The leaping lesbian lizard and other endangered animals facing extinction after death of the final Yangtze giant softshell turtle

TAKE a good, long look at the incredible creatures on this page – if things don’t change, they might soon all be as dead as a dodo.

On Tuesday, The Sun told how the Yangtze giant softshell turtle crawled a step closer to extinction after the death in captivity of the last known female, aged 90.

There are now only THREE of these turtles left in the world – a captive male at the same Chinese zoo, where an artificial insemination programme to save the breed failed, and two whose genders are unknown which are living wild in Vietnam.

NICK PRITCHARD and GRANT ROLLINGS round up some of the world’s other endangered species.

Elephants

WHERE: Africa and South Asia

FACT: The largest land mammal creates one tonne of poo per week.

DECLINE: Due to ivory poachers seeking their tusks an African elephant population that once stood at 26million is now just 144,000.

THREAT: Vulnerable (African) and Endangered (Asian)

Solenodon

WHERE: Cuba and Hispaniola.

FACT: It looks like a common shrew, but these rare mammals are far more deadly, injecting venom in prey via their specially modified teeth.

DECLINE: It was thought these mammals had gone the way of the dodo until scientists found a few still alive in 2003.

THREAT: Critically Endangered.

Pangolin

WHERE: Central and Southern Africa, India, China, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia and Malaysia

FACT: This anteater is the only mammal to be covered from head to toe in keratin scales, the same fibre found in human fingernails.

DECLINE: The pangolin is the world’s most illegally traded mammal due a huge market for its scales, with 2.7million killed annually.

THREAT: Vulnerable to Critically Endangered

Saola

WHERE: Vietnam

FACT: Also known as the Asian Unicorn because they have two parallel horns with sharp ends, which can be 20in long.

DECLINE: The species was only discovered in 1992. These rarely spotted ox-type creatures only live in the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos.

THREAT: Critically Endangered

Vaquita

WHERE: Gulf of California

FACT: The world’s rarest marine mammal was only discovered in 1958, yet is already on the brink of extinction.

DECLINE: This type of porpoise often drown in illegal gillnets (vertical walls of netting). Now only 30 can be counted.

THREAT: Critically Endangered

Dugong

WHERE: Coastal East Africa, Coral Triangle

FACT: Elephant-like sea mammal, a cousin of the manatee, can grow to 11ft in length.

DECLINE: Numbers down by 20 per cent in 90 years, disappearing from the waters off Hong Kong, Mauritius and Taiwan.

THREAT: Vulnerable

Lemur

WHERE: Madagascar

FACT: These primates are considered to be sun worshippers because they need to warm their bellies where their fur is much thinner.

DECLINE: Since the turn of this century the population has dropped by 95 per cent to 2,000, due to loss of habitat and hunting.

THREAT: Critically Endangered

Snow leopards

WHERE: Himalayas and Karakoram mountain range in Asia

FACT: This big cat’s metre-long (3ft) tail helps with balance, which is important when you live 16,000ft up the mountains.

DECLINE: Hunted for fur, herbal medicine and as trophies, the snow leopard has been reduced to just 4,000 in the wild.

THREAT: Vulnerable

Rhinos

WHERE: Central and Southern Africa, South Asia, Sumatra and Borneo.

FACT: At full pelt these beasts can run at 34mph.

DECLINE: Despite a ban on the sale of ivory, hunters have driven the African Rhino to the point of extinction. The Java Rhino and Sumatran Rhino are critically endangered with 67 and less than 80, respectively, left in the wild.

THREAT: Critically Endangered (Sumatran, Black, Javan), Near Threatened (white) and Vulnerable (Greater one-horned)

Coconut crab

WHERE: Indian and Southern Pacific Ocean islands

FACT: History’s most famous biologist Charles Darwin called them “monstrous” due to their long legs which can span up to a metre (3ft).

DECLINE: These crabs can take 60 years to grow to full size. Over-harvesting of them for their meat means they are no longer found on mainland Fiji.

THREAT: Endangered

Leatherback sea turtle

WHERE: Mesoamerican Reef, Coastal East Africa, Gulf of California, The Galapagos, Coral Triangle

FACT: Leathery-looking shell is actually made up of tough, rubbery skin strengthened by thousands of tiny bone plates.

DECLINE: Turtles have been known to die from accidentally swallowing plastic bags and being caught in huge drift nets as they migrate across the ocean. The number of adult females is down to 2,300.

THREAT: Vulnerable

Tigers

WHERE: India, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Eastern Siberia.

FACT: There are more tigers in captivity in the US than the total in the wild globally.

DECLINE: Poached for their skins while their parts – such as bones, eyes, whiskers and teeth – are used in traditional Chinese medicines.

Numbers have fallen from 100,000 in 1900 to just 3,890 in the wild now.

THREAT: Endangered

Borneo orangutan

WHERE: Borneo and Sumatra

FACT: The name orang-utan means “man of the forest” in the Malay language.

DECLINE: Numbers have declined by more than half in the past 60 years, according to the WWF – largely due to hunting and logging.

Recent figures put the total Bornean orang-utan population at 104,700.
THREAT: Critically Endangered

Bumblebee bat

WHERE: Thailand and Myanmar

FACT: World’s smallest mammal weighs 2g and its body is about the size of a large bumblebee.

DECLINE: Tourism and religious visits to the 35 caves in which they dwell, plus limestone mining, have seen their numbers drop to 6,600.

THREAT: Vulnerable

Leaping lesbian lizard

WHERE: Arizona and New Mexico, USA

FACT: Got their name because of an ability for an all-female population to reproduce. Also known as the New Mexico Whiptail Lizard.

DECLINE: Found in only two places in the world.

THREAT: Rare

Mountain gorillas

WHERE: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda

FACT: We share around 98 per cent of our DNA with the mountain gorilla.

DECLINE: Destruction of forests and a rise in poaching has seen numbers decline.

In 1981 there were just 254 mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park in Congo, but after stepping up security and increasing protection there are now 880. These animals are still hunted for their fur.

THREAT: Endangered

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