Tigers Top WWF List Of 10 Most Endangered Animals

Tigers, now numbering only 3,200 in the wild, top the list of the world’s 10 most endangered species, according to the conservation group WWF. The organization said that four of the nine main sub-species of tiger are now believed to be extinct, with populations of the Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Sumatran, and Malayan tigers remaining in the wild. Even the Amur tiger in the Russian Far East — which was brought back from the edge of extinction in recent decades and now numbers 500 animals — is under increased pressure from hunting and loss of habitat. WWF’s other endangered species include two Arctic creatures threatened by loss of sea ice, the polar bear and Pacific Walrus; the Magellanic penguin, threatened by warming ocean currents; the leatherback turtle, threatened by long-line fishing; the bluefin tuna, threatened by overfishing in the Mediterranean and Atlantic; the mountain gorilla of Africa, threatened by poaching and logging; and the monarch butterfly of North America, the Javan rhinoceros, and the giant Panda, all threatened by habitat loss.