Sadly many animal species are under threat of total extinction after years of environmental and human damage, such as the polar bear, marine turtle and the iconic giant panda.
Asian and African Rhinoceros
Several rhino species are under threat, such as the Sumatran Rhinoceros, which is the smallest of the rhino species with an estimated 275 remaining in the world. The Javan Rhinoceros has been poached almost into extinction, with just 70 estimated to exist. And the Northern White Rhinoceros is the most endangered of the mighty rhino species – with just 10 remaining, all of which are protected at conservation centres around the world. The Africa savannahs were home to a million black and white rhinos, but hunting for sport and poaching for medicinal purposes has beaten these creatures to the very verge of extinction.
Some good news however is that the one-horned rhino, which lives in Nepal, India and Bhutan has increased in number, from just 600 in 1975 to nearly 3,000 today, thanks to conservation efforts.
Gorilla
Seeing a gorilla up close is one of nature’s wonders but disease and illegal hunting are driving gorilla populations dangerously close to extinction. In fact the Mountain Gorilla population is put at just 786 which live in two regions; the Virunga Massif and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Within the Virunga Massif, the mountain gorillas are protected in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Uganda’s Mgahinga National Park and the DR Congo’s Virunga National Park.The rarest ape on earth is the Cross River Gorilla of Nigeria and Cameroon of which only 300 remain in the wild.
There’s better news for the western and eastern lowland gorillas where wild populations are put at 100,000 and 17,000.
Polar Bear
Anyone that watched the recent BBC wildlife series ‘The Polar Bear Family and Me’ would have wept watching a mother polar bear desperately trying to eat plastic washed up on the coast. Living in the far north, the polar bear is an important indicator of how the Arctic marine ecosystem is faring as a whole. And with worries that the Arctic ice is melting at a shocking rate, the breeding and hunting ground for polar bears is rapidly diminishing. There are thought to be around 25,000 polar bears remaining in the wold to date. Watch the BBC video that shows the lengths a polar bear will go to get food.