People were so carried away by the world of gadgets and high technology that they completely forgot about wildlife, lost interest in the diversity of flora and fauna. Meanwhile, it turned out that many animals are on the verge of survival, despite protective measures, inclusion in the Red Books of various countries and other ways to maintain a view on our planet.
From history, you can remember that some animals have already become extinct in the wild (including due to the economic and poaching activities of humans). We do not want this list to be replenished over the years, so we will responsibly treat nature and our smaller brothers.
Today we publish a list of 10 animals that are already close to the line of extinction and require the attention of the public and states to preserve their population.
10. Wakita (Californian porpoise)
Many people did not know at all that such an animal exists. A small waterfowl "pig" lives only in the gulf of California in the amount of 10 individuals.
Poaching of fish in the bay put the wakita at risk of extinction, because it gets into gill nets. The corpses of animal poachers are not interested, so they are simply thrown back.
Two years ago, several representatives of the species inhabited the planet. Since then, the Mexican government has declared the habitat of the mammal a reserve.
9. Northern White Rhino
No, no, this is not an albino rhinoceros at all, but a separate species, or rather, 2 of its surviving representatives. The last male, alas, had to be euthanized last year for health reasons, and the age for the rhino was considerable - 45 years.
For the first time, the number of white rhinos began to decline in the 70-80s, which is associated with poaching. Only the daughter and granddaughter of the euthanized rhinoceros who, unfortunately, have already left the child-bearing age, are now alive.
Scientists are trying to implant the embryos of the northern white rhino into the uterus of a female of an adjacent southern species. By the way, Sumatran and Javan rhinos, which were left on the planet with 100 and 67 representatives, respectively, were on the verge of extinction.
8. Turtle on the island of Fernandin
What would be so special about a turtle? But only representatives of this species have long been considered completely extinct. Not so long ago, scientists discovered one Fernandin's tortoise, a female about 100 years old. Traces of vital activity were also found, which are encouraging to find several more representatives of the species.
The reason for the extinction of the species, unlike other cases, was not human activity, but an unfavorable habitat. The fact is that there are volcanoes on the island, and flowing lava kills turtles. The eggs of these reptiles are also hunted by domesticated and wild animals.
7. Amur Leopard
Recently, an unpleasant tendency has been observed to reduce the number of leopard species at once. They are destroyed by people, finding a threat to their lives, as well as poachers for the sake of luxurious fur. Deforestation and economic activity in the habitat led to the extinction of Amur leopards, of which only 6 dozen remained in the wild.
They live in the Leopard National Park - an artificially created conservation area in Russia. Despite protecting the species from human threat, they are still threatened by other representatives of the animal world, for example, the larger Siberian tiger. Catching a leopard to move to the National Park is not easy, because they are elusive.
6. Giant soft-bodied Yangtze tortoise
Unique individuals live only in China (the region of the Red River), and also partially in Vietnam. The rapidly growing cities and dams destroyed houses where a soft-bodied turtle lived. Already two years ago in the world there were only 3 representatives of the species. The male and female live in the zoo in Suzhou, and the wild representative lives in Vietnam in the lake (gender unknown).
The destruction of turtles was also facilitated by poaching - eggs, skin and meat of these reptiles were considered valuable. Local residents of the Red River region claim to have seen a couple more representatives of the species.
5. Hainan Gibbon
One of the rarest primates on the planet, because in the wild there are only 25 representatives of the species that huddle in a small area (two square km) in a reserve on the island of Hainan.
Deforestation was caused by deforestation and the deterioration of living conditions, as well as poaching, because the meat of these gibbons was eaten, and some representatives were kept as pets.
As a result of the loss in the number of species, interbreeding began, which negatively affected the state of health. That is, almost all of the surviving Hainan gibbons are relatives.
4. Water frog of Seuenkas
The unique frog lives in the cloudy forests of Bolivia, but is on the verge of extinction due to the deterioration of living conditions (climate change, natural pollution), as well as a deadly disease (fungus). Local trout feeds on the eggs of this rare frog.
These factors led to the fact that only 6 representatives of the species remained in the world: 3 males and 3 females. Let's hope that these “slippery” couples can quickly make babies and increase their own population.
3. Marsican brown bear
These representatives are a subspecies of the brown bear. They live on the territory of the Apennine mountains in Italy. A couple of centuries ago, there were several hundred such bears on the planet, but as a result of the conflict with local business executives, their mass shooting began.
Now only 50 individuals survived, which fell under the protection of the country's government. Authorities attempt to label and tag animals to track their movement and observe. Such attempts lead to disastrous consequences - respiratory disturbances can occur from a bear's radio collars.
2. South Chinese tiger
This species of tiger is considered the main, so to speak, the ancestor of the whole species. On the planet at the moment there are only 24 of these tigers - deforestation and shooting to protect livestock has drastically reduced the population.
All surviving individuals live in captivity in the reserve. Over the past 20 years, there has been no information that South Chinese tigers could survive in the wild.
1. Asian cheetah
A couple of centuries ago, there were plenty of animals of this species. In India, they began an active hunt until complete extinction. In the 19-20 century, the cheetah began to lose its habitat due to vigorous agricultural activity, the construction of routes with active movement, and rash installation of mines in the fields.
At the moment, the animal lives exclusively in Iran - only 50 representatives remain in the country. The Iranian government is trying hard to maintain its appearance, but the subsidies and financial assistance for this event have been significantly reduced.
Here are such disappointing forecasts for 10 representatives of the fauna of our planet. If we do not reflect on our “rational” behavior and begin to take care of nature more carefully, then after a few decades such lists simply cannot be published.