My Science School

            Lion-tailed macaques are one of the most endangered primates of India, seen only in the rain forests of the Western Ghats. Most of them exist as small populations in the evergreen environments of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Experts have found out that the Silent Valley in the north of Palakkad is one place where there is the most viable habitat for this endangered subspecies.

            The macaque is quite different in its appearance. It has a silver mane, surrounding the head from the cheeks down to the chin. This gives the monkey its other name, beard ape.

            The main threat faced by the macaques is habitat loss, due to deforestation and logging.

            However, one can say that macaques are lucky animals compared to other endangered ones. This macaque once saw thousands of supporters in the country standing up to conserve them through a mass campaign. This movement was aimed at protecting the Silent Valley Reserve Forest that began in the early 1970s.

            In 1984, the Valley was declared as a National Park, making it a permanent habitat for many animals, including lion-tailed macaques.

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             The Southern woolly lemur is a nocturnal animal found in the coastal forests of South-east Madagascar. They are particularly restricted to the reserves of Andohahela and the area of Sainte Luce. These lemurs mainly eat leaves, buds and sometimes, flowers. They are pair-living species, and each group has two to five individuals in them.

            In general, Southern woolly lemurs have a very small birth rate, which is one of the reasons for their population decline. However, there are other reasons too, like habitat destruction.

            Unfortunately, there is very little information available about the habitat needs of the Southern woolly lemurs. Many studies and research projects are in progress to learn about this subspecies.

            Hopefully, they will result in better and effective conservation measures in future, to protect these endangered animals.

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            The Western lowland gorilla is the most widespread of all the gorilla subspecies. They are predominantly found in the dense and remote forests of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea. These gorillas are different from the others by their slightly smaller size and auburn chests. They have shorter hair and longer arms too. Like chimpanzees, gorillas too are smart, and they easily learn human sign language.

            Although they are found in large numbers, the Western lowland gorillas are still an endangered species. There are no data on the number of gorillas surviving, but it roughly comes to a lakh. As one can guess, some of the main reasons for this are illegal poaching, killing and habitat destruction. The gorillas are killed for the bush meat, or captured for pet trade.

            Another reason is the spread of diseases like ebola, which has caused the death of a large number of gorillas and chimpanzees.

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            Of course we have all heard of chimpanzees. But how many of us have heard that they are endangered? Not many.

            Like us, chimps are highly social and caring. They also live to be over 50, unlike many other animals. And guess what? They are the closest cousins to human beings!

            Chimpanzees are mostly seen in the plains and forests of Africa. They spend most of their time on treetops, and when they come down, walk on all four legs. They are clever apes that are even capable of using tools even. Chimps are famous as well for catching bugs using sticks, and cracking nuts using rocks.

            Unfortunately, these apes too face the threat of being reduced in number. The main risks they face are poaching, habitat loss, and diseases.

            Their meat is a primary food source in African countries, and for this reason, poaching has become very rampant in recent years. Besides, infant chimps are sold as pets. Another reason that contributes to the declining chimp population is diseases. The ebola outbreak that killed many humans, also took the lives of thousands of chimpanzees.

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            A Northern quoll, or a Northern native cat, is a carnivorous animal seen in Australia. It is the smallest of the Australian quoll species, with a body length of around 300 mm, and weight up to 1120 gm.

            They are predators that hunt mainly at night, eating small mammals, birds, reptiles, and fruits. Historically, the Northern quoll was common across the country, seen in open forests, or woodlands, or rocky areas. However, in the 1990s their population saw a sharp decline.

            Over the years, the numbers of Northern quolls have come down significantly, and this is likely to continue in the immediate future too.

            Many factors are attributed to the decline in quoll population. This includes wild fire, attack by wild cats, and poaching. And like in all other cases, destruction of habitat is yet another major problem. Then there is the threat caused by the spread of cane toads. Eating them leads to poisoning, and this has killed a large number of quolls, and other native species.

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            A siamang is a black-furred ape found in the forests of Malaysia, Sumatra, and Thailand. It is the largest of the gibbons. The arms of a siamang can spread out for as much as 1.5 metres. This makes them very smart brachiators or primates that use an arm-over-arm swinging motion to move from one tree to another.

            However, in spite of their smartness and agility, the population of siamangs is shrinking at a scary pace. The major threats faced by the apes include loss and fragmentation of habitat, and capture for the pet trade. The forests inhabited by siamangs are destroyed due to logging, developmental activities etc.

            Yet another cause of danger is capture for illegal pet trade, especially of infant siamangs. There have been cases when the highly-protective mothers were shot, just to obtain young siamangs for sale.

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            The West African giraffe, or Niger giraffe, is a subspecies of Northern giraffe found predominantly in the Sahel regions of West African.

            Like many species that are declining in population, the West African giraffe is also facing the threat of being endangered. Experts note that these herbivorous were a common sight across the Sahel and Savanna regions of West Africa until the First World War. But as the human population increased, farming and hunting became widespread and this in turn, affected the giraffes.

            However, the main reason attributed to the decline in the giraffe population is the cutting down of trees. This destroys their habitat, forcing them to move out, and sometimes, separates them.

            The giraffes are also hunted for their tails, pelt, and meat. Their tails are highly prized symbols of authority in African culture. Their thick skin has been used for making clothing, shoes, bags, belts, hats and cover for drums, and their hair, for making bracelets, necklaces and other jewellery items among African tribes.

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            Asiatic lions are among the endangered animals that face the risk of extinction due to human activities. They are also known as Indian lions.

            Asiatic lions are found only in the Gir forests of Gujarat today and the approximate population here is between 400 - 600. The government and many animal welfare organisations have worked hard to conserve this dying species for the past two decades.

            As a result, the population of Asiatic lions in the Gir Forest National Park has increased. These animals are still vulnerable to epidemics. Yet another reason that contributed to their decline is poaching. Because some of the lions live outside the protected areas, they rarely enter nearby villages, causing conflicts with human beings.

            The lion is one of five big cat species in India, along with Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard.

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            The Bengal tiger or the royal Bengal tiger is a subspecies in the tiger family found predominantly in parts of India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

            This wild cat is known for its power and strength. It mainly hunts animals like wild boars, deer, water buffaloes, and sometimes, rhino calves.

            However, despite their strength, Bengal tigers too, are close to being extinct. The main reasons are massive poaching and habitat loss. The tigers are killed for their skin and body parts, including bones and teeth for money and medicinal purposes. Habitat loss, which is a reason for the extinction of many animals, has caused tigers to come down to nearby villages in search of prey. This has increasingly led to a conflict between Man and tigers, as a result of which, the latter gets mostly killed.

            Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans are the only tigers that inhabit mangrove forests.

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            The Siberian or the Amur tiger is a tiger subspecies that lives mainly in the Southeast corner of Russia in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, east of the Amur River. These were once found in Northern China, Mongolia, and the Korean peninsula too, but not much anymore. This is because of the sharp decline in their population, due to human activities.

            These tigers are characterized by their aggressive behaviour. They are powerful hunters that travel many kilometres to find preys like wild boars, or elk.

            The main reason for the decline in the population of Siberian tigers is poaching. They are primarily poached for their fur and body parts for money or to be used in traditional Chinese medicine. To control this, the Chinese government declared the use of tiger bone illegal in 1993.

            However, there are other reasons too, including habitat loss.

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            Tasmanian devils are small-sized carnivorous animals found in the state of Tasmania in the state of Tasmania in Australia. Like many other animals, these animals too presently face the threat of extinction.

            The uncommon name ‘devil’ is believed to have arisen from the animal’s ferocious screech, and tendency to eat carcass meat. A devil’s jaws are powerful enough to crush our bones! However, a large number of them are dying due to a contagious form of cancer that is affecting their species. Known as the devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), it is a rare tumour large in size, which forms on the face and neck of the animal. The disease was first seen in 1996. Experts have discovered that the cancer transmits from one devil to another through bites.

            There are many programmes being conducted by the government to reduce the impact and spread of the tumour. The famous one is the ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil Programme’.

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            The red panda is a mammal that lives mainly in the mountains of Nepal, Northern Myanmar and in Central China. They are also spotted in the North Eastern Indian states like Assam and Sikkim. Like many animals, red pandas are also endangered due to many reasons.

            Slightly larger than a domestic cat in size, red pandas have markings of both pandas and raccoons. They are known to be very solitary, but are skillful and stay most of the time on trees.

            The main reason for the decline in the red panda population is the loss of nesting trees and bamboo. The latter is their main diet, but red pandas also eat a variety of other foods like fruits, flowers, seeds etc.

            Apart from the destruction of their habitat, these animals are also trapped and killed in large numbers so that their fur can be used to make hats.

            With their population less than 10,000, red pandas have been listed as ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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            The Eastern lowland gorilla is a subspecies of gorilla that can be found mainly in the rain forests of the Congo in Africa. They are also spotted in the Kahuzi-Biega and Maiko National Parks, and their adjacent forests, the Tayna Gorilla Reserve, the Usala forest, and on the Itombwe Massif.

            The other name of this subspecies is ‘Grauer’s gorilla’. It is the largest of the gorilla subspecies with a huge body weighing up to 250 kg. Until the mid 1990s, there were around 17,000 of these gorillas alive. But recent surveys show that the population has come down to around 4000.

            One of the main reasons for the decline in the population of the Eastern lowland gorilla is illegal poaching. This means hunting, capturing or killing of animals. Yet other reasons include the trade of their body parts, destruction of habitat due to mining, agricultural expansion, logging etc.

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            The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is the most detailed directory on the conservation status of plants and animals in the world. It is also called the Red Data Book, and was introduced in 1964.

            The Red List is prepared on the basis of an assessment system that uses certain criteria to understand the risks of a given species. The criteria include the rate of population decline, geographical range, the surviving population size etc.

            After a thorough study using these tools, the status of a species is determined. They could belong to any of the categories – extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, least concern, data deficient or not evaluated.

            Every five years, scientists check the conservation status. The Red List is subsequently updated with new data. This way, the information gathered helps governments and other agencies to prioritize their conservation efforts.

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            Endangered, in its simplest sense, means in danger, or threatened. An endangered species is one which has its population reducing at an alarming rate. The threat could be so serious that the animal or plant is likely to become extinct.

            However, if it’s lucky enough, it can be saved through conservationist activities. Mountain gorillas, Iberian lynx, North Atlantic right whales, and Siberian tigers are some of the best examples for endangered animals.

There are always many reasons for a species to become endangered. As we know, humans are the most vicious predators of non-humans. To satisfy his greed, Man makes changes in the environment, modifies its basic structure, and thus throws animals out of their habitats.

            Hence the most important factor contributing to a species’ endangered existence is habitat loss caused by human activities.

            Besides this, all animals are vulnerable to diseases, or predation by other animals. This sometimes results in the permanent disappearance of species.

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