ENDANGERED SPECIES OF ANIMALS BY : VISHWESH S SRIKRISHNAN.S SHRAVAN.

ENDANGERED SPECIES OF ANIMALS IN AFRICA

AFRICAN WILD DOG BLACK RHINO LEOPARD

AFRICAN WILD DOG

 The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a carnivorous mammal of the Candia family, found only in Africa, especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas. It is also called the Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, the Cape Hunting Dog, the Spotted Dog. The scientific name "Lycaon pictus" is derived from the Greek for "wolf" and the Latin for "painted".

 Adults typically weigh 17-36 kilograms (37-79 pounds).A tall, lean animal, it stands about 30 inches (75 cm) at the shoulder, with a head and body length averaging about 40 inches .Animals in southern Africa are generally larger than those in eastern or western Africa. The African Wild Dog is endangered by human overpopulation habitat loss and hunting. It uses very large territories and it is strongly affected by competition with larger carnivores that rely on the Hyena. Lions often will kill as many wild dogs but do not eat them.

BLACK RHINO

 The Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), also colloquially Black Rhino, is a species of rhinoceros, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Although the Rhino is referred to as black, it is actually more of a grey/brown/white color in appearance. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has declared West African Black Rhinoceros, as extinct. About 3600 Black Rhinoceros exist in the world.

 An adult Black Rhinoceros stands 140 170 cm (5567 in) high at the shoulder and is 3.33.6 m (1112 ft) in length. An adult weighs from 800 to 1,364 kg (1,800 to 3,000 lb). The females are smaller than the males. Two horns on the skull are 50 cm long and can grow up to 140 cm. The Black Rhinoceros has been pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal poaching for their horn and by loss of habitat. The horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine, coma patients, cure fever .

LEOPARD

 The leopard ( Panthera pardus) is the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera; the other three being the tiger, lion and jaguar. The leopard has relatively short legs and a long body, with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, although it is of smaller and slighter build. Its fur is marked with rosettes that are similar to those of the jaguar, though the loepards rosettes are smaller and more closely packed. Leopards that are melanistic, that is either completely black or very dark, are known as black panthers.

 Leopards live mainly in grasslands, woodlands and riverside forests. The animal has primarily been studied in open savannah habitats, which may have biased common descriptions. It is generally considered nocturnal, for instance, but radio-tracking and scat analysis in West Africa has found that rainforest leopards are more likely to be diurnal and crepuscular.

ENDANGERED ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA

GIANT KANGAROO RAT WOOD BISON HUMPBACK WHALE

GIANT KANGAROO RAT

 The giant kangaroo rat is one of over 20 species of kangaroo rats, Head and body length averages between 12 to 14.8 inches. The tail measures between 6.3 to 7.5 inches in length and ends with a tuft of hair on the tip. A giant kangaroo rat can leap over 6 feet in a single jump. Giant kangaroo rats are found on dry, sandy grasslands. Diet consists of seeds, leaves, stems, and buds of young plants. The giant kangaroo rat is only found in one area of less than five square miles between the Carrizo Plain and the city of Taft, located in west-central California where it is legally protected.

 Like many other rodent species, the giant kangaroo rat is threatened by habitat loss to agricultural development. Conservation efforts for this species include attempts to find additional land for habitat in the Kern and San Luis Obispo counties of California, and monitoring of its current population, distribution, and remaining habitat.

WOOD BISON

 Scientific Name: Bison athabascae. The wood bison is a subspecies of the North American Bison and is only found in Canada. It differs from the other North American subspecies (the Plains bison) in many ways. The wood bison can weigh over 1950 lb making it the largest mammal in North America. Both the male and female have short black horns, but the female's horns are straight and the male horns curve slightly inward. Males are larger than females and can reach 12.5 feet in length and around 5.9 feet in height.

 Bison are social animals and can be found in small herds year-round. In the summer, bison can be found in small willow pastures and uplands where they feed on willows and grass. In the fall, they can be found in the forest where they feed on lichens. Females give birth to two calves usually within a span of three years. The calves remain dependent on the mother for seven months.

 Historically the population for the wood bison was over 160,000. But due to hunting, the population was reduced to less than 250 by 1900. The bison population is also threatened by diseases such as tuberculosis and anthrax which have become common in bison herds. But bison populations have recovered since the 1920s to a total population of 9000 due to conservation efforts by Canadian Conservationists.

HUMPBACK WHALE

 The head of a humpback whale is broad and rounded when viewed from above, but slim in profile. It is quite round, narrowing to a slender peduncle (tail stock). The top of the head and lower jaw have rounded, bump-like knobs, each containing at least one stiff hair. The purpose of these hairs is not known, though they may allow the whale to detect movement in nearby waters. There are between 20-50 ventral grooves which extend slightly beyond the navel. Adult males measure 40-48 feet (12.2-14.6 m), adult females measure 45-50 feet (13.7-15.2 m). They weigh 25 to 40 tons (22,680-36,287 kg).

 Humpback whales feed on krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans, and various kinds of small fish. Each whale eats up to 1 and 1/2 tons (1,361 kg) of food a day. Found in all the world's oceans, most populations of humpback whales follow a regular migration route, summering in temperate and polar waters for feeding, and wintering in tropical waters for mating and calving. In the Arabian Sea, a year-round non-migratory population of humpbacks appears not to follow this general rule.

 Their feeding, mating, and calving grounds are close to shore and because they are slow swimmers, the humpback whales were an easy target for early whalers. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) gave them worldwide protection status in 1966, but there were large illegal kills by the Soviets until the 1970's. It is believed they number about 30,000-40,000 at present, or about 30-35% of the original population.