The gorilla, the toucan, the jaguar. All animals you have probably heard about before, and all animals who live in the rainforest. But what else do they have in common? To put it bluntly, they’re lingering between life and death.
You might have heard the usual fact about how half of Mother Earth’s animals are found living in habitats of the rainforests. This is even sadder considering that so many of them are endangered. Although I certainly cannot list all of the animals (unless I were to write some sort of dictionary sized novel), I can still go over a few of these amazing animals.
Amphibians
Poison dart frogs are amphibians who range in glimmering colors, anywhere from red, to green, to blue, and yellow. Just as much as their colorful skins diverse, so do their ranges on the scale of endangered animals. In fact, some species aren’t even endangered, which would be considered on the scale as Least Concern, with some types all the way on the other end: Critically Endangered.
Primates
The gorilla is a resident of lush rainforest habitats, and can be seen from Rwanada, to the Congo River Basin, as well as West Central Africa. Due to lack of habitat thanks to humans, as well as hunting, and other causes that are natural, this animal is definitely a concern.
Everyone knows about those cute primates called chimpanzees. They are the closest animal on earth related to us, however, they are facing a real danger in the wild. Like the gorilla, they are being hunted and loosing their homes.
Felines
One of the most endangered animals is the Bengal tiger. It’s estimated that there are 3200 to 4000 of these beautiful cats left who are not kept captive. Their habitat is being destroyed, while hunters will kill them for fur, meat, and for medicinal reasons that have yet to be scientifically proven to work, and that can be found elsewhere that doesn’t include slaughtering this dying animal. The tiger is one of the most endangered of all animals, and we can see how low their numbers have dropped to, starting from 1900 when there were more than 50,000 roaming the rainforests.
The jaguar is a stunning black cat, or can be the more leopard looking feline. Because of poachers, they are threatened today. Their normally live in the rainforests of South and Central America.
Birds
Harpy eagles are birds of prey. They are one of the most powerful, and they can be found in the lowlands of the tropical rainforests in South America. Not only are they losing their homes, but their actual nests and nesting places as well.
Toucans are also facing potential extinction in today’s modern world. Most of their species (they have 40 different kinds) are sad editions to the endangered species scale.
There are literally millions of other animals who are endangered, as well as plants and insects. Hopefully, through education and awareness, we can make a world where there is no Endangered Species List.
