- Over a quarter of all assessed species, more than 40,000, are threatened with extinction.
- Of the 201 critically endangered species listed, 10 are increasing populations and 12 are stabilizing.
- Species including mountain gorillas, Siamese crocodiles and Chinese magnolias all have recorded growth in their populations.
In an age where discussions around the health and future of our planet more often stoke fear and anxiety, conservation wins that saved several species from the brink of extinction offer a glimmer of hope.
In a statement released earlier this month, Fauna and Flora Internationalthe world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organization, listed several species that have since rebounded from near extinction.
Over a quarter of all assessed species, more than 40,000, are threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of the 201 critically endangered species listed, 10 are increasing populations and 12 are stabilizing.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report last Augustwhich the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called an “atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership,” as well as a “code red for humanity.”
The IPCC report noted that plants and animals have already exceeded their tolerance thresholds for the increased heatwaves, droughts and floods, which are driving “mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals.”
Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC, said the report highlights “the interdependence of climate, biodiversity,” and dire consequences of inaction.
“Half measures are no longer an option,” Lee said.
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This Earth Day recognizes these animal and plant species that nearly ceased to exist.
arabian oryx
The Arabian oryx, a desert antelope in South Yemen, was nearly decimated by hunters until a breeding program to capture the last remaining wild oryx was established.
Hunting continues to pose a serious threat to the oryx, according to FFI, which helped launch a breeding program that has led to the remarkable recovery of the species three decades later.
The oryx was the world’s first example of the successful reintroduction of an animal declared extinct in the wild into its original habitat. In 1982, a heavily guarded herd of 10 oryx was released into the open desert in central Oman to be intensively studied while living independently. Today, over 1,000 Arabian oryx roam the Middle East.
The species was reclassified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2011.
mountain gorilla
A combination of hunting and habitat destruction throughout the 20th century drove the mountain gorilla, an extremely rare primate, to the verge of extinction.
Two isolated populations of mountain gorillas live in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and on the country’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Around 1,063 mountain gorillas remain in the world today, according to FFI. In 2018, the species went from “critically endangered” status to “endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Now that the population is growing, conservationists will expand the gorilla’s habitat and “allow the endangered species to flourish,” the African Wildlife Foundation said.
In 2018, the park expanded the protected area for the first time in nearly 30 years through a donation from the AWF, which donated a nearly 69-acre parcel of land adjacent to Volcanoes National Park to the Rwanda Development Board.
The donation and partnership between AWF and the government of Rwanda have since birthed an innovative conservation strategy that adds 9,242 acres of forested habitat for Rwanda’s mountain gorillas.
pemba flying fox
The Pemba flying fox, Africa’s largest fruit bat with a wingspan of 5.5 feet, found only on the remote island of Pemba off the coast of Tanzania, nearly went extinct 30 years ago.
These bats hang from trees in large colonies and feed on flowers, leaves and fruits. Once an island abundant with coastal forests for rare bats to thrive in, their home diminished through deforestation, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.
The East African Coastal Forest, home to the Pemba flying fox, is a biodiversity hotspot with more than 500 endemic plants and 37 endemic vertebrates, according to the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group.
Conservation efforts to rescue the critically endangered fruit bat began in 1995 and inspired the government to enact island-wide by-laws, resulting in the dramatic recovery of the bat population from just a few hundred to over 22,000.
iberian lynx
The wild Iberian lynx is the world’s most endangered feline species whose population migrated away from their original habitat on the Iberian Peninsula.
At one point it was thought their population was less than 100 due to the loss of the cork oak forest habitat and rabbit prey.
An initiative to secure and manage 49,420 acres of the animal’s habitat across southern Portugal around 20 years ago led to the successful reintroduction of this critically endangered wildcat. Conservation measures have seen its population get to above 400, according to the WWF.
siamese crocodile
Cambodia is home to an estimated 250 of the surviving wild population of the siamese crocodile that live in the remote wilderness of the Cardamom Mountains.
The freshwater species was widespread throughout mainland Southeast Asia but disappeared from 99% of its former wetland habitats, according to FFI.
Since the endangered reptile was rediscovered in 2000 by a team surveying the area, local communities and the Cambodian government have made strides to protect the remaining wild crocodiles and their habitat by establishing sanctuaries.
A conservation breeding program to release purebreds back into the mountains was launched to help the reptiles which have a slow breeding period.
Today, the rare reptile can be found in small, fragmented populations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
chinese magnolias
You may see many variations of the magnolia tree species around the world, but these stunning flowers still have a long way to go.
Many magnolia species were headed and are still headed toward extinction in the wild. In 2005, IFF’s Global Trees Campaign rescued the critically endangered Chinese magnolia which had nearly reached the point of no return in a remote rainforest in southern Yunnan, China.
The population has risen since that initiative through the reintroduction of nursery-grown tree saplings.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism