VAQUITA
Vaquitas are the most endangered cetacean in the world with less then 60 individuals left in the wild and could possibly be extinct by 2018.
The porpoise wasn't discovered until 1958 and it is already threatened by illegal fishing for the endangered totoaba fish, another critically endangered animal in the Gulf of California. Vaquitas are often caught and drowned in gillnets intended for the fish.
They are known to have a dark ring around its eye and dark patches on its lips and dark pectoral fins. They lived near the shore in shallow waters and often flees when boats approached.
Their population has dropped by 40% from an estimated 97 in 2014 to less than 60 in 2015. There was little hope when in March 2015, the Mexican government suspended gillnet fishing and planned to help struggling fishing communities by investing $36 million each year but illegal fishing increased with more vaquitas caught in gillnets.
In July 2016, President Obama and President Enrique Pena Nieto cooperated together to help protect the animal. Mexico's National Institute of Fisheries and WWF Mexico created an international committee of experts that are in charged with improving current fishing technologies that will substitute gillnet fishing which will be prohibited in September 2016.
In 2017, in a last ditch effort to save the porpoises, the US Navy will use trained dolphins to locate any individuals. The plan is to capture a couple dozen individuals and bring them inside floating pens in a safe bay known as the Sea of Cortez where they can breed. There could only be three dozen of them left in the wild so some are worried that the females might die when transferring them to the breeding pens.
SAOLA
They are often called the Asian unicorn since they are rarely seen and none of them existed in captivity. Their population is unknown and it is likely it could be in the hundreds or a couple dozens.
They were discovered in May of 1992 by the World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) and the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam when they found a skull with long straight horns in a hunter's home. The discovery made it the first large mammal new to science in more than 50 years.
Saola means "spindle horns" in Vietnamese and their horns reached up to 20 inches. They also have white face marking and huge glands on the muzzle to help them lure in mates and mark their territory. They are only found in Vietnam and Laos of the Annamite Mountains.
They are affected by habitat loss since the forests they live in are being converted to plantations and infrastructure. Saolas are often caught in snares meant for deer and wild boar. There were increases in hunting of the saola for the illegal wildlife trade driven by demand of traditional medicine in China and for food in Vietnam and Laos.
The WWF create a plan to improve the management of the Vu Quang Nature Reserve where the animal was discovered and in the last 4 years created two new reserves in the Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam provinces.
They were discovered in May of 1992 by the World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) and the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam when they found a skull with long straight horns in a hunter's home. The discovery made it the first large mammal new to science in more than 50 years.
Saola means "spindle horns" in Vietnamese and their horns reached up to 20 inches. They also have white face marking and huge glands on the muzzle to help them lure in mates and mark their territory. They are only found in Vietnam and Laos of the Annamite Mountains.
They are affected by habitat loss since the forests they live in are being converted to plantations and infrastructure. Saolas are often caught in snares meant for deer and wild boar. There were increases in hunting of the saola for the illegal wildlife trade driven by demand of traditional medicine in China and for food in Vietnam and Laos.
The WWF create a plan to improve the management of the Vu Quang Nature Reserve where the animal was discovered and in the last 4 years created two new reserves in the Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam provinces.
JAVAN SLOW LORIS
Javan slow lorises are a species of slow loris that are native to many types of forests including primary, secondary, bamboo, and mangroves in western and central part of the island of Java. They are an arboreal species, moving slowly among vines but are known to cross open spaces on the the ground in disturbed habitat.Their diet consists of fruit, tree gum, lizards and eggs.
The population is in sharp decline from poaching for the illegal pet trade, from habitat loss and sometimes for traditional medicine. Even though they are a protected species by Indonesian law and live in many protected areas, the loris are still poached and wildlife protection laws are rarely enforced. Around 20 yerars before a 2008 assessment by the IUCN, the population has dropped by 50%.
They are often captured due to their slow movement, their nocturnal habits and for sleeping on exposed branches.
The species has been listed in the 2008-2010 list of The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates by the IUCN Species Survival Commision Primate Specialist Group, the International Primatological Society and Conservation International.
The population is in sharp decline from poaching for the illegal pet trade, from habitat loss and sometimes for traditional medicine. Even though they are a protected species by Indonesian law and live in many protected areas, the loris are still poached and wildlife protection laws are rarely enforced. Around 20 yerars before a 2008 assessment by the IUCN, the population has dropped by 50%.
They are often captured due to their slow movement, their nocturnal habits and for sleeping on exposed branches.
The species has been listed in the 2008-2010 list of The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates by the IUCN Species Survival Commision Primate Specialist Group, the International Primatological Society and Conservation International.