40 Lesser-Known Facts About Animals That Made People Say ‘Aww’ (New Pics)

As Olivia Lai pointed out on Earth, as much as we want to marvel at nature and our planet’s biodiversity, we need to remember that the creatures we share our home with are currently under overwhelming stress due to centuries of widespread human activities and climate change.

Deforestation and land clearing for agricultural and farming purposes remain to be the biggest threats to animal and plant species across the world, reducing millions of hectares of natural habitats every year. 

As the world continues its current trend of environmental degradation, we have driven another 1 million animal and plant species to the brink of extinction, all of which could disappear from the Earth within decades, according to the UN’s 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service.

This devastating rate of extinction highlights the fact we’re in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event, and even more worryingly, it’s accelerating. Scientists note that without the human destruction of nature, this rate of loss would have taken thousands of years. 

There are currently at least 38,500 species under threat, and over 16,300 species believed to be endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi, and plant species.

Based on only 28% of all assessed species, 41% of known endangered species are amphibians, 37% are sharks and rays, 33% are corals, 26% are mammals, and 14% are birds. 

Up to 70% of the world’s assessed plants are under threat, and nearly a third of global tree species are facing extinction including well-known species such as magnolias, oaks, maple and ebonies. 

In the US alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are currently over 1,300 endangered or threatened species. 

According to a 2020 analysis published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have identified 515 species with populations below 1,000, and about half of these had fewer than 250 individuals remaining.

There are also 388 species of land vertebrates with populations under 5,000 individuals, 84% of them live in the same regions as the species with populations under 1,000, creating conditions for a domino effect where close ecological interactions of species on the brink tend to move other species towards extinction. 

As forests are home to more than 80% of all terrestrial species of animals, plants, and insects, it is crucial we halt and reverse deforestation if we want to restore and protect the world's animal and plant species.

Illicit poaching and wildlife trafficking remain huge threats to biodiversity and animal species to this day, with nearly 7,000 species of animals and plants reported in illegal trade involving 120 countries. While far stricter enforcement and conservation efforts have already helped many historically poached species to recover, we must continue these efforts to save the critters we see in the pictures.