Endangered Animals Statistics

General Statistics

According to a UN report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), up to a million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction.

(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)

“Human actions have already driven at least 680 vertebrate species to extinction since 1500, including the Pinta Giant Tortoise in the Galapagos in 2012, even though successful conservation efforts have saved from extinction at least 26 bird species and 6 ungulate species, including the Arabian Oryx and Przewalski’s Horse {3.2.1}.”

(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)

“Fewer and fewer varieties and breeds of plants and animals are being cultivated, raised, traded and maintained around the world, despite many local efforts, which include those by indigenous peoples and local communities. By 2016, 559 of the 6,190 domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture (over 9 per cent) had become extinct and at least 1,000 more are threatened.”

(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)

Natural ecosystems have declined by 47% since earliest estimated states. The global biomass of wild mammals has declined by 82% since prehistory.

(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)

The direct drivers for decline in terrestrial systems include, in descending order of impact, land use change, direct exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species.

(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)

“Habitat loss and degradation affect 89% of all threatened birds, 83% of mammals, and 91% of threatened plants.”

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Species Survival Commission)

The IUCN Red List has assessed 134,425 species. Of these species, 30,178 species are threatened with extinction.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature)

28% of all IUCN assessed species are threatened: 41% of amphibians, 26% of mammals, 34% of conifers, 14% of birds, and 36% of sharks and rays, 33% of reef corals, and 38% of selected crustaceans.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature)

The IUCN estimates they have evaluated the following percent of described species: 91% of mammals, 100% of birds, 75% of reptiles, 87% of amphibians, 61% of fishes, 2% of invertebrates, 13% of plants, and 0.3% of fungi and protists.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List)

Freshwater species populations have been rapidly declining; populations have decreased by 84% from 1970 to 2014.

(Living Planet)

According to a 2014 study, “current extinction rates are 1,000 times higher than natural background rates of extinction and future rates are likely to be 10,000 times higher.”

(The Society for Conservation Biology)

There has been a shift in geography in extinctions: most extinctions since 1500 AD have occurred on oceanic islands, while half of extinctions in the past 20 years occurred on continents.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List)

“Most threatened species occur in the tropics, especially on mountains and on islands. Most threatened birds, mammals, and amphibians are located in Central and South America; Africa south of the Sahara; and tropical South and Southeast Asia. These realms contain the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests that are believed to harbour the majority of the earth’s living terrestrial and freshwater species.”

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List)

Endangered Animals in the US

The IUCN lists 1,841 threatened (critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable) species in the United States. This includes 42 mammals, 91 birds, 40 reptiles, 56 amphibians, 277 fishes, 314 molluscs, 286 other invertebrates, 660 plants, 75 fungi, 0 chromists.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List)

The IUCN lists 237 extinct animals and 34 extinct plants in the United States.

(International Union for Conservation of Nature – Red List)

The US Fish and Wildlife Service currently recognizes 1,272 endangered species in the United States.

“21 animal species (13 in the U.S.3 and 8 Foreign) are counted more than once in the above table, primarily because these animals have distinct population segments (each with its own individual listing status).”

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

Of the species identified as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, there are 942 plants, 898 flowering plants, and 715 animals.

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

Hawaii is the state with the most endangered species listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with 501 total. California follows with 287, and Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas follow with 143, 134, 113, and 104 respectively.

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

Vermont has the least number of endangered species listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with 7 total. North Dakota and Alaska follow with 8 species apiece.

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

However, the Pacific Region of the United States has the highest number of species listings by the FWS.

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

1994 was the year with the most endangered and threatened species listings in the United States.

(The Environmental Conservation Online System)

Half of Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species have at least 80% of their habitat on private lands.

(Defenders of Wildlife)

A 2019 study investigated the 1,747 species, subspecies, and distinct populations ESA-listed or formerly listed species in the US. 39 ESA-listed species have fully recovered, 23 in the past decade. They estimate that the ESA has prevented the extinction of 291 species since 1973.

(National Center for Biotechnology Information – National Library of Medicine)

Of ESA-listed species, 4 have been confirmed extinct, 22 are possibly extinct, and 71 have not been seen since before listing.

(National Center for Biotechnology Information – National Library of Medicine)

According to data compiled for the FWS in 2011, ecosystem services provided by National Wildlife Refuges protected by ESA are valued at $32 billion.

(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

“Federal and state agencies spent $1.5 billion on endangered and threatened species in fiscal year 2016, according to the most recent data available.”

(Public Broadcasting Service – News Hour)

Endangered Animal Species

There are 6 species of sea turtles in U.S. waters, all of which are listed as endangered species.

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Fisheries)

With fewer than 19 remaining, the vaquita porpoise is the most endangered marine mammal in the world.

(Marine Mammal Commission)

(The Royal Society Publishing)

The South China tiger is the most endangered subspecies of living tigers, with only 150 individuals surviving in captivity and no known specimens in the wild. However, a 2019 study determined that the genetic diversity of the remaining population is high enough that reestablishment may be possible.

(Oxford University Press)

“Following large recoveries in many European countries, the numbers of White-tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) doubled in the 1990s and the species has been downlisted from Near Threatened to Least Concern. Enforcement of legislation to protect the species, and measures to address threats from habitat changes and pollution contributed to the recovery.”

(International Union for Conservation of Nature)

The passenger pigeon population was estimated to be 3 to 5 billion birds when Europeans discovered America, 25-40% of the total bird population. Habitat loss and hunting rapidly decreased the population, with hunters killing up to 50,000 birds per day. One of the last authenticated reports of a wild passenger pigeon occurred in 1900; by 1909, no more passenger pigeons would be reported in the wild. The few remaining captive birds were not able to reestablish the species and the last known passenger pigeon died captivity in 1914.

(The Smithsonian Institution)