‘WORLD’S MOST ENDANGERED

The world's most endangered animals & their locations, according to the WWF, i.e. World Wildlife Federation, are saturated in various parts of the world. Mostly, animals are found in the African continent. A continent where most Wildlife is found, i.e. in rich abundance. This is according to the stats from IUCN. Currently, more than 40,000 species have been accessed to be under threat of extinction. Endangered animals tend to extinction, which means the rarely-found species are on the brink of finishing or becoming extinct as one of the species. Many animal species are found in this world on almost all continents. These originate from the basic ones and can even be known as subspecies.

A reason for the extinction is that as our modern societies are getting more resource-intensive, the biological species are shrinking, and the wildlife numbers are the ones that are declining. While there are stories of extinction, also there are amazing & inspirational wildlife successes and stories in the past. Many animals are still in danger, mostly due to unsus- tainable human-led activities. The IUCN or The Int. Union for Conservation of Nature is a body dedicated to the conservation & efforts needed to save nature, especially Wildlife. The red list of IUCN has revealed that approximately 40K species are accessed to be under threat of extinction. By the word extinction, we mean that their species are under threat of getting finished or terminated fully in terms of numbers. According to the list of the IUCN, below we have a list of the Top 10 world's most endangered animals & where they are surviving, i.e. in terms of the location. They are as follows;

JAVAN RHINOS:

Javan Rhinos is one of the Rhino species once found throughout South-East Asia. These Rhinos, also known as Javan Rhinos, have suffered a staggering decline in their numbers. The two most important reasons being due to hunting & habitat loss. The only wild population of the Rhino species is rare now. It's the rarest of the Rhino species, i.e., only 75 individuals left. These are the ones found on Java Island, Indonesia. A beautiful & famous Island in gorgeous Indonesia is one of the hottest tourist places in Indonesia. The other heritage site, i.e. a World Heritage site for Javan Rhinos, is the Ujung Kulon National Park. However, the area also needs help with the invading Arenga Palm, due to which there is less food to eat for the Rhinos & less area to roam. Other reasons for extinction include natural catastrophes, diseases, poaching, and potential inbreeding.

AMUR LEOPARDS:

It's one of the rarest big cats worldwide and is known as the Amur Leopard. There are only around 100 individual Amur Leopards left in the wild. However, the wild population is stable and increasing in terms of numbers. These leopard subspecies are still critically endangered for the last 26 years, i.e. 1995-96. Furthermore, there is also a good reason that leopards can only be found in a relatively small region of the far-east of Russia and North-East China. Amur Leopards, toward their survival, face multiple threats. This is known as the survival of the fittest. These threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. Also includes prey scarcity and transportation & infrastructure such as roads. Still, there is hope regarding this big cat's positive survival. Most of their home range lies in protected areas of China & Russia. There are also noticed movements towards suitable habitats from the protected areas where they are currently present.

SUNDA ISLAND TIGER:

The Sunda Island Tiger, or the Sumatran Tiger, is the smallest tiger subspecies in the world. The weight of this Tiger is up to 140kg which is far lesser than a Tiger's average weight. Something that makes it the smallest of the Tiger subspecies. They are only found on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra, a key reason why they are also known as Sumatran Tiger. However, the numbers left in the world are six times that of the Amur Leopard, i.e. 600 individual Tigers left in this world. These are numbers that make these Tigers one of the rarest species.

A major reason why the number of Tigers left on Sumatran Island is declining is because of a fast-increasing human population. Thus, this increase in the human population has also increased the human-tiger conflict, directly affecting them. Tiger poaching and illegal trading of tiger parts and products are also of serious concern for their survival.

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS:

It's the Mountain Gorillas that are the subspecies of the Eastern Gorillas. These are the Gorillas species that are divided into the mountain regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park of Uganda.

Presently, mountain Gorillas are listed as endangered species as just over 1000 individuals are left in the wild. Although they are still in a thousand, the extinction rate is fast. Multiple threats remain that can hinder the recovery progress of this species.

BLACK RHINOS:

Due to large-scale poaching, the black Rhinos suffered heavily from 1960 to 1995, i.e. consistently for 35 years. Although, due to efforts to remedy numbers in Africa, still the Black Rhinos are listed by IUCN as a critically endangered species. There are around 5,600 individuals left in the wild.

AFRICAN FOREST ELEPHANT:

While we dig deep into the dense humid forest of West & Central Africa, we can find an elusive forest elephant. These are one of two African Elephant species. It's difficult to find their exact numbers due to their shy nature. However, in the last 30 years, they have declined tremendously by 85%. The main reason is Elephant poaching, especially in Central Africa. Also, an alarming increase in human-elephant conflict has risen.

Currently, the African forest elephants occupy around 25% of their historic range. These are scattered all over Africa, i.e. at least 20 different African nations. They are mostly found in Gabon & the Republic of Congo.

All these endangered species & many more on the list are due to things such as poaching that can be controlled. Legislation & hunting laws have helped a lot in the restoration, a reason why there is still hope concerning endangered species & their natural habitat.