What are Endangered Animals?

Endangered animals are animals that are in danger of becoming

extinct. This means that there will be no more of these animals alive on
earth. An animal is considered endangered or "threatened" when there
are very few of them alive. Some animals are more threatened than
others.

To keep track of how at risk of becoming extinct a species may be,

scientists categorize the level of risk with a different name. From the
most threatened animal to least threatened these names are:

1) critically endangered

2) endangered

3) vulnerable

There are also some animals that only exist in captivity (for example in
a zoo). These animals are called "extinct in the wild".

What are some of the most endangered animals? These are animals
that are categorized as Critically Endangered. Here is just a sampling
from the list:

Black Rhinoceros - There are only a few black rhinos left. They mostly
live in Western Africa. They are mostly threatened due to hunters
killing them for their horns. Red Wolf - The red wolf originally lived in
the Southeastern United States. There are only a few hundred left,
most of them living in captivity.

The Red Wolf

Others include the Siberian Tiger, Florida Panther, Mountain Gorilla,

California Condor, and the Giant Ibis. Some "endangered" animals
include the Sea Otter, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Giant Panda, Blue
Whale, Albatross, and the Snow Leopard.

Some "vulnerable" animals include the Lion, Cheetah, Hippo, Dingo,

Polar Bear, Humpback Whale, and the Macaroni and Royal Penguins.
Animals become extinct for a variety of reasons. Today many animals
are endangered or have become extinct due to the influence of
humans. Some of the ways that animals become extinct are described
below.

Species may become extinct because of changes in climate (i.e. the

ice age), competition with other species, a reduced food supply, or
combinations of all of these. Most natural extinctions are isolated
events that happen over a fairly long period of time. Some, however,
are major events that can cause mass extinctions and happen quickly.
Perhaps the most famous of these was the extinction of the dinosaurs,
which may have been due to a large meteorite striking the Earth.

Human Interaction Today many conservationists are concerned with

human interaction causing species to become extinct. This is because
human interaction has increased the rate of extinctions beyond what
normally should occur in nature. More extinctions reduces the planet's
biodiversity and can have adverse affects for all life on Earth.

Hunting :Many species have been hunted to extinction or to the point

where they are critically endangered. One example of this is the
American Bison. There were millions of bison in the Great Plains of
North America until the arrival of the Europeans. Hunting was so
intense that only a few hundred were left by the time the animals
became protected. Fortunately, they have survived on farms and
ranches and are no longer endangered. Species that live only on
islands can also be easily hunted to extinction. Even the arrival of a
small tribe can quickly eliminate an island species.

Furs, Skins, Feathers, Horns :Besides food, animals are often hunted
for specific body parts like their fur, feathers, or horns. Sometimes
these animals are the top predators and, therefore, do not have a large
population to begin with. These species can be quickly hunted to
extinction. In Africa, the elephant was heavily hunted for its prized ivory
horns. The population went from many millions to a few hundred
thousand. Today the elephant is protected, but the population
continues to drop in some areas due to poachers. Another example is
the tiger in China. The tiger was nearly hunted to extinction for both its
valuable fur as well as its bones, which were traditionally used for
medicine. Today it remains classified as an endangered species. The
Florida panther is endangered

Loss of Habitat :One of the main threats to animals today is loss of

habitat. This comes from the expansion of humans, especially from
agriculture. As vast areas of land are cultivated to grow food, natural
habitats are destroyed. This can destroy many of the cycles of life
necessary for organisms to survive and for biomes to thrive.

Pollution :Pollution from humans can kill off a species as well. This is
especially true in fresh water biomes such as rivers and lakes. Sewage
and run-off from industrial plants can poison the water. When one
species is affected, other species can die off as well causing a chain
reaction as the balance of the ecosystem is destroyed.

Introduced Species :When a new species of plant or animal is brought

into an ecosystem it can become invasive, quickly taking over and
killing off other species. It may also destroy an important part of the
food chain causing many other species to suffer.

What is an Endangered Animal?

An endangered animal is one that is at risk of becoming extinct, which
means no longer in existence. Dinosaurs are the largest group of
animals to have ever become extinct, although the kinds of dinosaurs
are quite diverse; others include; dodo birds, mammoths, and even
some species of tigers.
Endangerment of animals is occurring more often due to being
threatened by environmental changes, the destruction of habitat, the
shortage of food supply, and being hunted. Many of these causes are
preventable if more people were educated about the dangers of their
habits.
Unfortunately, many areas that used to be home to a lot of animals,
have been turned into places where humans now either live or go,
such as a subdivision or mall. Other animals are being hunted by
humans who are seeking money, not considering the long-term effects
of their actions.
Fortunately, many laws are being enforced to help prevent complete
extinction of many species. As with any law, there are people, known
as poachers, who ignore these laws and will still kill animals for either
their fur or meat. In order to best protect these animals, it is best to
educate those of the dangers. Here are some beautiful animals that
are at risk of becoming extinct and ways to help preserve the land they
call home.

What Animals Are Endangered

Many Kinds of Tigers are Endangered Animals: There are nine
different types of tigers. Three of these kinds are extinct. The Siberian
Tiger may become extinct in the immediate future.There are so few,
that they are classified as critically endangered. There is only one type
of tiger that is more endangered than the Siberian Tiger, which is the
South China Tiger.
The South China Tiger is one of the ten most endangered animals in
the entire world .There is believed to be only fifty-nine South China
Tigers alive, and none live in their original habitat. This means they are
extinct in the wild.
Bengal Tigers are another endangered animal, but unlike the South
China Tiger, they still live in the wild. They believe that there is less
than two thousand. That is less tigers than people who live in most
cities.

Elephants are Endangered Animals.

There are two kinds of elephants, the African elephant and the Asian
elephant. Both are endangered. There are believed to be around five-
hundred-thousand African elephants in the wild. This may sound like a
lot, but only twenty-five years ago, there were more than one million.
The numbers are decreasing very quickly. That means in twenty-five
years, half the elephants that lived, have died.
Asian elephants are even more endangered than African elephants. It
is believed that there are less than 50,000 alive. This is only a tenth of
the number of African elephants, due to the decreasing habitat and
poachers.

The Leatherback Sea Turtle is An Endangered Species

The leatherback sea turtle is the world's largest turtle, as well as the
most endangered turtle. It became endangered because humans have
taken their eggs as keepsakes. Many people find it neat when they find
a turtle egg on the beach. Not realizing the consequence, they pick it
up. Their ignorance is killing off an entire species. If you see eggs on
the beach, feel free to take a picture, but leave the eggs alone.
Another reason they are dying is because turtles mistake plastic items
as food, that is why it is important to never litter. Plastic can get into the
ocean. When an animal sees something floating, they often assume it
is an animal they can eat, this has the potential of poisoning, choking,
or causing blockages in their intestines. Although both of these are real
dangers, their decreasing numbers is in most part due to the loss of
beaches where they can inhabit. The more beaches we humans have
to swim on, the less there are for other creatures to live.

Leopards are Endangered Animals

There are at least nine different subspecies of leopards. Many of these
are endangered; the most endangered being the amur leopards There
are only forty left on this earth. They live in the same area as the
Siberian tiger, which have also been effected by the decreasing
habitat.
Because leopards are some of the most beautiful animals, with
beautiful fur, people used to hunt them, which is the primary reason for
the limited number left today. The number of amur leopards left have
decreased the number so greatly, it has decreased the odds of the
ones left to become pregnant, which is causing their population to
decrease greatly.
The snow leopard is another leopard that is endangered. There are
around five thousand snow leopards left on this Earth in the wild. A big
problem for the snow leopard is that the animals they prey on are
decreasing. As their food decreases, so does the number of surviving
snow leopards.