Falling Stars: 10 of the Most

Famous Endangered Species

 giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Jeff Tinsley/Smithsonian Institution

They’re known as ―charismatic megafauna‖ for a reason. These endangered animals ooze star
power, a factor that conservationists have capitalized on in order to fund projects to protect them
(and, often by default, the other organisms that share their complex ecosystems). People are far
more likely to donate money to save an adorable panda or a magnificent tiger than they are to
drop some shekels on preserving the limbless worm skink or the Gerlach’s cockroach. However,
skinks and roaches are integral participants in their ecosystems as well and just as deserving of
assistance as their flashier compatriots.

Everyone loves a panda…they might be the kitschiest animal humanity has driven to the brink of
extinction yet. From stuffed animals to martial arts-trained CGI abominations, we just can’t seem
to get enough of the bi-colored beasts. Though their ―aww factor‖ may verge on the cloying, it
hasn’t been without effect. China, which is home to the remaining wild population of fewer than
2,500 individuals, has since the late 1980s instituted more stringent habitat protections and
poaching has all but ceased. Their status is still tenuous, though. Their range is fragmented and
they are still subject to disease, occasional predation, and starvation when large swathes of the
bamboo on which they feed completes its life cycle and dies.
 tiger (Panthera tigris)

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William Blake’s ―forests of the night,‖ the stalking grounds of the six subspecies of tiger, are
burning bright. Slash-and-burn agriculture, along with logging, and human encroachment, have
hugely diminished the habitat available to these felines, which require extensive ranges capable
of supporting the large herbivores that constitute the bulk of their diets. Poaching—for trophies
and body parts used in Asian ―medicine‖ —is thought to pose the greatest threat to tigers.
Probably fewer than 4,000 are left in the wild. In 2014, China explicitly outlawed the
consumption of endangered species, including tigers, whose bones, penises, and other organs are
superstitiously believed to have magical curative powers.

 whooping crane (Grus americana)

International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, WI.

In 1938, the first year a population survey was conducted, only 29 whooping cranes remained in
the wild. Three years later, only 16 were left. Hunting and reduction of their wetland habitat had
vitiated the population and concerted efforts to salvage remnant birds did not being until the late
1960s. Today, there are over 400 birds, thanks in large part to innovative breeding programs.
Though a plan that involved transferring whooping crane eggs to the nests of related sandhill
cranes for fostering ultimately failed, captive rearing and reintroduction have established two
 wild populations in Florida, one of which has been taught to migrate to Wisconsin. Neither is
self-sustaining. The only self-sustaining population migrates between Alberta, Canada, and
Texas, U.S.

 blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)

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There are fewer than 25,000 blue whales, the largest animals on the planet. Comprising several
subspecies, blue whales are found in all of the world’s oceans save the Arctic. The current
population is thought to have been reduced by up to 90% by whaling in the 20th century.
Commercial hunting of the species was ultimately banned in 1966. The National Marine
Fisheries Service of the U.S. spelled out a recovery plan in 1998. It stipulated the maintenance of
photo databases of individual specimens and the collection of genetic and migration data in order
to better understand the species, which remains at risk from ship collisions and entanglement in
fishing nets.

 Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)

© SunnyS/Fotolia

The IUCN’s best guess on the current population of Asian elephants, which inhabit 13 countries,
is around 40,000–50,000. That number may be far lower; some regions inhabited by the
lumbering pachyderms are inaccessible due to the terrain or to political volatility. Over 50% of
 the population is concentrated in India. The burgeoning human population there—and elsewhere
in Asia—creates conflicts for space and resources. And while the tusks of Asian elephants are
much smaller than those of their African counterparts, the Asian species is still poached for its
ivory, meat, and skin.

 sea otter (Enhydra lutris)

© Only Fabrizio/Fotolia

The luxurious waterproof coat that insulates sea otters from the chilly waters that they inhabit
almost led to its extinction. A target of the commercial fur trade, the species was almost wiped
out, with only some 2,000 of an estimated 300,000 left by 1911. That year, an international ban
on commercial hunting was enacted. Though that ban, along with management and conservation
measures taken in the wake of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, have helped
populations recover to perhaps a third of their earlier numbers, they are highly vulnerable to both
natural phenomena such as killer whale predation and to anthropogenic factors such as oil spills.

 snow leopard (Panthera uncia)

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Though it’s called a leopard—and certainly resembles a frosted version of those spotted habitués
of more equatorial regions—the snow leopard is actually more closely related to the tiger, at least
per genetic analysis. Probably fewer than 6,500 remain in the wild, though due to the remote
 mountainous terrain preferred by the species, and its elusive nature, data is hard to come by. The
largest populations are in China and Mongolia, with significant populations in India and
Kyrgyzstan as well. Its natural prey include blue sheep and ibex, but in some areas, it is heavily
dependent on domestic animals. The farmers who depend upon the animals shoot the ―problem‖
leopards. Poaching still constitutes a major threat to the species, as does overhunting of its
natural prey species.

 gorilla (Gorilla beringei andGorilla gorilla)

Richard Gruggiero/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Depending on who you ask, there are either two species of gorilla, the eastern (Gorilla beringei)
and western (Gorilla gorilla), or three subspecies, the eastern lowland, western lowland, and
mountain gorillas. Regardless of who you ask, all gorillas are endangered. There are probably
only around 220,000 left in the wild. Habitat encroachment and poaching for bushmeat, trophies,
and magical talismans have led to substantial losses. Because their social structure is so complex
and because they reproduce slowly—with females only giving birth once every four years at
best—the removal of even a few individuals from a gorilla troop can catastrophically impact its
ability to sustain itself.

 Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

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 Between 1996 and 2008, the population of Tasmanian devils dropped some 60% due a
contagious cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease. It continues to decimate populations
of the species, which only occurs on the Australian island of Tasmania. There may only be
10,000 wild individuals remaining. Captive breeding of uninfected individuals has been
instituted and efforts have been made to develop a vaccine for the cancer, which is thought to
have stemmed from mutated cells from a single specimen.

 orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

© guenterguni/iStock.com

―Orangutan‖ is Malaysian for ―person of the forest.‖ Though morphologically they may
resemble melted Muppets more than people, their sophisticated cognitive abilities are very
human indeed. Like gorillas and chimpanzees, they have been known to use tools. Due in large
part to logging and capture for the exotic pet trade, orangutans—restricted to the Southeast Asian
islands of Borneo and Sumatra—number fewer than 60,000 per a 2004 study. Unlike other great
apes, they are usually solitary or live in groups of fewer than three, making them difficult to
track and study.