Top 10 Endangered Animals

It is important to have a balance in the ecosystem to live a fulfilling life. The ecosystem comprises various creatures such as plants and animals that make Earth a better place. However, human intervention in the habitat of these creatures has significantly impacted their lives. Many of them are losing their homes, and some are even on the verge of extinction. We have listed the top 10 endangered animals. You may go through the list and know about these creatures.

1. Giant Panda (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca)

Also known as the Charismatic Megafauna, the star power of Panda helps the conservationist to collect more donations to save these animals. Pandas are the favorite of almost everyone as they are cute. People love pandas in all forms, be it soft toys or martial arts animation. Despite this, this animal is on the verge of extinction. China is home to these lovely animals but has only 2,500 of these animals left. The reasons for their extinction have shifted from traditional poaching to starvation, disease, and predation. The starvation is primarily caused due to the completion of the life cycle of the bamboos on which they feed.

2. Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

Although a symbol of strength and power, the number of Tigers are declining daily due to human activities. Human intervention in the forests and using methods such as slash and burn human encroachment and logging have diminished the size of the Tiger habitat. There are only a few, which is less than 4,000 in the wild habitat. Over the years, poaching has caused a greater threat to Tigers than any other cause. Asian medicines make use of the body parts of these animals, which have resulted in the hunting of the creatures.

3. Vaquitas

Vaquitas is the most endangered animal in the world, with around 10 left as of 2022. Illegal fishing is the greatest threat to the Vaquitas. The totoaba fishing, which is the fishing of a large fish for its swim bladder, continues to grow, despite being banned in the Vaquitas habitat, which is causing a decrease in the number of Vaquitas. Gillnets set for the totoabas are the greatest threat to the Vaquitas as these get entangled into the gillnets. Measures are taken to take actions against the users of the gillnets and ban gillnets.

4. Amur Leopard

Some big cats are also endangered species, and Amur Leopard is one of these. The number of these endangered animals left is 100 adults, which are found in the wild. Listed under the IUCN Red List of threatened species, these animals are popular for their coat and use of bones in Asian medicines. Another threat to their lives is the natural or human-made fire and climate change which has decreased the availability of prey for these creatures.

5. Whooping Crane (Grus Americana)

There were only about 29 whooping cranes in the year 1938, which was found in the population survey. Later, the number of these animals reduced to 16 after three years. The main causes of threat to these creatures were hunting and the reduction of their habitat, which was a wetland. There were no efforts taken to save these birds until the 1960s. However, with the innovative breeding programs, the number has reached over 400 birds. The techniques that led to the successful establishment of two wild populations of whooping cranes are captive rearing and reintroduction, which have maintained the population of cranes in Florida despite the idea of transferring eggs of whooping cranes to nests of sandhill cranes didn't succeed. One of the populations of these cranes has also been taught to migrate to Wisconsin from Florida. However, these populations aren't self-sustaining. A population of whooping cranes which migrates between Alberta, Canada, the US, and Texas is the only one that is self-sustaining.

6. Sea Turtles

IUCN Red List of the threatened species has two species of Sea Turtles listed on their list. Hawksbill Turtles and Kemps Ridley Turtle are the most threatened species, whereas some vulnerable species are Leatherback Sea Turtles. The skin, meat, and eggs of the sea turtle are targeted by the hunters, and hunting is the biggest reason for the decline in their population.

7. Rhinos

Rhinos, as the name suggests, are animals with a nose horn. Nose horns are the specialty of Rhinos and a reason for their poaching. Chinese medicines use these nose horns for various applications, which leads to a higher price of the nose horn. Consequently, these are a symbol of wealth and status. Due to these reasons, species of Rhinos such as the Black Rhino, Javan Rhino, and Sumatran Rhinos are on the verge of extinction. These are three of the five species of Rhinos that are endangered. Ujung Kulon National Park, situated in Indonesia, has only about 46 to 66 Rhinos left of the Javan Rhino species.

8. Gorillas

These are the animals that experience feelings similar to humans. Sharing around 98.3% of DNA with humans, Gorillas are great creatures and are popular for their power. There are four species of Gorillas, two main and two subspecies. However, three of the four species are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The fourth category is Mountain Gorilla which falls under the Endangered species. It is the subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. Only around 150 to 180 adult Gorillas are left as of June 2020. The most common reasons for the decline in the number of Gorillas are human conflict, poaching, diseases, and habitat loss.

9. Saola

Saola is a large mammal that is rarest in this category of mammals on Earth. The Annamite Range in Vietnam is the place where it was first discovered, and this was not until 1992. It became one of the most spectacular zoological discoveries in the 20^th century. It is popularly known as the Asian unicorn because it is rarely seen, making it difficult to find the accurate number of these creatures. However, it is known that these mammals are critically endangered species on Earth, also known to be the rarest of non-terrestrial mammals.

10. North Atlantic Right Whale

The name North Atlantic Right Whale is given to these creatures by the whalers. These stay in close proximity to the coasts and feed on the zooplankton by surface skim feeding. One of the most endangered whales in the large category, hunting while they feed is the major cause for the reduction in the number of these whales. These whales are targeted by the hunters for their meat and blubber, which is fat rich in oil. Current statistics show that only around 400 of these animals are left; 100 are breeding females. Despite the measures that have been taken for protecting these animals, the recovery of the population is slowly creeping upwards. Another reason for the slow recovery of their population is that the females don't breed for the first 10 years, after which they give birth to a single calf.

Moreover, they are on the verge of extinction due to the boat striker and entanglement in fishing gear. Their communication ability is also hampered by the noise generated by the vessels, which largely affects the population as whales use sound to find their mates.