Rarest of the Rare Brought to Light

The Wildlife Conservation Society lists 10 animals that they have dubbed the Rarest of the Rare.

[social_buttons]The Wildlife Conservation Society has released a list of “Rarest of the Rare” in the 2010-2011 edition of State of the Wild. The ten animals in the list have been extracted from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of Critically Endangered animals. The classification of Critically Endangered is described as a species facing an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.” Often this meaning will be represented by the species’ number being reduced by approximately 80% in the wild over the last 10 years, or on average three generations.

Unfortunately, as of 2009, the total number of plants and animals listed as Critically Endangered numbers somewhere over the 3,200 mark.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, have a Red List, which categorizes rare species as Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered.

“The Rarest of the Rare provides a global snapshot of some of the world’s most endangered animals,” said State of the Wild Kent Redford, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Institute. “While the news is dire for some species, it also shows that conservation measures can and do protect wildlife if given the chance to work.”

Cuban Crocodile – is currently restricted to two small areas of Cuba.

Florida bonneted bat – was originally thought to be extinct until 2002 until a small conoloy was discovered in Fort Myers. Current estimated population is at about 100 in total.

Green-eyed frog – currently estimated to be only a few hundred, this frog was once common throughout Costa Rica and Panama, but is now limited solely to locations throughout Costa Rica.

Grenada dove – The national bird of Grenada, the dove numbers fewer than 150 living in Mt. Hartman National Park and Mt. Hartman Estate.

Hirola – one of the most highly threatened antilopes, the Hirola is now found solely within a 2,900 square mile area along the border of Kenya and Somalia. An estimated 600 now survive.

Ploughshare tortoise – found in the Baly Bay region in northwestern Madagascar and is thought to number nearly 200 mature animals.

Island gray fox – the smallest fox in the United States it lives on only six of the California Channel Islands, and is believed to be numbered at fewer than 1,000 indivuduals.

Sumatran orang-utan – the majority live in the province of Aceh in northern Sumatra and number around 6,600.

Vaquita – a five foot long porpoise, the Vaquita is known to occur only in the northern Gulf of California in Mexico, and estimates place the number left at around 567.

White-headed langur – there may be as few as 59 individuals remaining living on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay off the northeastern coast of Vietnam.

The five page article concludes by listeing two animals – the Romer’s tree frog and the Przewalski’s horse – that have been labelled as on the road to recovery.

The first 50 pages of the latest edition of State of the Wild can be found here as a preview, including the full article entitled “Some of the World’s Most Endangered Animals.”