- More than 23,000 species on the IUCN Red List are threatened with extinction.
- 41% of the world’s amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 25% of mammals and 13% of birds, are threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN Red list database.
- 120-230 Florida panthers are estimated to be in the wild. In 2016, 32 Florida panthers died from being hit by cars, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
- 500 or fewer Cross River Gorillas live in the wild.
- 59% of all the carnivore species weighing 33 pounds or more are listed as threatened. Likewise, 60% of all the herbivore species weighing 220 pounds or more are listed as threatened, according to the National Geographic Photo Ark.
- 700 or fewer Sumatran tigers remain in the wild.
- 1447 species in the U.S. are on the threatened and endangered species list, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
- 945 plants in the U.S. are on the threatened and endangered plants lists, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The number of endangered species fluctuates as species are removed and added to the list, which isn’t exactly short.
And while the numbers may seem daunting, there is hope, according to Joel Sartore, National Geographic photographer and founder of the Photo Ark.
“The good news is that we can save most of these species, but we have to pay attention and leave some habitat intact; we can’t convert the entire surface of the Earth to farm or cities and remain unscathed,” he said.
Leave a Reply