10 endangered animals and plants
Answers
Answer:
for its ivory, meat, and skin.
sea otter (Enhydra lutris)
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
sea otter
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris).
© Only Fabrizio/Fotolia
The luxurious waterproof coat that insulates sea otters from the chilly waters that they inhabit almost led to its extinction. A target of the commercial fur trade, the species was almost wiped out, with only some 2,000 of an estimated 300,000 left by 1911. That year, an international ban on commercial hunting was enacted. Though that ban, along with management and conservation measures taken in the wake of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, have helped populations recover to perhaps a third of their earlier numbers, they are highly vulnerable to both natural phenomena such as killer whale predation and to anthropogenic factors such as oil spills.
snow leopard (Panthera uncia)
Snow leopard, (Uncia uncia or Panthera uncia). (rare animal; endangered species; cat family; mountain animal)
snow leopard
Snow leopard (Panthera uncia).
© wyssu/Fotolia
Though it’s called a leopard—and certainly resembles a frosted version of those spotted habitués of more equatorial regions—the snow leopard is actually more closely related to the tiger, at least per genetic analysis. Probably fewer than 6,500 remain in the wild, though due to the remote mountainous terrain preferred by the species, and its elusive nature, data is hard to come by. The largest populations are in China and Mongolia, with significant populations in India and Kyrgyzstan as well. Its natural prey include blue sheep and ibex, but in some areas, it is heavily dependent on domestic animals. The farmers who depend upon the animals shoot the “problem” leopards. Poaching still constitutes a major threat to the species, as does overhunting of its natural prey species.
gorilla (Gorilla beringei andGorilla gorilla)
A silverback adult male gorilla from Rwanda, Africa holds up a piece of bamboo. (primate; endangered species; mammal; wild animal)
mountain gorilla
Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), Virunga Mountains, Rwanda.
Richard Gruggiero/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Depending on who you ask, there are either two species of gorilla, the eastern (Gorilla beringei) and western (Gorilla gorilla), or three subspecies, the eastern lowland, western lowland, and mountain gorillas. Regardless of who you ask, all gorillas are endangered. There are probably only around 220,000 left in the wild. Habitat encroachment and poaching for bushmeat, trophies, and magical talismans have led to substantial losses. Because their social structure is so complex and because they reproduce slowly—with females only giving birth once every four years at best—the removal of even a few individuals from a gorilla troop can catastrophically impact its ability to sustain itself.
Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
Tasmanian devil baring its teeth.
Tasmanian devil
Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrissii).
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Between 1996 and 2008, the population of Tasmanian devils dropped some 60% due a contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease. It continues to decimate populations of the species, which only occurs on the Australian island of Tasmania. There may only be 10,000 wild individuals remaining. Captive breeding of uninfected individuals has been instituted and efforts have been made to develop a vaccine for the cancer, which is thought to have stemmed from mutated cells from a single specimen.
orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
Female Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). ape
Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in a tree
Orangutans (Pongo) have demonstrated cognitive abilities such as causal and logical reasoning, self-recognition in mirrors, deception, symbolic communication, foresight, and tool production and use.
© guenterguni/iStock.com
“Orangutan” is Malaysian for “person of the forest.” Though morphologically they may resemble melted Muppets more than people, their sophisticated cognitive abilities are very human indeed. Like gorillas and chimpanzees, they have been known to use tools. Due in large part to logging and capture for the exotic pet trade, orangutans—restricted to the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra—nu
Answer:
endangered animals are:
tiger. blue whale
polar bear. rhinocoreas
elephant. snow leopard
panda. lion
sea otter. penguin
endangered plants are
pitcher plant
rafflesia
jellyfish tree
orchid
corpse flower
woods cycad
oak tree
yarshagumba
lauth sallah
golden michelia