling the import, export, and use of endangered species, the demand for turtle soup, "turtle oil" for cosmetics, and turtle skin for shoe leather has encouraged a continuing, and often illegal, trade.

Pinguinus impennis

Large breeding colonies of this flightless, penguin-like sea bird once gathered on rocky islands and coasts of the North Atlantic in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles, and Scandinavia. A strong swimmer, the great auk wintered as far south as Florida and southern Spain.
Its extermination began with a slaughter for food and bait by local inhabitants, and continued for the bird’s fat and feathers. As the birds became scarce, they were collected for a well-paid trade in skins and eggs. The last known living pair and one egg were taken in Iceland in 1844, and the great auk is now represented in collections only by bones, skins, and eggs.

Bowhead Whale

Balaena mysticetus

This slow-moving whale, which grows up to 20 m in length, inhabits the Arctic Ocean and the sub-arctic waters of the north Atlantic and Pacific.
Whaling for this species began near Spitsbergen as early as 1611 and continued until the early 1900s when the animal’s numbers became too low to be economically viable and the demand for whalebone ended.
The bowhead has been protected by the International Whaling Commission since 1937. However, Native peoples are still allowed to hunt these whales for food.
The bowhead seems to be recovering well in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, but its recovery has been slower in the Baffin Island, Greenland and Spitsbergen regions where whaling was more intensive and carried on over a longer period. There are approximately 8,000 bowhead whales in existence today.

Black Lemur

Lemur macaco

These shy, usually nocturnal primates once inhabited the northwestern part of the island of Madagascar. There were taboos against killing them, but as natural forests were replaced by plantations, this protection disappeared. They were poisoned, or shot as pests. Today they are an endangered species and are confined to a small area on Madagascar and two small islands off its northwest coast. On one island they have the benefit of a reserve of natural forest. Black lemurs are legally protected and international trade is strictly controlled, but on those plantations where they flourish their capture for zoos is permitted.

Bald Eagle

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

This majestic bird is found across all of southern Canada, but is commonest on the Pacific coast. The bald eagle also ranges in Alaska and the rest of the United States. The adult can be distinguished by its white head and neck which it takes about four years to attain. Adult males have a body length of 75 to 85 cm and a wingspan of 180 to 213 cm. Females are slightly larger.
The bald eagle is primarily a scavenger rather than a predator, and subsists mainly on fish. It is most commonly found along coasts where cast-ups provide most of its food. It occasionally makes its own kills, and, when fish are not available, it may take a few birds. Bald eagle populations have declined alarmingly.

Komodo Dragon

Varanus komodensis

The Komodo dragon is the world's largest living reptile. It is found mainly on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rintja, Padar, and Flores. There are only an estimated 1,000 to 5,000 of these monitor lizards living today. Reaching lengths of up to 3 m or more, and weighing up to 126 kg, these reptiles are swift runners and climbers with great appetites for deer and wild boar.
Although often regarded as pests, they are not a serious menace to humans. In order to protect the dragon, the Indonesian government has made the islands of Padar and Rintja into nature reserves for both the lizard and its prey. Commercial trade in specimens or skins is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Wild Ass

Equus asinus

Interbreeding with free-ranging domestic asses led to the extinction, in Roman times, of the wild ass in Algeria. The wild ass in Nubia and the eastern Sudan probably ceased to exist as recently as 30 years ago. However, some 2,000 animals survive in Ethiopia and approximately 250 in Somalia, where they live in very dry, stony areas. Competition with domestic stock for sparse grazing land is a limiting factor in the animals survival.

Eastern Cougar

Felis concolor cougar

The cougar was once found over much of North America, including southern Canada from coast to coast. In the west it still occurs regularly, but the eastern cougar, which once ranged from the Carolinas north into Canada and west to the Great Plains is now protected as an endangered species.
Recent sightings in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and the eastern United States indicate that the eastern cougar may be making a comeback. However, the availability of prey (mainly white-tailed deer) and protection from hunting do not seem to have been important factors in helping the animal re-establish itself.
The biggest obstacle to the survival of the eastern cougar may be the loss of undisturbed habitat.

Black Footed Ferret

Mustela nigripes

Last noted in Saskatchewan in 1937, this weasel is now considered to be extirpated in Canada. It has fared little better in the United States. An animal of North America’s arid, shortgrass prairies, it lived primarily with, and on, prairie dogs.
Wide-scale poisoning programs to eradicate prairie dogs and the destruction of grassland habitat also killed off the ferret. It now survives in a few places in the western United States where ranchers are compensated for not molesting prairie dog towns and where management programs for the prairie dog and the ferret are being developed.

Monkey Eating Eagle

Pithecophaga jefferyi

This endangered species has been proposed as the national bird of the Philippines.
Dependent on the undisturbed rainforest where it preys on monkeys, squirrels, and other small mammals, this spectacular eagle has been losing its habitat to logging and farming. Although the monkey-eating eagle is officially protected, it is still killed by farmers protecting their livestock and by trophy hunters, and is illegally captured for zoos.
Approximately 300 birds survive on Mindanao, but on other Philippine islands they are either rare or extinct. There are some in zoos, but these have never bred. Their future will depend on public education, strict law enforcement, and the establishment of carefully managed rainforest preserves.

Trumpeter Swan

Cygnus buccinator

The trumpeter swan, largest and rarest of the world's eight swan species, was once a common nesting bird in north, west, and central North America. It was hunted extensively by natives for food and feathers, and its numbers began to decline when a market developed in European settlements for its skin, feathers, down, and quills. The decline continued with the gradual loss of nesting, feeding, and wintering habitats, especially in the United States, to expanded land use. By the early 1900s, the bird's extinction was thought near. Now legally protected in Canada and the United States and provided with sanctuaries, its numbers have slowly increased through emergency winter feeding, habitat restoration, and controlled relocation of populations. Trumpeter swans presently number more than 5,000, of which about 500 pairs nest in Canada. Although still carefully monitored, they have been removed from the list of endangered species.

Tapir

Tapirs indices

Tapirs are related to horses and rhinos, not to pigs. There are four species, three of which are found in Central and South America. Tapirs can weigh up to 300 kg.
The Malayan tapir is the largest of the species and is distinguished by its unusual coloration. The rear half of the body above the legs is white. All young tapirs are born, however, with a pattern of dots and stripes on their body which makes them appear, in the words of one zoologist, like “watermelons with legs.” As they get older, these markings gradually fade away to be replaced by the permanent colours.
Shy and solitary by nature, tapirs are often hunted in their native countries for their hide, which is tough and leathery. In some parts of Asia, tapir meat is sold in the shops, although it is said to be less than tasty, with a high fat content.
The New World species seem to be headed toward extinction as the advance of civilization destroys their environment and as native people hunt them, sometimes just for sport. The Malayan species does not, for the time being at least, appear to be endangered. Now legally protected, the species nevertheless continues to be the target of poachers due to lax enforcement.

White Pelican

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

This well-known fish-eater found on remote treeless islands has very specific nesting requirements. The nesting colonies are distributed mostly from the Canadian prairie, south to southern California and the Texas Gulf Coast. Almost half of the birds nest in Canada. The white pelican, however, is a threatened species. Since 1900, 26 colonies in Canada have been abandoned, leaving only 29 to carry on. The greatest cause of this continued slow decline has been human disturbance, which prompts desertion of the nests and nesting islands for the year, or permanently. The survival of the white pelican will depend on increased protection for the bird's nesting grounds in national and provincial parks and other reserves, and the extension of legal protection to the bird's nesting islands, which are not presently protected.

Whooping Crane

Grus americana

Never very abundant, the whooping crane suffered in the late 1800s from indiscriminate shooting, habitat disturbance, and the draining of the large, isolated marshes that it frequented. In 1941 there were only 21 wild birds and two captives remaining. Today there are 300 whooping cranes in the world. The species is still on the endangered list and is carefully monitored.
Total legal protection, public interest, protected breeding grounds in Canada and wintering grounds in the United States, along with artificial incubation, foster parenting by sandhill cranes and the establishment of an additional breeding flock in Idaho, have all helped in rescuing the whooping crane

Grizzly Bear

Ursus arctos

The grizzly bear has the reputation of being the most ferocious and dangerous mammal in North America. Grizzlies vary widely in body shape, colour and in the shape of their heads. The tundra grizzly is often creamy yellow on the back with brownish legs and underparts. In the Rocky Mountains, the “silver-tip” phase is dominant. Adults weigh from 136 to 526 kg and are prodigiously strong.
Although grizzlies will, for the most part, avoid contact with humans, they are sometimes unpredictable and should be given plenty of room. They move with a slow shambling walk, the low-slung head swinging from side to side. They can move very quickly, however, and even horses find it difficult to evade a rushing grizzly.
This powerful animal once inhabited almost all of western North America but, with the advent of the Europeans on a new continent , their numbers were reduced. Now they are restricted chiefly to the Canadian Rockies and Alaska.

Chimpanzee

Pan troglodytes

The chimpanzee lives in the rainforest and savanna of equatorial Africa. Chimpanzees are typically 1 to 1.7 m tall and weigh 40 to 50 kg. They have light-coloured, black, or blotchy skin, and large protruding ears.
Partly because of their intelligence, these animals have been used extensively for scientific research. In 1961 the chimp Ham orbited the Earth in a rocket, preceding human astronauts. The demand for live chimpanzees for zoos and research has led to a significant decline in their population.
Chimpanzees eat plants, ants, termites, and occasionally meat. They live and travel in small groups, communicating and expressing their moods with a variety of hoots, grunts, roars, and screams. They apparently delight in their own sounds. Chimpanzees have also demonstrated the ability to use and make tools, share and cooperate for the common good, express complex emotions and communicate using sign language.

Atlantic Ridley

Lepidochelys kempi

Although this smallest of the sea turtles occurs from Nova Scotia to Mexico and across to Europe, its only nesting beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico, mainly just north of Tampico. There, in 1947, as many as 40,000 nesting females crowded the beach in a single day. Despite legal protection and military patrols of the beach at nesting times, these numbers have dwindled to sometimes only a few hundred.
Nest robbing, and capturing females for food and leather caused much of the decline, and many Atlantic ridley turtles have been accidentally drowned in shrimp trawls. Protective enclosures for egg-hatching and attempts to establish nesting beaches in Texas may help the Atlantic ridley survive.

Ailuropoda melanoleuca

One of the world’s rarest animals, the giant panda lives in the sub-alpine forests in the west central region of China. The classification of the panda has long been a matter of controversy among zoologists. Originally classified with the bears, it was later grouped with raccons. The weight of evidence that has accumulated over the years, however, now supports the view that it is related to bears. Its closest relative is the spectacled bear of South America.
The giant panda is a large, stocky animal measuring up to 1.5 m in length and weighing up to 150 kg. Its diet consists chiefly of vegetable matter, but it also eats small animals.
Shy and solitary by nature when in the wild, they become friendly and playful in captivity. Only a handful exist in zoos of the western world, but Chinese zoos have reported successful breeding of their pandas. Currently, the World Wildlife Fund and the Chinese Ministry of Forestry have developed a conservation management plan that outlines 14 new panda reserves and five corridors connecting patches of panda habitat.

Gorilla

The gorilla is a shy and, for the most part, inoffensive vegetarian -- a far cry from the fearsome, aggressive creature depicted in films and comic books. Only when provoked or threatened does it rise to an erect position and beat its cupped hands against its chest in an attempt to intimidate intruders. Gorillas are the largest and most powerful of the apes. Adult males reach an average height of 150-170 cm and weigh from 135 to 230 kg. Females are smaller, but both male and female are tremendously powerful, possessing the ability to tear branches from bushes and uproot small trees. They spend their days quietly, either in a leisurely search for food, or resting in the warm sun.
Unfortunately, these animals, native to the equatorial regions of Africa, are diminishing in number due, in part, to illegal hunting and advancing civilization. Also, laws prohibiting, rather than just controlling, the capture and sale of gorillas need to be passed and enforced in all countries within the species’ range.

Asian Lion

Panthera leo persica

The Asian Lion once occurred in southeast Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and India. By 1884, it survived only in an area of about 3,000 square kilometres in northern India’s Gir Forest, under the private protection of the ruler of the small state. Official protection by the Imperial government was given in 1900, but with increasing human population, overgrazing, and destruction of forest cover, suitable habitat was reduced to about 1,300 square kilometers. In 1957, three African lions, hardly different from their Asiatic relatives, were released in the Gir Forest sanctuary. Their increase has indicated that such an approach may ensure the continued existence of the lion in Asia. About 85 Asian lions survive in captivity.

Cheetah

Acinonyx jubatus

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora now lists the cheetah as an endangered species. The expansion of human settlements in Africa is a threat to the cheetah's habitat and prey. As well, ranchers, who kill cheetahs in order to protect their flocks, and zoo collectors have had an impact on the cheetah's decline. Even in national parks and other reserves the animals, in their isolation, are susceptible to disease and competition from other carnivores.
The Asiatic cheetah, of similar appearance, once occurred in northern India and westward to North Africa. It is now found in small numbers only in Iran and on the Turkomen-Afghan border.

Orangutan

Pongo pygmaeus

Wild populations of this peaceful, intelligent, fruit-eating ape are now found only in northern Sumatra and Borneo. Judging from fossils found in southern China and northern Vietnam, the orangutan was, in prehistoric times, more widely distributed throughout the tropical lowland forests of southeast Asia. The world population now numbers between 15,000 and 30,000 in the wild and about 500 in zoos.
The major cause for the recent decline is the continuing destruction of the forests, and, to a lesser extent, the illegal killing of adult females to obtain juveniles for the animal trade. The species is now fully protected by law throughout its range, but enforcement is difficult in remote areas. Existing reserves in Sumatra and Borneo are important in the orangutan's survival. Additional reserves, forest management, and stricter control of international trade are also essential.

Wild Yak

Bos grunniens

Throughout history, the domesticated yak of central Asia has provided Tibetan herders with wool, leather, meat, milk, and cheese. It is a beast of burden and its dung is used as fuel and fertilizer. There are many of them. The larger wild yak, however, decimated by hunting, is an endangered species. Once widely distributed in the high valleys and plateaus of Tibet and the adjoining mountain country, the wild yak now survives in scattered, isolated herds in the most remote, inhospitable areas. Although officially protected from hunting and commercial trade, its future may depend on suitable reserves with good pastures and efficient protection.

Snow Leopard

Uncia unciaEndangered

Found above the tree line and near permanent snow in central Asia's dry mountainous country, the snow leopard has been prized as a hunter's trophy, destroyed as a predator of domestic flocks, and sought as a source of valuable fur. Complete information as to its numbers is not available, but almost everywhere it is considered to be rare or in decline. Currently, the most serious threat to its survival is loss of habitat due to human expansion.
More than 150 snow leopards live in zoos where they have been bred successfully. The snow leopard is now listed as an endangered species and is legally protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and flora. In some places, however, enforcement of regulations is difficult. Reserves have been set aside for both the cat and its prey species.

Indian Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros

The biblical unicorn may have been a wild ox, but the great Indian rhinoceros is similar to a unicorn: it has a single horn, usually about 53 cm long, and it is very hard to find, being among the rarest mammals in the world today.
The Rhino’s horn is not a true horn, but consists of compressed hair, and the animal prefers to defend itself with its canine teeth with which it can make horrible gashes. Rhinos became extinct in America long ago, and are becoming much scarcer in other parts of the world, but there are still five species remaining: two in Africa and three in Asia. They are the largest land mammals after the elephant and weigh from 1,800 to 3,600 kg.
The Indian rhino has well-developed incisor teeth and two long canine teeth in its lower jaw. It is studded with knob-like tubercles and is unique in having huge folds of skin at its joints and great rolls at the neck. Together with the large, horny plates covering its body, the beast appears to be armour plated. Threatened by continued loss of habitat and poaching, conservation efforts are essential to ensure this creatures survival. Conservation objectives include: the maintenance of a wild population of at least 2,000 rhinos in at least six major sanctuaries in the current range of the species; translocation of animals to create new sanctuaries and populations; continued anti-poaching efforts; maintenance of a captive population capable of long-term viability to guard against any unforeseen extinction of the wild population; and reduction in the demand for rhino products.

Whale

Eschrichtius robustus

This large whale, which can grow up to 15 m in length, was nearly exterminated by whalers in the late 1800s. It came to an early extinction in the North Atlantic and may be close to extinction on the Asian side of the Pacific. Since their protection by international agreement in 1937, they have increased on the North American side, where they range from their summer waters in the Bering and Chukchi Seas to winter waters off Baja, California. The estimated population is 17,000 animals, which, it is hoped, may re-stock the Japanese and Korean waters.

African Wild Dogs

Lycaon

Although similar in appearance to hyenas, African wild dogs are nevertheless true wild canidae. They are a mixture of black, yellow, and white in such a wide variety of patterns that no two individuals look exactly alike. African wild dogs are widely distributed across the African plains but they do not live in jungle areas.
They are social animals, living in packs of usually from 2 to 45 individuals. A hierarchy exists within the pack, but the animals are so friendly to one another that the pecking order is hard to determine. The young and the infirm are given special privileges within the pack.
African wild dogs use their sense of sight, not smell, to find their prey. They pay no attention to wind direction and they do not use cover when approaching their prey. They can run up to 55 km/h for several kilometres. In eastern Africa, they mostly hunt Thomson’s gazelles, but they will also attack calves, warthogs, zebras, impalas, and the young of large antelopes such as the gnu.
Growing human populations have decreased or degraded the African wild dog’s habitat and also diminished their available prey. Road kill and human persecution have also had a negative impact on African wild dog populations. This species is also susceptible to a variety of diseases such as distemper, which is controlled in domestic dogs. Conservation of the African wild dog’s natural habitat must have the highest priority, as these dogs suffer in habitats modified by human intrusion.

Mediterranean Monk Seal

Monachus monachus

Once common along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts and on the Atlantic shores of northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, and Madeira, this animal now probably numbers fewer than 1,000 and continues to decline.
Although legally protected, it has been persecuted for many centuries by fishermen for its damage to nets and for the fish it eats. In more recent times, the growth of tourism and human disturbance of remote coasts, rocky islands and beaches are believed to have had a serious effect on the seals’ reproductive success. Reserves free from human disturbance and strict law enforcement are vital to this mammal’s survival.

Leopard

Panthera pardus

The leopard lives in Africa and Asia, from the tropics to cold highlands. Its stealth and secretive ways have made it a prized trophy for the hunter, and its spotted markings have made it an attractive fur for fashion.
Although hunting restrictions recognize the need to protect the animal, demand and high prices have encouraged poaching and trade in illegal skins, and human settlements have destroyed much of its habitat.
Fifty-eight nations, including Canada, have expressed (in agreements to control the import and export of leopard skins) their concern for the continued existence of the leopard and other cats.

Eskimo Curlew

Numenius borealis

Now almost extinct, this shorebird once migrated in huge flocks between its remote breeding grounds on the taiga to its wintering grounds in Argentina. Each year, on its way there and back, it faced a slaughter in fall, winter, and spring by gunners who sometimes filled wagons with the birds.
By the beginning of the 1900s, the Eskimo curlew was considered extinct, but a few sightings in the past decades in Canada and the United States indicate the existence of a small breeding population. The breeding grounds are yet to be discovered in the North. The bird now has complete legal protection.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

This majestic bird is found across all of southern Canada, but is commonest on the Pacific coast. The bald eagle also ranges in Alaska and the rest of the United States. The adult can be distinguished by its white head and neck which it takes about four years to attain. Adult males have a body length of 75 to 85 cm and a wingspan of 180 to 213 cm. Females are slightly larger.
The bald eagle is primarily a scavenger rather than a predator, and subsists mainly on fish. It is most commonly found along coasts where cast-ups provide most of its food. It occasionally makes its own kills, and, when fish are not available, it may take a few birds. Bald eagle populations have declined alarmingly.

Alligator mississippiensis

This reptile of the coastal marshes and inland waters of the southeastern United States is considered an endangered species. Relentless hunting for hides reduced the numbers drastically in the 1960s until state and federal laws provided for complete legal protection. In addition, there are now import and export restrictions controlling trade in alligators and their skins.
Although poaching and illegal trade are always a threat, the American alligator is recovering in the wild. There are also thousands of them in zoos where they breed successfully.

White Tiger

Elephants are one of the most endangered animals in the world because when ivory became fashionable the global demand for it in the 1970?s almost caused their extinction. From 1970 to 1985 the whole elephant population decreased by half. So finally in 1989 a ban supported by 115 countries was passed on ivory poaching. But in 1997 and 1998 the southern African countries tried to have the ban lifted so that elephants could once again be poached for their tusks. This is something that must be prevented.
During the 1980?s poachers were killing an average of 200 elephants every day and their total population plummeted from roughly 625,000 from 1.3 million 1979. A drastic difference. This was so bad that that the Elephant was put on the CITES (convention on international trade in endangered species of wildlife fauna and flora) Appendix I and were classed as the most endangered animal on the planet.
In 1989 at a CITES meeting it was decided that poaching for ivory should be made illegal and since then Elephant numbers have dropped only slightly from 625,000 to 580,000.
?But in 1997 in another CITES meeting South African countries tried to get the ban lifted so that poaching could begin again. They argued that the numbers of Elephants did not fall fatally before and that now there were too many of them. It was agreed that the elephants could be moved to appendix II because they were no longer in fear of becoming extinct.
The terms of this agreement was that the poaching was only allowed in certain areas and must be carefully controlled and managed.
But since then there has been a rise in illegal poaching, a result of easing the ban. As recently as the 26th of February the Kenyan wildlife authorities said that they had seized ?their biggest haul of illegal ivory since 2000.? (The Irish times). It has been said that the Elephants could once again become seriously endangered.??

C O M E BACK S O O N !!