Red Data Animals

Common Name(s): Iriomote Cat Scientific name: Prionailurus iriomotensis Reason endangered: Competition, interbreeding, habitat destruction/limited range Conservation status: Critically Endangered Location: Island of Iriomote Shima, Japan Length: 70 - 90 cm (28 - 35") Weight: 3 - 4.5 kg (6.5 - 10 lbs) Diet: Carnivorous. Small rodents, bats including fruit bats, and birds such as night heron, quail, pigeons and doves, fish, frogs, reptiles, insects and crabs. The Iriomote cat, is a wild cat about the size of a domestic cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It is considered a "living fossil" by many biologists because it has not changed much from its primitive form. The Iriomote cat is one of the most threatened species of cat (formerly considered a subspecies of the leopard cat), with an estimated population of fewer than 100 individuals. It has dark brown fur, a bushy tail, and it is not able to sheathe its claws. Sources: • Tigerhomes • Japan Atlas: Iriomote Island and the Iriomote Wildcat • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Ultramarine Lorikeet Scientific name: Vini ultramarina Reason endangered: habitat loss, pet trade, introduced species Conservation status: Endangered Location: Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Height: 18 cm Wingspan: 11 cm Diet: Nectar, insects and ground forage. The Ultramarine Lorikeet is one of several endangered parrot species on the Marquesas islands. Thought to be the most endangered of the species, it has undergone several relocation attempts, but its numbers are still declining. It is threatened mainly by the introduction of the black rat and also by deforestation. The population on Ua Huka is said to have descended from a single pair of birds. The lorikeet's feathers are a brilliant shade of blue and white. Sources: • BirdLife International • Jewels Lost in an Ocean • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Finless Porpoise Scientific name: Neophocaena phocaenoides Reason endangered: Fishing industry, habitat destruction Conservation status: Vulnerable Location: Coastal areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans near Asia, and some freshwater rivers and estuaries Length: 1.2 - 1.65 m Weight: 30 - 45 kg Diet: Krill, squid, and other crustaceans The finless porpoise, is so-called because it lacks a dorsal fin, and they also have a large melon-shaped head. They are a pale grey color that darkens with age, and turns black after death. About half of the population has pink eyes. These porpoises generally travel in small groups of up to ten animals, and females are said to carry their young on their backs. The species is not very acrobatic, but it is one of a few species with unrestricted head movement. They also tend to avoid humans most of the time. The Yangtze River subpopulation is classified as endangered, however, the majority of the population is listed as Data deficient. They live for about 20-30 years. Sources: • BBC - Science and Nature • The Porpoise Page • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Golden Lion Tamarin Scientific name: Leontopithecus rosalia Reason endangered: Habitat destruction Conservation status: Endangered Location: Atlantic coastal forests, Brazil Height: 13.2 in Weight: 25 oz for males, 19 - 28 oz for females depending if pregnant. Diet: Insects, fruit, small snakes, lizards, snails, spiders, and vegetables. Golden lion tamarins are small orange-yellow monkeys, weighing 500 to 600 grams. They live in the heavily populated coastal region of Brazil, where less than two percent of the forest remains. They are endangered because their habitat has been fragmented into small, unconnected areas, each area only capable of supporting a small number of groups. Without intervention by the National Zoo, other zoos, organizations, and the Brazilian government, inbreeding would soon lead to the local extinction of many of these small populations of tamarins, and eventually of the entire species. About 1,500 golden lion tamarins live in the wild, most in or near the Reserva Biologica de Poço das Antas in the state of Rio de Janeiro. About 450 live in zoos worldwide. Sources: • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Gray wolf, Timber wolf Scientific name: Canis lupus Reason endangered: Hunting, habitat destruction Conservation status: Least Concern Location: Various locations around the world. Length: 40 - 58 in Weight: 25 - 38.5 kg Diet: Elk, caribou, and deer, as well as beavers, hares, and other small animals. The gray wolf (Canis lupus), is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago. DNA sequencing and genetic drift studies reaffirm that the gray wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog. Although certain aspects of this conclusion have been questioned, including recently, the main body of evidence confirms it. A number of other gray wolf subspecies have been identified, though the actual number of subspecies is still open to discussion. Gray wolves are typically apex predators in the ecosystems they occupy. Though not as adaptable as more generalist canid species, wolves have thrived in temperate forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, taiga, grasslands, and even urban areas. Though once abundant over much of Eurasia and North America, the gray wolf inhabits a very small portion of its former range because of widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment of its habitat, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Even so, the gray wolf is regarded as being of least concern for extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, when the entire gray wolf population is considered as a whole. Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to extermination as perceived threats to livestock and pets. In areas where human cultures and wolves are sympatric, wolves frequently feature in the folklore and mythology of those cultures, both positively and negatively. Sources • National Zoo • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Amami Rabbit Scientific name: Pentalagus furnessi Reason endangered: Habitat destruction, introduced species Conservation status: Endangered Location: Amami Oshima and Toku-no-Shima, Japan Length: 43 – 51 cm Weight: up to 2 kg Diet: Various plants and fruits. Very little is known about this ‘primitive’ member of the rabbit family. Unusually, the Amami rabbit is nocturnal, spending the day in simple dens dug into the heavy forest soil. Females give birth to a single offspring, although they may have two litters a year. The newborn rabbit is sealed into its rearing den whilst its mother forages for food; she only returns every two nights, excavating the den in order to nurse her young before sealing the hole again. Around 4 – 7 weeks later, the den is no longer sealed and the young rabbit will accompany its mother on her feeding trips. Sources • ARKive • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Andean Mountain Cat Scientific name: Leopardus jacobita Reason endangered: Hunting, loss of prey base and habitat. Conservation status: Endangered Location: The high Andes mountains of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Length: 60 cm Weight: 5.5 kg Diet: Small rodents, insects, and birds. The Andean cat is considered to be the second most endangered wild cat in the world and perhaps the rarest South American felid; and yet is one of the least known cat species It is very rare, and its similarities to the more common, but unrelated, South American pampas cat have made studying this species even more difficult. Its closest relatives are in fact the ocelots and margays of South America which inhabit tropical forests .There have been only a handful of observations of the Andean cat in the wild, four photographs taken and just a few museum skins and skulls have been preserved .It is described as a small but sturdy cat, with long ash-grey fur patterned with rusty red spots. The sides are marked with thick dark stripes extending down from the back and prominent dark grey bars run across its chest and forelegs .The tail is thick and long, at about 70% of the cat’s head/body length, and is banded with approximately seven dark rings. Its nose is black, and its belly pale with dark spots . The Andean cat is characterised by the presence of well developed ear drums, unique among felids, classifying it as a separate genus, Oreailurus. Sources • Indian Tiger • Wikipedia Common Name(s): Humboldt Penguin Scientific name: Spheniscus humboldti Reason endangered: Loss of habitat and food source. Conservation status: Vulnerable Location: Coastal Peru and Chile Height: 65 - 70 cm Weight: 3.6 - 5.9 kg Diet: Small fish (anchovies, herring, smelt) and crustaceans. The Humboldt Penguin is found only along the rugged Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. Although most people think of penguins as cold weather birds, most live in temperate or even tropical habitats. The Humboldt penguin lives where one of the earth’s driest deserts meets one of the coldest ocean currents. In Punta San Juan, Peru, the continental shelf comes very close to the coast line creating an upwelling of cold nutrient rich water which provide a fertile environment for the Anchoveta, the primary food source of the penguin and many other sea birds and marine mammals. For this reason the Humboldt penguin and many other sea birds have for centuries chosen Punta San Juan as a breeding site. This has produced some of the most fertile guano fields in the world. The guano also provides a soft substrate for the Humboldt penguins to dig their nesting burrows. For this reason approximately one half of the entire Peruvian Humboldt penguin population calls Punta San Juan home. Due to uncontrolled commercial fishing and guano harvesting for use as fertilizer, the Humboldt penguin population has declined significantly in the past 20 – 30 years. Sources • Saint Louis Zoo • Wikipedia