EExtinction Check
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Ranked by wild population

Extinction Check — the world's most endangered animals, ranked by wild population

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus · Gulf of California

<10left in the wild
est. 2024

The vaquita is the world's most endangered marine mammal, driven to the brink by gillnet fishing in the Gulf of California.

Source: Sea Shepherd · IUCN Red ListSurvey estimate, 2024
A vaquita porpoise underwaterIllustrative depiction

Trend

Declining sharply

Featured species

Six of the best-known animals on the frontline.

Browse all 48 species →
Northern White RhinoIllustrative depiction

Northern White Rhino

Africa · 0.0°N 36.9°E

2
Trend: functionally extinctIUCN CR
VaquitaIllustrative depiction

Vaquita

Americas · 31.0°N 114.6°W

<10
Trend: decliningIUCN CR
Amur LeopardIllustrative depiction

Amur Leopard

Asia · 43.1°N 131.2°E

~130
Trend: recoveringIUCN CR
KākāpōIllustrative depiction

Kākāpō

Oceania · 46.9°S 168.1°E

~325
Trend: recoveringIUCN CR
California CondorIllustrative depiction

California Condor

Americas · 36.3°N 121.5°W

392
Trend: recoveringIUCN CR

How the numbers are sourced

Every figure is traceable

Primary source

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Method

Peer-reviewed population estimates, cross-checked against field surveys

Refreshed

Each assessment is dated and versioned

Organisations protecting them

View all

Rhino

BioRescue

Using IVF and stem-cell science to bring the northern white rhino back from the brink.

Visit ↗

Marine

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Removing illegal gillnets from the vaquita's last refuge in the Gulf of California.

Visit ↗

Island

Kākāpō Recovery programme

Hand-rearing the world's only flightless, nocturnal parrot.

Visit ↗

Field notes

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