Endangered Species Quiz

Species of Organisms Facing a Very High Risk of Extinction

• An endangered species is at a high risk of becoming extinct in the near future due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, and invasive species.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List is a system of assessing the global conservation status of species that includes "Data Deficient" species as well as species comprehensively assessed by the IUCN's species assessment process.
• Over 50% of the world's species are estimated to be at risk of extinction, and the frontier between categories such as 'endangered', 'rare', or 'locally extinct' species is often difficult to draw given the general paucity of data on most of these species.
• Brazil has a broad legal system meant to protect the environment, including its Constitution, as well as several federal, state and local government agencies tasked with protecting the fauna and flora, fining individuals or companies linked to environmental crimes and confiscating illegally taken wildlife.
• The United States' Endangered Species Act of 1973 lists species as "endangered" or "threatened", and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service, is responsible for classifying and protecting endangered species.
• Canada's Species at Risk Act requires a recovery plan to be developed for threatened or endangered species.
• Invasive species can disrupt ecosystems to such an extent that native species become endangered.
• Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare or endangered species in human-controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, and other conservation facilities.
• Private farming can substantially increase the populations of endangered species, such as the southern black and southern white rhinoceros.
• The effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act has been questioned by business advocacy groups and their publications but is widely recognized by wildlife scientists who work with the species as an effective recovery tool.
• The dodo, passenger pigeon, great auk, Tasmanian tiger, and Steller's sea cow are some of the more well-known examples of species that became extinct due to interference from humans.
• The IUCN Red List listed 3,079 animal and 2,655 plant species as endangered (EN) worldwide in 2012.