10 animals of which there are only a few on the planet

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Needless to say, the world is amazing and beautiful, and the creatures in it are striking in their diversity, making you think that most of them are very rare, and, unfortunately, endangered species, which, alas, are not left there are so many on Earth.

1. Javan rhino

The Javanese rhinos were once the most common among Asian rhinos, and now they are endangered. With only one known population in the wild, they are considered to be one of the world's rarest large mammals, numbering approximately 50-70 individuals, and all of them do not live in captivity. As you know, rhinos are often hunted because of their exotic horns, which leads to the extinction of the species, and the Vietnam War also contributed to their extinction. Unfortunately, the only population of Javanese rhinos can be found in Ujung Kulon National Park in southwest Java, Indonesia.

2. California porpoise

As regrettable as it may sound, there are about thirty individuals left in the world that live in a single place. This is why the California porpoise is considered one of the endangered marine mammals in the world. They often end up in fishing nets, becoming victims of poachers and occasional fishermen. Chlorinated pesticides, irrigation and inbreeding are also threatening species. But on land, in the northern part of the Gulf of California (Mexico), they are easy to find due to the shallow water in which they live: often, these are lagoons, usually no deeper than twenty five to thirty meters.

3. Mountain gorilla

Today, there are about a thousand mountain gorillas in the wild. Thanks to intensive conservation efforts, these primates were moved from the Endangered List to the IUCN Red List in 2018. However, illegal poaching, pollution, habitat deforestation, fragmentation and disease continue to threaten their species. Mountain gorillas often fall prey to poachers who hunt for their meat, while juveniles fall into traps designed for other animals. On top of all this, war and civil unrest have also had a negative impact on gorillas. There are two populations of mountain gorillas that are under the scrutiny of various wildlife conservation organizations. One group lives in the Virunga volcanic mountains in Central Africa through three national parks: Ugandan Mgahinga National Park, Rwanda Volcanoes National Park and Virunga National Park in DR. Another part of the population lives in the impregnable Bwindi National Park in Uganda.

4. Bengal tigers

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were approximately one hundred thousand tigers in the world. Today, it is estimated that this number has dropped to four thousand in the wild. Tigers need large areas of habitat, but living in some of the most densely populated places on Earth has put them in the very environment that has led to massive conflict with humans. In addition, habitat destruction and fragmentation have had the most significant impact on tiger habitats, and poaching is one of their greatest threats. India is the best country to see tigers in the wild, but besides that, they can also be found in Bangladesh, China, Sumatra, Siberia and Nepal.

5. Snow leopard

The population of the wild snow leopard is estimated to be between 4,000 and 7,000 today. Their habitats have been found in twelve countries of Central Asia: China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but snow leopards, first of all, are threatened by shepherds, who mercilessly kill them in order to protect their livestock. As a result, these animals rank fifth among the endangered species in the world.

6. Irrawaddy dolphins

The Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins are another endangered mammal in the world. Their number is approximately fifty to seventy individuals. Like most other dolphins, they often fall prey to fishermen and meat poachers. Pollution of the environment and water bodies also adversely affects their existence, significantly reducing the number. But despite this, this species can be found in the Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia, the Mahakam River in Kalimantan in Indonesia and other rivers in Asia, and the Amazon basin.

7. Orangutan

A century ago, more than two hundred and thirty thousand orangutans lived in our world, but now their number has decreased by about half. Deforestation, forest fires, fragmentation, hunting, poaching - all of this and much more adversely affects the survival of primates. But there are several places where you can find orangutans living in the wild - this is the Indonesian Borneo and the island of Sumatra.

8. Leatherback sea turtles

Twenty-six to forty-five thousand sea turtles nest each year (a sharp decline from 115,000 in 1980). Young turtles are incredibly vulnerable and, unfortunately, very few survive to adulthood. Birds and small mammals often dig turtle nests to eat their eggs. An equally sad fate awaits those turtles that have just hatched. After all, birds flying forever in search of food and crustaceans living on the coast pick them up before they can reach the sea. And fish, squids and octopuses often hunt them if they manage to get into the water. The main nesting sites for turtles are Suriname, French Guiana, Grand Anse Beach in Saint Lucia, Turtle Beach in Tobago, Guyana Shell Beach and Gabon. The beaches of the Mayumba National Park in Gabon are home to the largest nesting population on the African continent.

9. Asian elephants

Since 1986, Asian elephants have been considered an endangered species, and their population has declined by at least fifty percent in the past seventy-five years or so. There are less than fifty thousand individuals left in the wild. Fragmentation, deforestation and an increase in human numbers are destroying the elephant's habitat and reducing the space in which they can live. Sri Lanka, India, Sumatra - places where you can meet Asian elephants. However, the best opportunity to see them is at a natural gathering where about three hundred elephants come to the shores of Minneriya in Sri Lanka's Minneriya National Park in August to swim and drink. It is the largest congregation of Asian elephants in the world.

10. Atlantic bluefin tuna

The number of bluefin tuna has declined at an astonishing rate over the past forty years. The reports show a 72% decline in the East Atlantic and an 82% decline in the West. Overfishing is the main cause of the destruction of these species due to their commercial value as food. They were more focused on the Japanese fish market, where they are very popular with sushi and sashimi. However, agriculture is the most serious threat to this species, as tuna is harvested from the wild before it is old enough to breed. Tuna, found in the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, are very difficult to track and can be found off the coast of many countries, from Brazil to Norway. However, they are known to return annually to spawn in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Continuing the theme - for which the rich are ready to shell out a tidy sum.