That’s why we chose not to include the giant panda on our roster of the world’s ten most endangered animals. The panda, as appealing and important as it is, has gotten plenty of attention from conservationists and the public alike. Time to make room for another critically endangered animal or two that hasn’t had as much time in the spotlight of looming extinction.

Our 10 Most Endangered Animals

1    Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

A North American bird so endangered it may actually be extinct

The most critically endangered species on our list of the ten most critically endangered animals is the ivory-billed woodpecker, which lives—or lived—in the Southeastern part of the US as well as Cuba. This huge woodpecker was considered extinct until 2004, when a handful of tantalizing reports of sightings in Arkansas and Florida began to trickle in. However, definitive proof for the ivory-bill’s continued existence has remained elusive, and if a population does exist, it is likely to be tiny and extremely vulnerable. The ivory-billed woodpecker owes its near- or complete extinction to habitat loss (logging) as well as over-exploitation by humans, who hunted it for its feathers.  

2    Amur Leopard

The world’s rarest cat: Only 40 left in Russia’s Far East

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a very rare leopard subspecies that lives only in the remote and snowy northern forests of eastern Russian’s Primorye region. Its former range included Korea and northern China, but the Amur leopard is now extinct in those countries. A 2007 census counted only 14-20 adult Amur leopards and 5-6 cubs. Threats facing the species include habitat loss due to logging, road building and encroaching civilization, poaching (illegal hunting) and global climate change.  

3    Javan Rhinoceros

No more than 60 of these swamp-dwelling Asian rhinos exist

The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is the most endangered of the world’s five rhinoceros species, with an estimated 40-60 animals remaining on the western tip of the Island of Java (Indonesia) in Ujung Kulon National Park. The last member of another tiny population in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park was killed by poachers in 2011. The water- and swamp-loving Javan rhinoceros formerly ranged throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia, but has been hunted to near-extinction for its horn, which is used to make Asian folk medicines. Although it is now protected, it may not have a large-enough breeding population to prevent the species from going extinct.  

4    Greater Bamboo Lemur

Here’s the scarcest of Madagascar’s fast-dwindling lemur species

The Island of Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa, is home to dozens of species of lemurs—and almost all of them are disappearing very quickly due to habitat loss and illegal hunting. But the most critically endangered of all of Madagascar’s lemurs is the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), also known as the broad-nosed gentle lemur. Fewer than 100 greater bamboo lemurs remain in the island’s southeastern and south-central forests, and they continue to be threatened by illegal hunting as well as habitat loss due to logging and the burning of forests for agricultural purposes.  

5    Northern Right Whale

Hunted to near extinction, 350 right whales still swim the Atlantic

The most endangered of all the world’s whale species, the northern right whale (Eubalena glacialis) numbers around 350 individuals that travel the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the US. During the whaling days of the 19th century, the right whale got its name because whalers considered it the “right” whale to kill, as it not only was full of valuable whale oil, but it floated after it was dead, which made it easy to handle and process. As a result, it was driven to near extinction. Although the right whale is now protected, its small remnant population continues to suffer losses due to entanglements in commercial fishing gear: Whales drown after becoming wrapped in nets, lines and other equipment. Global climate change, which can affect the availability of the tiny crustaceans on which right whales feed, may prove to be another serious threat to their recovery.  

6    Western Lowland Gorilla

Disease and illegal hunting are taking an alarming toll on this gentle giant of a primate

There are two lowland gorillas native to West Africa: the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), which is the most numerous of the four gorilla subspecies, with over 90,000 individuals in the wild, and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla diehli), of which only a tiny population of a few hundred remains. Both are listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered because of the fact that their populations have declined by over 60 percent during the past 25 years—and are projected to continue dropping over the coming decades. Causes for the increasing scarcity include habitat loss and illegal commercial hunting by poachers, who sell gorillas for food in West African markets. But the largest killer of gorillas has been a deadly illness—the incurable ebola virus—which has ended the lives of up to 90 percent of these great apes in some forest areas.  

7    Leatherback Sea Turtle

The population of the world’s largest turtle is dropping at an alarming rate

The leatherback sea turtle (Demochelys coriacea) is the earth’s biggest turtle and has the largest range of any species, swimming all over the globe from the tropics to the sub-polar regions. When it comes time to dig a nest and lay its eggs, it crawls out onto sandy sub-tropical beaches the world over. The leatherback is also critically endangered. According to the IUCN, in 1982 there were around 115,000 adult female leatherback turtles in the world; just 14 years later, there were only 20,000 to 30,000—and the population has continued to plummet. The leatherback’s problems include theft of its eggs by humans, illegal hunting and nesting-habitat loss due to beach development, and the erosion of beaches due to global climate change. In addition, leatherbacks sometimes die after ingesting plastic debris they find floating in the ocean, which they mistake for food such as jellyfish.  

8    Siberian (or Amur) Tiger

The world’s biggest cat weighs as much as 300 kilos (660 pounds)

The Amur, or Siberian, tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the largest big cat in the world, weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds). Unlike the other tiger subspecies, which are jungle-dwellers, the Amur tiger lives in the birch forests of Russia’s frigid and snowy Far East, and formerly inhabited the colder regions of China and Korea. In fact, the animal thrives in winter temperatures that often drop to -50 degrees fahrenheit (-45 celsius). Due to relentless hunting, Russia’s tiger population had dropped to around 40 individuals by the 1930′s. Since then, the animal has been protected, and its numbers have rebounded to around 500. However, it is still threatened by illegal hunting and habitat loss in the form of logging and development.  

9    Chinese Giant Salamander

Humans are eating the world’s largest amphibian into extinction

The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianas) is the world’s largest amphibian, growing to lengths of up to 6 feet. It used to be common throughout central, southwestern and southern China, where it lives in streams in the forested hills and lays up to 500 eggs at a time in underwater burrows guarded by the male. However, the Chinese giant salamander has now almost completely disappeared due to its over-exploitation as a food source.  

10    Kakapo Parrot

So few of these flightless parrots remain that the survivors all have names

The Kakapo parrot of New Zealand is a unique creature in several ways. Not only is it the world’s heaviest parrot, weighing up to 9 pounds (4 kilograms) but it is the world’s only only flightless parrot, as well as the only nocturnal one. The bird was once common on both of New Zealand’s main islands. However, by the early 1970′s it was thought to have been driven into extinction by such prolific human-introduced invasive predators as rats and cats, which killed the helpless young birds in their nests on the ground. Tiny populations were later found on a couple of smaller, more remote islands. Despite an intensive program of breeding and protection by the New Zealanders, currently there are fewer than 150 kakapos left in the wild—so few that almost all of them have names given to them by conservationists.
 

Plus . . . Two Important Species From Our Previous List

Mountain Gorilla

Their habitat is shrinking, and fewer than 700 remain

The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is the largest of the four gorilla subspecies. Its natural range in the highlands of east-central Africa consists of two relatively small areas, a factor that has made it extremely vulnerable to a variety of human-related threats. Ongoing wars and poverty in the region have facilitated the illegal hunting of gorillas as well as illegal timber harvesting that has further reduced the mountain gorilla’s habitat. Due largely to the attention of international conservationists, the mountain gorilla population has actually increased somewhat over the last two decades. However, the animals still number fewer than 700, and poaching fueled by political instability continues to be a huge problem for the mountain gorilla.  

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Scientists don’t know why this seal’s population keeps declining

Although Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schaulinislandi) tend to live far from humans on remote beaches throughout the Hawaiian Island chain, fewer than 1,000 of them remain and their numbers continue to decline. Scientists are unsure of the cause, but suspect that changes in ocean conditions and competition from commercial fishermen may be reducing the numbers of fish they depend on for food. They also face threats from entanglements in fishing nets and discarded fishing gear and can catch diseases from dogs and other domestic animals.