35 Of The World’s Rarest Animals
All of the species on this list are critically endangered and
will disappear entirely — unless drastic measures are taken to save
them.
1. Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat
There are about 115 northern
hairy-nosed wombats left in the wild. They all live in Epping Forest
National Park in Queensland, Australia.
This wombat’s nose is very important
in its survival since the creature has very poor eyesight and needs its
nose to smell food in the dark.
2. Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth
Craig Turner / AP
This small three-toed sloth is endemic to Isla Escudo de Veraguas, a small island off the coast of Panama. A 2011 study found only 79 left in the wild.
3. Red-Crested Tree Rat
The red-crested tree rat lives in the
forests of Colombia. It was thought to be extinct for many years —
until volunteers at the El Dorado Nature Reserve were visited by the
creature in 2011. The last recorded sighting was in 1898, when two of
the critters were found and studied, and were the subsequent source of
all information about the rat.
This little critter is about 18
inches long, which is about the same size as a guinea pig. It inhabits a
relatively small area of the forest in Colombia, and much of this area
has been cleared or disturbed.
4. Angel Shark (aka Squatina Squatina)
Historically, the angel shark range
was from the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas, but
commercial fishing has diminished the population. It is now uncommon
throughout most of its range with the exception of some areas of the
southern Mediterranean and Canary Islands.
Camouflaged in the sand, an angel shark waits there for small fish to swim within gulping distance.
When an unsuspecting fish comes near, the shark lunges upward, sucks the fish into its huge mouth, and swallows it whole.
5. Boni Giant Sengi (Formerly Known as an Elephant Shrew)
This rare animal lives in the
Boni-Dodori Forest in Kenya. The forest these giant sengi call home is
being destroyed for development.
6. Javan Rhino
Ujung Kulon National Park / AP
This rhino used to be found
throughout Southeast Asia, but there are about 40–60 individuals living
in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java.
7. Plougshare Tortoise (aka Angonoka)
This is the most endangered tortoise
in the world. The population is estimated to between 440–770, and they
reside in the Baly Bay region in Madagascar.
The plougshare tortoise is so beautiful, it’s a curse. The animal is poached for the illegal international pet trade.
8. Gooty Tarantula (aka Metallic Tarantula)
The spider’s habitat is in
Southeastern India and Sri Lanka. Habitat loss and degradation as a
result of deforestation, firewood collection, and civil unrest have all
contributed to the loss of this tarantula’s population.
9. Durrell’s Vontsira (aka Salanoia Durrelli)
The Durell’s vontsira is a
marsh-dwelling animal that lives in the Lake Alaotra in Madagascar,
which is an extremely threatened area.
10. Hainan Gibbon
HANDOUT / Reuters
There are only about 23 Hainan
gibbons left, making it the world’s rarest primate, who live on Hainan
Island in the South China Sea.
Watch this video and learn more about the remaining 23 Hainan gibbons:
11. Cuban Greater Funnel-Eared Bat
There are fewer than 100 Cuban
greater funnel-eared bats left in Cueva La Barca, Cuba. The bats have
lost much of their habitat due to human destruction.
12. Northern Bald Ibis
Lubomir Peske / AP
There are fewer than 250 mature Northern bald ibises.
The northern bald ibis breeds in
Morocco, Turkey, and Syria. The ibis is threatened by habitat
degradation and destruction, and hunting.
13. Nelson’s Small-Eared Shrew
This shrew is endemic to eastern Mexico. It has suffered from habitat loss due to logging, cattle grazing, and agriculture.
14. Roloway monkey
SEBASTIEN BOZON / Getty Images
The roloway monkey used to live in the forests of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, but it has become extinct in Ghana.
SEBASTIEN BOZON / Getty Images
Hunting for consumption as bushmeat and habitat loss have contributed to the drastic decline in the creature’s population.
15. Araripe Manakin
There are 779 Araripe Manakins that
live in Brazil. They have suffered from habitat destruction due to
expansion of agriculture and recreational facilities.
16. Rio Pescado Stubfoot Toad
Unseen since 1995, the toad, which lives in the lowlands of Ecuador, was rediscovered in 2010.
17. Geometric Tortoise
The geometric tortoise lives in Cape
Province, South Africa. It is threatened by habitat destruction and
degradation as well as predation.
18. Jamaican Rock Iguana
Believed to be extinct for many years, this iguana was found in the remote Hellshire Hills in 1970.
19. Spoon-Billed Sandpiper
Baz Scampion / AP
The spoon-billed sandpiper is a small
wader that breeds in northeastern Russia. There are fewer than 1,000
mature individuals left in the wild.
The main threats to its survival are
habitat loss on its breeding grounds and loss of tidal flats through its
migratory and wintering range.
20. Luristan Newt (aka Kaiser’s Spotted Newt)
The luristan newt is a type of
salamander and is endemic to the southern Zagros Mountains in Iran. The
luristan newt is coveted in the pet trade — they were sold on a Ukraine
website for $300 — and now only survives in captivity.
21. Vaquita
This is the world’s smallest dolphin, and is from the Northern Gulf of California and Mexico.
There are fewer than 200 vaquita
dolphins left in the wild, and the population is declining. The
immediate threat to the dolphins is the use of gillnets deployed by
fishermen.
22. Actinote Zikani
The Actinote zikani lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but has lost much of its habitat to humans.
23. Greater Bamboo Lemur
There are only 100–160 individuals
left in the southeastern and southcentral rainforests of Madagascar. The
major threat to this animal is slash-and-burn agriculture, mining, and
illegal logging.
This creature has powerful jaws that can crack through bamboo, which makes up the majority of its diet.
24. Tarzan’s chameleon
Frank Gaw / AP
This chameleon was discovered in 2009 in the Tarzan Forest in Madagascar. Rampant deforestation threatens Tarzan’s chameleon.
25. Saola
This magical creature was only discovered in 1992. It lives in the Annamite mountains on the Vietnam and Laos border.
26. Red River Giant Softshell Turtle
Na Son Nguyen / AP
This enormous weighs 440 pounds.
Unfortunately, there are only four red river giant softshell turtles
left, all of which live in captivity. The animal is considered sacred by
many Vietnamese.
27. Dusky Gopher Frog
Gerald Herbert / AP
The entire population is estimated to
be between 60–100 individuals living in two ponds in Mississippi.
Unfortunately, the dusky gopher frog population has declined because of
loss of wetlands and native longleaf pine habitat, the decline of gopher
tortoises, invasive species, disease, drought conditions, and lack of
natural and prescribed fire.
28. Singapore Freshwater Crab
This crab is threatened by habitat degradation because of a reduction in water quality and quantity.
29. Madagascar Pochard
Michael Sohn / AP
This pochard duck stands on the head
of a hippo at the zoo in Berlin. There are about 20 mature pochards left
in the wild, who live in volcanic lakes north of Bealanana, Madagascar.
The Madagascar pochard is threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture, hunting, and fishing as well as introduced fish.
30. Hirola (aka Hunter’s Hartebeest)
TIM WACHER / Getty Images
The hirola antelope found in arid
grassy plains in a pocket on the border between Kenya and Somalia. There
are between 500 and 1,200 of them left in the wild.
31. Sumatran Rhino
AP / AP
There are fewer than 250 mature
Sumatran rhinos left in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Sumatran rhino is
hunted for its horn, which is used in traditional medicines.
32. Parides Burchellanus
There are fewer than 100 parides burchellanus left living in Cerrado, Brazil.
33. Franklin’s Bumblebee
Eter Schroeder / AP
Franklin’s bumblebee lives in Oregon
and California. This bumblebee is threatened by disease from
commercially bred bumblebees and habitat destruction.
34. Common sawfish
TORSTEN BLACKWOOD / Getty Images
The common sawfish lives in the
coastal tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic
oceans. Currently, the common sawfish is largely restricted to northern
Australia.
Rob Griffith / AP
Sawfish have adapted to live in both
salt and fresh water, while their long saw-like rostrum (nose) has
evolved to expertly forage for food under the sandy ocean floor. Sawfish
have been placed on the critically endangered list mainly due to a
human impact to their environment and being entangled in fishing nets.
35. Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey
The tonkin snub-nosed monkey is endemic to Northeastern Vietnam, where there are fewer than 200 left.
Tilo Nadler / AP
Heavy poaching and the destruction of habitat have diminished this monkey’s population.