5 Most Critically Endangered/Extinct Species

The  Tasmanian devil  ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) is a carnivorous  marsupial  of the family  Dasyuridae . Until recently, it was only found on the island  state  of  Tasmania , but it has now been reintroduced to  New South Wales  in  mainland Australia , with a small breeding population. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the  largest carnivorous marsupial  in the world, following the  extinction  of the  thylacine  in 1936. It is related to  quolls , and distantly related to the thylacine.  It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding.  T he Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on  carrion . Q)Why are Tasmanian Devils ...

  The Amur leopard is a leopard subspecies native to the Primorye region of southeastern Russia and northern China . It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List . In 2007 , only 19-26 wild leopards were estimated to survive in southeastern Russia and northeastern China . It was considered as one of the rarest cats on earth. Q)Why are they critically endangered? The Amur leopard is threatened by poaching , poaching of prey species , habitat loss and deforestation or exploitation of forests . Due to the small number of reproducing Amur leopards in the wild , the gene pool is so reduced that the population is at risk from inbreeding depression. You can see this video of a mother Amur leopard and her two cubs. Amur leopards are critically endangered and it's estimated that less than 60 are left in the wild. Their main threats are poaching and habitat loss. Q)Why Amur Leopards need to be conserved? Amur leopards  are top predators in their landscape, so they're cruci...

  Orangutans  are  great apes  native to the  rainforests  of  Indonesia  and  Malaysia . They are now found only in parts of  Borneo  and  Sumatra , but during the  Pleistocene  they ranged throughout  Southeast Asia  and  South China .  Q)Why are they considered as 'endangered species'? The destruction and degradation of the tropical rain forest, particularly lowland forest, in Borneo and Sumatra is the main reason orangutans are threatened with extinction. This has been caused primarily by human activity (intense  illegal logging , conversion of forest to  palm oil plantations  and timber estates, mining, clearing forest for settlements, and road construction) and also by large-scale fires facilitated by the El Nino weather phenomena. Additionally, the illegal animal trade has been a factor in the decline of wild orangutan populations.  Finally, orangutans are occasionally hu...

The  dodo  bird is just one of the bird species driven to extinction on Mauritius.  The Dodo was a n extinct  flightless bird  about one metre ta ll and may have weighed 10–18   kg. Q)How did they got extinct? All seemed well until for some  r eason Dutch sailors had to ruin everything for everyone. The sailors set foot on the island in 1598 and saw a giant flightless birds in need of a natural enemy.  The Dodos were captured and brought on their ships. Some for dinner and some just to show off within Europe. The rats onboard their ships saw the abundance of Mauritius and decided to stay. They found an easy catch in the eggs the Dodo laid on the jungle floor.  And so the Dodo went extinct just 75 years after.   Q )  How were they traced that they got extinct?  The only account we have of  the Dodo’s appe arance is through varied illustrations and written accounts from the 17 th  century so its exact appeara...