Download African - Mrs. Lowdermilk

Endangered Species of
Our World
from A to Z
Jessica 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 blackfooted 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
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,
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
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildli
fe/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, nearsurface swimmers, and the number of
collisions with motorboats is increasing at
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,
https://www.beyondthewall.com/xcart/images/T/t1001956-55599.gif
http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_grywhale.htm
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
http://www.birds-ngarden.com/bird/animated_hummingbird_sm.gif
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/h
ummingbirds.php
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
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
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
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
http://www.animatedpics.org/images/animalani
matedgifs/Orangutan.gif
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.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_oran
g.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/p
anda.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
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.ht
m
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/thickbilled_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/mountainprairie/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/v
aquita.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/woodpeck
ers.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
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.p
hp