IUCN RED LIST VIGIL
CR Critically Endangered
Vaquita
Phocoena sinus
Pop: ~10 Gulf of California
Smallest cetacean. Gill nets continue to kill them.
CR Critically Endangered
Black Rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
Pop: ~6,195 Eastern & Southern Africa
Poached for horn. Three subspecies already extinct.
EN Endangered
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Pop: ~4,500 Asia
Three subspecies gone. Bali, Javan, Caspian. The forest shrinks.
CR Critically Endangered
Eastern Gorilla
Gorilla beringei
Pop: ~5,000 DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
War, disease, and habitat loss. Silverbacks fall to snare wire.
VU Vulnerable
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
Pop: Declining Global oceans
Mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. Nesting beaches erode.
VU Vulnerable
Giant Panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Pop: ~1,864 Central China
Bamboo corridors fragmented. A conservation symbol, still fragile.
CR Critically Endangered
Tapanuli Orangutan
Pongo tapanuliensis
Pop: ~800 North Sumatra
Discovered in 2017. Already the rarest great ape.
EN Endangered
African Penguin
Spheniscus demersus
Pop: ~41,000 Southern Africa
Oil spills and overfishing. Down 97% from a century ago.
CR Critically Endangered
California Condor
Gymnogyps californianus
Pop: ~561 Western North America
Down to 22 in 1982. Lead ammunition still poisons them.
EN Endangered
Whale Shark
Rhincodon typus
Pop: Declining Tropical oceans
Largest fish. Bycatch and ship strikes. Gentle filter feeders.
VU Vulnerable
Snow Leopard
Panthera uncia
Pop: ~4,000-6,500 Central Asia
Ghost of the mountains. Killed in retaliation for livestock.
CR Critically Endangered
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
Pop: ~50-1,000 wild Lake Xochimilco, Mexico
Can regenerate limbs. Cannot regenerate its lake.
EX Extinct
Pinta Giant Tortoise
Chelonoidis abingdonii
Pop: 0 Galapagos
Lonesome George died June 24, 2012. Last of his kind.
EN Endangered
Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
Pop: ~10,000-25,000 Global oceans
Largest animal to ever live. Heart the size of a car.
EN Endangered
Aye-aye
Daubentonia madagascariensis
Pop: Declining Madagascar
Killed on sight as evil omen. Taps trees to find grubs.
VU Vulnerable
Spanish Imperial Eagle
Aquila adalberti
Pop: ~800 pairs Iberian Peninsula
Poisoned bait and electrocution. Slowly, carefully recovering.
EN Endangered
Ganges River Dolphin
Platanista gangetica
Pop: ~3,500 South Asia
Functionally blind. Navigates by echolocation in polluted water.
EX Extinct
Dodo
Raphus cucullatus
Pop: 0 Mauritius
Gone by 1681. Sailors, pigs, and rats. The word became a metaphor.
LC
NT
VU
EN
CR
EX