Pina Island Tortoise

Meet “Lonesome George,” the last known example of the Pinta Island Tortoise, the rarest endangered animal in the world, with only “George” left. That we know about. The species was considered to have become totally extinct, until 1971 when this last specimen was sighted by rangers, who are desperately trying to find a mating female. they have even posted a $10,000 reward for that Turtle-ophile still holding out on us with the Pinta Island Tortoise in their personal collection. Hello, Michael Jackson Estate, we’re looking at you. To be honest, I have no idea if MJ used to own one, but he did try to buy John “The Elephant Man” Merrick’s skeleton, so who knows.

“Lonesome George” is estimated to be between 60-100 years old, likes long, long, long, long, long, long walks on the beach, and dislikes “fake types.” A romantic lettuce-eater just looking to meet that ‘special someone” who will coax him out of his shell and into the Galapagos Islands of their heart, George is a pretty special guy who would be a real “keeper” for any hot minx of a Pinta Island Tortoise female. More turtle than you could shake a Lord Howe Island Stick Insect at, for sure!
And what reclusive she-tortoise wouldn’t want to cozy down on scenic Pinta Island (aka Abingdon Island)? It is one of the historic Galapagos Islands, located some 525 nautical miles off the coast of Ecuador? It’s a little bit Ecuadorian Province, a little bit romantic national park, and a whole lotta biological marine reserve. Just perfect to sit back, read Darwin’s Origin of the Species, and hatch a few species-extending eggs, while, in the background, the swallow-tailed gulls, aqua iguanas and fur seals frolic.
So, was I right, or was I right? Is “Lonesome George” not a big hunk o’ terrapin you could wrap your scaly legs around. Any serious female Pinta Island Tortoise out there looking to “knock shells” with him should contact him right away. But please… no “fast-ies” need apply.

Yangtze River Dolphin (Baiji)

The baiji is also called Yangtze River Dolphin,is a graceful animal, with a long, narrow and slightly upturned beak and a flexible neck. As opposed to some other freshwater dolphins, like the Indus River dolphin, its eyes are functional, although greatly reduced. Its coloration is bluish-gray to gray above and white to ashy-white below. It weighs 135 - 230 kg (300 - 510 lb) and measures as much as 2.5 m (8.2') in length.
The baiji only occurs in freshwater rivers and lakes. It favors large eddy counter-currents such as are found below meanders; channel convergences; and areas in a river with structure, such as sandbars. In the Yangtze River, the baiji generally lives in the deeper sections, swimming to shallow water only to catch small fish. Any available species of small (less than 6.5 cm (2.5") in width) freshwater fish is eaten. Feeding activity is primarily diurnal.

A group may congregate in the quiet area of an eddy for 5 - 6 hours. At night the baiji often rests in areas of very slow current. Several underwater acoustic signals are apparently used for communication and echolocation. Baijis generally live in small groups of 3 - 4 animals, which may come together to make up a larger social unit of 9 - 16 dolphins.
The distribution of the baiji originally included not only the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River down to the river’s mouth, but also the Qiantang and Fuchun Rivers and Dongting and Poyang Lakes. It no longer occurs in the lakes or branches of the Yangtze but only in the mainstem, and the extent of its distribution is significantly reduced. The baiji is considered the most endangered cetacean, and its prospects for survival are extremely doubtful.
Deaths from entanglement in or electrocution by fishing gear, collisions with vessels, blasting for channel maintenance, and illegal harvesting of the baiji are at least partially responsible for the decline of its range and abundance. In addition, the damming of tributaries, drainage for land "reclamation," dredging, depletion of the baiji's prey by over-fishing, and noise and congestion caused by vessel traffic in the river have substantially degraded the Yangtze's environment. The Three Gorges Dam will produce further stress on the baiji population by altering the Yangtze's hydrological regime. The baiji generally occurs in large eddy counter-currents which are expected to be eliminated for approximately 200 km (120 mi) downstream by the water released below the dam.

Golden Tabby Tiger

　　Golden Tigers are the result of crossbreeding between white tigers and tiger coloring common make best pet. This happens when the recessive gene for the pigmentation of hair.
Remember genetics? Then a chance of happening is very small and only has news of this result in captivity because nature is not in the two color variations on the same habitat.
A golden tabby tiger is one with an extremely rare color variation caused by a recessive gene and is currently only found in captive tigers. Like the white tiger, it is a color form and not a separate species. In the case of the golden tiger, this is the wide band gene; while the white tiger is due to the color inhibitor gene. There are currently believed to be fewer than 30 of these rare tigers in the world, but many more carriers of the gene.

Few zoos have bred or exhibited golden tigers and many have no knowledge of the color or its mode of inheritance. It therefore usually appears by accident when breeding orange and white tigers together rather than through planning. As white tigers and heterozygous normal colored tigers are traded and loaned between zoos and circuses for breeding, if they also carry the wide band gene, that gene becomes widespread. When their descendants are mated together, the golden tiger color is passed on to the offspring if both parents are gene carriers. Unless golden tabby cubs are born, the zoos may have no idea that the parents carry that gene.
The first golden tiger cub born in captivity was in 1983 and this came from standard-colored Bengal tigers, both of whom carried the recessive genes for both the golden tiger and white colors. It was born at Dr. Josip Marcan’s Adriatic Animal Attractions in Deland, Florida.

Javan Rhino

　　The Javan Rhino is the rarest of the rhino species with 27-44 animals surviving only in Indonesia. The last Javan rhino is believed to have been poached in Vietnam in 2010. In Indonesia, Javan rhinos live only in Java’s Ujung Kulon National Park, where the population appears to have stabilized, largely because they are physically guarded from harm by Rhino Protection Units. The continuation of this protection, combined with establishing a second population elsewhere in Indonesia, provides the best possible hope for the species’ survival.

Current Javan Rhino Numbers and Distribution
There currently are approximately 27-44 Javan rhinos surviving in in one country, Indonesia.
Biology
The Javan Rhino is found only in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park in west Java.
Javan rhinos appear to be more adaptable feeders than other rhino species: in the tropical rain forest where the species now survives, it is a pure browser, but it possibly was a mixed feeder (both browse and grass) in other parts of its historic range where the species is generally believed to have occupied more lowland areas, especially along watercourses.
Longevity is unknown, but Javan rhinos probably live to 30-40 years.
Gestation is unknown but is presumed to be approximately 15-16 months, as in other rhinos. Inter-birth intervals are unknown, but mothers probably give birth to one calf every 1-3 years.
Females reach sexual maturity between 5 and 7 years of age; males mature at approximately 10 years of age.
Javan rhinos are solitary in nature and are rarely seen.

The Sheath-Tailed Bat of Seychelles

　　The Seychelles sheath-tailed bat is one of the world's rarest mammals. The Sheath-tailed bat 'Coleura Seychellensis' is one of only two mammals endemic to the Seychelles; this means that it cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Yet it is possibly the rarest bat in the world with only about 30-100 individuals left in Seychelles.
It is one of the most endangered animals; fewer than 100 are believed to exist in the world. Very little is known about the bat抯 ecology, habitat, roost, and behaviour. It has suffered from habitat deterioration due to the effects of introduced plant species.

    'Coleura Seychellensis' is a sac-winged bat and occurs in the central granitic islands of the Seychelles Islands north of Madagascar. It probably was abundant throughout the Seychelles in the past, but it has declined drastically during the mid to late 20th century and is now extinct on most islands. The reasons for its decline are unknown. It has been suggested that the barn owl, 'Tyto Alba', introduced in 1949, may be responsible and also possibly predation by barn owls, roost disturbance, habitat loss and declines in insect availability resulting from use of pesticides.
In the 1800s it was described as being common on Mah� but declined throughout the 1900s. Today the known roost sites on Praslin and La Digue have all been abandoned. The largest surviving roost is on Silhouette Island where two caves have been located. These caves are part of a single system of passages in a boulder field. Three small roosts on Mah� have been located.
At present it is listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN. It is the 25th EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) species listed by the Zoological Society of London. It is a trigger species for the Alliance For Zero Extinction highlighting the importance of Silhouette Island for the conservation of the species. If urgent conservation measures are not implemented soon, this species will become extinct.
The Silhouette roosts have been monitored by the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles since 1997 and a study of the roost in 2003 recorded 32 bats. This is the highest count of this species ever recorded in a roost and the low figure is an indication of the precarious status of this bat. A second roost complex was discovered in 2005.
NPTS has installed an infra-red CCTV system into one roost so that monitoring can continue without disturbance to one of the world's rarest and least-known mammals. This is revealing important new information on the behaviour and ecology of this threatened species
This bat feeds on insects at night time using echolocation calls to detect objects and navigate. Its biology is mostly unknown. The bat echo locates at frequencies of 32-40kHz when commuting and feeding outside the cave, and at much lower, audible frequencies (15-20kHz) within the cave.
The weight of the bats averages about 11.1 g for parous females and 10.2g in adult males with a forearm length of about 55.6 and 53.9 respectively
Bats in the genus Coleura usually do not roost upside down but generally crawl into caves and houses, in crevices and cracks and press their undersides flat against stone walls. In the 1860's, it was reported to fly around clumps of bamboo towards twilight, and in the daytime to be found roosting in the clefts of the mountainside facing the sea and with a more or less northern aspect. These hiding places were generally covered over with the large fronds of endemic palms. It is insectivorous and colonies of bats are apparently divided into harem groups.
It lives in both the Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 2005) and the Seychelles and Mascarene Islands Forests Global 200 Ecoregion. (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999)
The name "sheath-tailed" refers to the juxtaposition of the tail and the membrane that stretches between the hind legs, whereby the last half of the tail protrudes free from the membrane. By adjustment of the hind legs in flight, the membrane can be lengthened or shortened as it slips over the tail, giving these bats precise manoeuvrability in flight. They utilize acrobatic flight as they fly within the under story of the rain forest hunting both airborne and foliage-clinging insects. (Bonaccorso 1998)
It has been the focus of recent intensive research which has determined that it is a species associated with small clearings in forests where it feeds on a wide variety of insect species. Observations of coastal or marsh feeding are thought to be bats that have been forced into feeding in unusual situations due to habitat deterioration. Although the species is not a specialist and has a high reproductive potential it is very vulnerable to disturbance and requires several roost sites within healthy habitat.
The birth season occurs during the November - December rainy season.

Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat

　　The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is a marsupial with a backward facing pouch. The curious name comes from its distinctive muzzle which is covered with short brown hairs. It is strong and heavily built, with short, powerful legs and strong claws that are used to dig burrows or search for suitable plants to eat. Its fur is soft, silky, and mainly brown, mottled with grey, fawn and black. It has a broad head, and the ears are long and slightly pointed with tufts of white hair on the edges.

Like most marsupials, the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is active at night, usually at dawn or dusk. Although mostly solitary, wombats often share burrows. Each burrow has several entrances and contains moist air which stays at a constant temperature throughout the year. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat eats native and introduced grasses and stays close to one of its many burrows. The wombat's teeth never stop growing, allowing it to grind its food even when old.
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat gives birth to one young during the wet season (November - April). The young stay in the mothers pouch for eight to nine months. They leave their mother at about 15 months.
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat once occurred near Deniliquin (New South Wales), on the Moonie River near St George (southern Queensland) and at Epping Forest near Clermont (central Queensland). Fossil records from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland show that they lived over a larger area, but probably not in high numbers. The last known colony of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats is now restricted to 300 ha in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat occurs along an ancient water course in the park where the soil is sandy and dry.
Their feeding areas contain native grasses, scattered eucalypts and acacias, and patches of scrub.
The wombats live in groups of large burrows usually located near trees.
Habitat loss and change, drought and competition with cattle, sheep and rabbits for food have contributed to the decline of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Epping Forest National Park is now fenced to keep out cattle and sheep and will be fenced during 2002 to exclude dingoes which killed 10 northern hairy-nosed wombats during 2000-01. Introduced buffel grass, planted in the area for cattle feed, outcompetes the native grasses and forces the wombats to travel further to find the native species they prefer to eat. The small population of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats that remains is susceptible to predation, fire and inbreeding.
Epping Forest National Park was established in 1971 to protect the habitat of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Access into the Park is restricted to researchers and park managers. The park is protected from wildfires by fire breaks and patch burning of small areas. After the removal of cattle in 1982, wombat numbers increased from 35 to about 70 in 1989. Numbers remained steady during a major drought which spanned the first half of the 1990's. After several good years of rainfall, the population has increased to 110.
Programs to control buffel grass and improve the supply of native grasses are helping the wombats to move into other suitable habitats in the park. Management of Epping Forest National Park and ongoing research on the ecology of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat also contribute to the long term conservation of this species. As well, a captive breeding program on the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat is currently under way. If this proves successful, it is hoped the techniques developed can be applied to the captive breeding of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats.

Red Wolf

The Red Wolf is a cousin to the Gray Wolf. The Red Wolf was actually deemed extinct in the wild in 1980. There were, luckily, some Red Wolves were still in captivity, twenty to be exact. Wildlife conservationists increased the number of Red Wolves in captivity to 207, and today there are about 100 living in the wild. A success story, yes, but the factors that caused the Red Wolf to become so endangered are still present today, in that their hunting ground has been severely depleted. Luckily there are wildlife preserves that allow these wolves to live in their natural habitat, though protected from urban sprawl.

It is estimated that red wolves live four years in the wild and up to 14 years in captivity.
Red wolves have several coat colors including black, brown, gray, and yellow. The reddish coats for which they are named was typical of some Texan populations.
As medium-sized canids, red wolves are smaller and more slender than their gray wolf cousins, but larger than coyotes. Adult males weigh 60 to 80 pounds. Females are smaller and weigh 40 to 60 pounds.
Red wolves prefer to live in forests, swamps and coastal prairies. Dens are often located in hollow trees, stream banks and sand knolls.
The red wolf's diet consists primarily of small mammals such as rabbits and rodents but also includes insects, berries and occasionally deer. Shy and secretive, red wolves hunt alone or in small family packs. The red wolf is primarily nocturnal (active at night).
Historically, red wolves ranged throughout the southeastern United States from Pennsylvania to Florida and as far west as Texas. Today, only a few wolves roam free in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and nearby Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

A rare animal called Sao Tome Shrew

The Sao Tome Shrew is on the Critically Endangered list because not only are there few left, their habitat is progressively declining. The population continues to decrease, making these animals rare. Found only Sao Tome Island, a small island that is actually a shield volcano that rises out of the Atlantic Ocean. These little shrews are only about 3 inches long, and have white teeth (other than the standard yellow) and light bellies.

Rare animal-Okapi

Is it a giraffe? Is it a zebra? Is it a ziraffe? A gebra? It’s an Okapi! Ever heard of it? Apparently, the Okapi’s history reaches back to ancient Egypt, where carvings have since been found. In Europe and Africa, prior to the 20th century, there existed legends of an “African unicorn.” Today, that animal is thought to be the Okapi. In 1887, Henry Morton Stanley reported on a type of donkey in the Congo named an “Atti.” Today, THAT animal is thought to be the Okapi as well. Scientists, zoologists, and scholars know a lot more about the animal today. For instance, the fact that it is related to the giraffe, despite it’s zebra-like markings, and the fact that the species Okapia johnstoni is considered a “living fossil,” a creature who seems to be the same species as it’s ancient fossils and has no close living relatives (I guess the giraffe is a VERY distant cousin). There are about 10,000-20,000 alive in the wild, but since this dude is sooooo vintage, he goes on the list.