Ranked: The Most Endangered Animals in the World

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15 seconds ago

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June 29, 2024

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Visualized: The Most Endangered Animals in the World

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In the last decade alone, more than 460 species have been declared extinct. Expanding human activity is largely to blame for this rapid biodiversity loss.

This graphic shows the most endangered animals by numbers found in the wild, per estimates from the World Wildlife Fund UK.

ℹ️ This endangered animals list does not include species that are functionally extinct: not seen in decades or whose populations are no longer viable. Ranked: Critically Endangered Animals

There are only about 75 Javan Rhinos left in the wild. Once found between the eastern edge of the Indian subcontinent all the way to Indonesia, their numbers have been steadily reduced by hunting and encoraching human settlements. Now they can be found only at the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia.

RankEndangered AnimalsEstimated Number
Left in the WildFound in 1🦏 Javan Rhino75Java, Indonesia 2🐆 Amur Leopard100China & Russia 3🐅 Sunda Island Tiger600Sumatra, Indonesia 4🦧 Tapanuli Orangutan800Sumatra, Indonesia 5🦍 Mountain Gorillas1,000DRC, Rwanda
& Uganda 6🐬 Yangtze Finless Porpoise1,000Yangtze River, China 7🦏 Black Rhinos5,630Kenya, Namibia,
South Africa
& Zimbabwe 8🦧 Sumatran Orangutan14,000Sumatra, Indonesia 9🐢 Hawksbill Turtles23,000Atlantic, Indian,
Pacific Oceans 10🐘 African Forest Elephant30,000*Congo Basin
Note: *Last estimate from 2013.

In fact, Indonesia’s rainforests, home to 17% of all birds, 12% of the world’s mammals, and 10% of all plants, have steadily decreased as the country’s population has surged.

As a result, the country has already seen many species go extinct. It also currently has four animals on the WWF’s 10 most endangered animals list.

Aside from the Javan Rhino, this includes: the Sunda Island Tiger, and the Tapanuli and Sumatran Orangutans.

The Sunda Island Tiger is the smallest of all tiger species. Its Javan and Balinese counterparts have already been driven to extinction by hunting and habitat loss.

The Tapanuli and Sumatran Orangutans are two of the three great ape species found in Asia.

Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

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June 2, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

While running into wild animals in a forest can seem like the worst situation for humans, there are plenty of other animals that are far deadlier than large predators.

We rank the top 10 deadliest animals by the number of people killed per year. Data for this visualization and article is sourced from BBC Science Focus.

Spreaders of Diseases are Deadliest for Humans

Mosquitoes, of course, are the reigning champions on the toll they take on humans. Every year they kill more than 700,000 people through a multitude of deadly diseases—dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.

By some estimates, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of half of all the humans that have ever lived.

RankAnimalHumans Killed Annually 1🦟 Mosquitoes*725,000 2👫 Humans**400,000 3🐍 Snakes138,000 4🐕 Dogs*59,000 5🐜 Assassin Bugs*10,000 6🦂 Scorpions3,300 7🐊 Crocodiles1,000 8🐘 Elephants600 9🦛 Hippos500 10🦁 Lions200
Note: *Spreads diseases. **Homicides only.

Meanwhile, humans are (almost) their own worst enemies. Every year, nearly 400,000 homicides take place, making humans the second-deadliest animal for other human beings. And this doesn’t account for all the human-caused accidents that result in fatalities.

At fourth place, dogs may be our best friends, but as a carrier of the deadly rabies virus, they end up fourth on the list of top 10 deadliest animals.

Rounding out the top five are assassin bugs, which spread the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a condition that can go untreated for years and can result in serious complications that make it life-threatening.

Large mammals, including lions, hippos, and elephants round out the top 10. Interestingly, bears kill around one person a year on average and wouldn’t be anywhere close to making this list of the deadliest animals.