The World's Most Endangered Species

Everyone has heard of the endangered rhinos, elephants, and snow leopards. Maybe you have also heard about the plight of the Pangolins, Eastern Long-beaked echidnas, hawksbill turtles, and the vaquitas. While those species are all close to extinction, there are still others that are truly on the brink of disaster.

On the IUCN Red List there are just over 10,000 critically endangered species*. [1] This article will be talking about just five of some of the most endangered ones.

Red Handfish

Image Credit: Rick Stuart-Smith from Wikimedia

The red handfish is arguably the most threatened marine fish species in the world. There are fewer than 100 adults left in the entire world, all located in two severely fragmented ranges, and they occupy a total area of 8 square kilometers in southern Tasmania. Threats to the red handfish include habitat loss, pollution, siltation, sea urchin overgrazing, climate change, isolated populations, and human disturbance. [2]

Red handfishes themselves are part of the Brachionichthyidae family (do not try pronouncing that), meaning that handfishes are actually related to anglerfish. By the way, there are 13 other handfish species. The Ziebell’s and Spotted handfish have joined the red handfish in being critically endangered but the rest of the species are doing comparatively well with the exception of the smooth handfish, which is now extinct. Even so, they are all regarded as the most threatened marine bony fish family in the world. [2]

Luckily the red handfish has an organization called the Handfish Conservation Project dedicated to its survival. Their work seems to be paying off because not too long ago, the species was estimated to have a population of fewer than 30 adults. [3]

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Montandon’s Glandular Bush Cricket

The Montandon’s Glandular Bush Cricket is a critically endangered species with an unknown, continuously declining population living within a very restricted range of 8 square kilometers. Its habitat includes semi-dry grasslands, and it lives near the city of Craiova in southwestern Romania.

The main threats to the Montandon’s glandular bush cricket include habitat loss and degradation as a result of agricultural expansion, and insecticides. Unlike the red handfish, this species is not lucky enough to have an entire organization looking after it, and its entire range is located on unprotected land. As a result, unless something changes for the better for this insect species, it’s quite likely it will be extinct in the not-too-distant future. [4]

Speleoperipatus spelaeus

Photo Credit: Bruno Vellutini from Wikimedia

About as much information is known about this species as the Montandon’s Glandular Bush Cricket. Speleoperipatus spelaeus is a species of velvet worm that dwells in only two cave systems within Jamaica. [5] This follows the general behaviour of velvet worms as they prefer living among leaf litter, crevices, and caves, or under stones and logs away from sunlight. [6]

If you are wondering what the velvet worm is, all that can be said is that it is a segmented invertebrate that shoots quickly hardening glue at its prey to immobilize them. In fact, these species are so distinct from all other animals that they get their own phylum to themselves. A phylum is the next largest classification of animal species after kingdom. [6] This distinction makes the survival of each of the species even more urgent as they are all completely unique from literally every other living organism on the planet.

The population trend of the Speleoperipatus spelaeus is unknown and only seven individuals of the species have ever been found. However, it is possible its population is declining because in 1994, it was listed as vulnerable, but then just two years later, it became critically endangered. [7]

Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Considering what this insect has gone through, it is a wonder it still exists, as its survival story is truly unique. Its entire range consists of a tiny island less than a square kilometer in size which is actually 23 kilometers away from Lord Howe Island. Lord Howe Island is right in the middle of the Tasman Sea, separating Australia and New Zealand.

This gets even more extreme when you realize that all 9 to 35 individuals of the species live only on the northwest face of the island. This means that while technically its range is less than a square kilometer, the area it actually lives on is the few Melaleuca howeana plants native to the island,which are spread out over an area of 300 square metres on a sheer cliff face. Luckily, the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect’s entire range is protected within the Lord Howe Marine Park. [8]

As a result of this truly miniscule distribution, even a slight disturbance can bring this species over the edge into extinction. In fact, this species was once believed to be extinct when rats overran Lord Howe Island and ate all the stick insects. At the time, it was thought that these animals only lived on that island, but luckily, they had somehow also established a small population on the neighboring island.

[8] That neighboring island, by the way, is called Balls Pyramid. Balls Pyramid has the incredible title of being the tallest monolith that rises out of the water in the entire world. It stands at 1,877 feet tall. [9]

Image Credit: PotMart186 from Wikimedia

Small-eyed Galliswasp

Photo Credit: Marcos Bobadilla from Wikimedia

The small-eyed galliwasp is a cute-looking lizard, albeit with rather short legs. Unfortunately, it is a critically endangered species that happens to be declining in population and lives somewhere in Jamaica. The reason that its range is unknown is because no living specimens have been seen in the past 40 years, and it could very well already be extinct. Threats to this species include invasive species, human development, and loss of habitat. [10]

Why Write About These Species?

After reading about those animals, you may be wondering why an article about these random, sometimes not-very-nice-looking animals was written at all. The plain truth is that these species are so very close to extinction that if they do disappear forever, their names should be remembered in their passing. You will likely see the last of the Montandon’s Glandular Bush Crickets in your lifetime and you probably have seen the last of the Small-eyed Galliswaps.

There are quite literally dozens of organizations focused entirely on protecting rhinos, gorillas, elephants, and other such creatures, but out of the five species mentioned in the article, only the Red Handfish has an organization in its name. Maybe not all animal species can be protected, but they all deserve recognition before they go extinct at our hand.

If you would like to learn more about various critically endangered species, you can follow this link to the IUCN’s complete list of Critically Endangered species: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Here is a picture of the Vaquita if you were wondering what it is. It is a critically endangered species of porpoise, of which only 10 remain.

Photo Credit: Paula Olson from Wikimedia

*As a rather unbelievable side note, in 2019, there were only 16 recognized critically endangered species[11].

Sources:

[1] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

[2] Imperiled handfishes.pdf

[3] Ocean Geographic53July 2020-31-35.pdf

<a href="#ftnref1">[4] Bradyporus montandoni (Montandon's Glandular Bush-cricket)

[5] Speleoperipatus - Wikipedia

[6] Velvet worm | Invertebrate Anatomy & Adaptations | Britannica

[7] Speleoperipatus spelaeus

[8] Dryococelus australis (Lord Howe Island Stick-insect)

[9] Balls Pyramid & Around Island Boat Tours | Lord Howe Island Tours - Sea to Summit Expeditions

[10] Celestus microblepharis (Small-eyed Galliwasp)

[11] Biodiversity Series: Critically Endangered Species | Earth.Org