And then there were three.
Yesterday, one of only 4 of the world’s remaining northern white rhinos was put down in a United States zoo (she was 41 years old). Unless an ambitious surrogacy program is successful in birthing northern white rhino cubs using the sperm of southern white rhinos, it’s reasonable to assume the species will be extinct soon.
Nearly a year ago, we gave you a list of animals that might not even make it though 2015. And while we’re happy we’ve so far been wrong, Northern white rhinos now appear to be the most in danger of become extinct all together. Currently, however, there are also 17 other species that fall under the WWF’s ‘critically endangered’ category….
| Amur Leopard | Between 60-70 | Russian Far East |
| Black Rhino | Around 5,000 | Namibia, Coastal East Africa |
| Cross River Gorilla | 200 to 300 | Congo Basin |
| Hawksbill Turtle | Unknown | Tropical oceans |
| Javan Rhino | 60 | Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia |
| Leatherback Turtle | Unknown | Mesoamerican Reef, Coastal East Africa, Gulf of California, The Galápagos, Coral Triangle |
| Mountain Gorilla | 800 | Congo Basin |
| Pangolin | Unknown | Africa, Asia |
| Saola | Unknown | Greater Mekong |
| South China Tiger | “Functionally extinct”; not seen in 25 years | |
| Sumatran Elephant | 2,400 – 2,800 | Borneo and Sumatra |
| Sumatran Orangutan | Approximately 7,300 | Borneo and Sumatra |
| Sumatran Rhino | Fewer than 100 | Borneo and Sumatra |
| Sumatran Tiger | Fewer than 400 | Borneo and Sumatra |
| Vaquita | Fewer than 100 | Gulf of California |
| Western Lowland Gorilla | Unknown | Congo Basin |
| Yangtze Finless Porpoise | 1000-1800 | Fresh waters |
Do not poach these, or any, animals. Ever.
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