5 Forgotten Animals You Didn’t Know Are Going Extinct!

5 Forgotten Animals You Didn’t Know Are Going Extinct! Description: Polar bears, giant pandas, rhinos and snow leopards. These animals have one thing in common: they are almost extinct. Reasons: global warming, melting of the ice caps and poaching. Heard of the golden toad, the Zanzibar leopard, the Tecopa Pupfish and the Javan Tiger? I’m guessing not because they are already extinct. So many out there need our effort to ensure they stay alive for the next generations. With this being said, we dug deep to find the 5 Forgotten Animals You Didn’t Know Are Going Extinct! Ready to be amazed? Well, lets begin! 1. Pangolin Two of the eight species of the Pangolin have made it to the IUCN Red List of Threatened species under the category of ‘critically endangered’. I know. Terrible news indeed. This would explain it: it is the most highly trafficked animal in the world. Between 2011 and 2013, more than 200,000 of them were killed by hunters alone! So there we have it: population size is dropping because of poaching. The Pangolin is found in Africa and Asia and is often eaten as a delicacy by the indigenous communities; the scales are used in folk remedies. I really hope the international agreement signed last year will do something good for these poor creatures. 2. South China Tiger I love tigers. So I feel really bad hearing that South China has not been spotted in the wild for the past 25 years. 25 years and no one noticed! So, apparently, it’s functionally extinct. I know it’s the smallest tiger subspecies, but still. During the 1950s, the population of the China Tiger was measured at about 4,000. Over the next few decades, thousands of these tigers were hunted as they were considered a pest by the Chinese government. I’ll let that sink in. The government changed its tune in 1979 when it banned their hunting; but it was too late. By 1996, only 30-80 tigers were left. Today they can only be spotted in zoos. Thanks a lot China! 3. Sumatran Orangutan At the start, Sumatran Orangutans were dispersed all over the island of Sumatra and Java. Now, they are limited to the north of the island, mostly in the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh. There are only 14,600 of these kinds of Orangutans left. Why do we need this particular species of Orangutans to live? Well, mainly because of the ecosystem. If they were to be wiped out, the ecosystem would suffer as they disperse seeds for various tree species. Their habitat is being lost due to a rapid rate of forest fires and agricultural development. The forest fires are for clearing land and palm oil plantations. Turns out these fires are not only risky to the Orangutans but other species too. 4. Vaquita This is the rarest of all animals. In fact, if illegal by-catching isn’t halted in the Gulf of California, the Vaquita will go extinct by 2018. This rare animal was discovered in 1958 and is now teetering on the brink of extinction. Because of fishery by-catch, one out of every Vaquitas get caught and drowned in the gillnets meant for other marine species. This made the creature a threatened species by the mid 1970’s, when we were just getting comfortable with each other. Hopefully the plan by the World Wildlife Fund to implement a long-term conservation plan will pan out. 5. Mountain Gorilla The mountain gorilla of the Virunga landscape has seen tough times, not including conflict and war. This landscape stretches north and south from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The mountain gorillas may live in forests and also high in the mountains at altitudes of 8,000 and 13,000 feet. Due to the long and bloody conflict in Rwanda and the DRC, refugees have been encroaching into the gorilla land. What’s more, rebels have taken over parts of the Virunga National park and they don’t give a damn about the gorillas that live there. We can all imagine the trouble conservationists are having in that region. Background Music: Kevin MacLeod ~ Gregorian Chant : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7gTmd6W8hw For copyright matters please contact us: OfficialAmerikano@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Thank you so much for watching! Smash that like button for more, make sure you share the video with your friends and dont forget to subscribe! Make sure to follow me here: https://twitter.com/Top5sFinest