TIGER

The tiger (Panthera Tigris) is the largest living cat species and a member of

the genus Panthera. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on
orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on
ungulates, such as deer and wild boar. It is territorial and generally a solitary
but social predator, requiring large contiguous areas of habitat to support its
requirements for prey and rearing of its offspring. Tiger cubs stay with their
mother for about two years and then become independent, leaving their
mother's home range to establish their own. Sadly, tigers are on the brink of
extinction. Just over a century ago, 100,000 wild tigers roamed across Asia.
Today, fewer than 3,900 live in a mere four per cent of their historic range.
The largest tiger population can now be found in India, home to half of all
remaining wild tigers.

Fun fact
INDIA IS THE COUNTRY WITH THE LARGEST
NUMBER OF WILD TIGERS.

JAVAN RHINOCEROS
 The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), also known as the Javan
rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare
member of the family rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses . It
belongs to the rhinoceros genus and has a mosaic, armour-like skin, is 3.1–
3.2 m (10–10 ft) long and 1.4–1.7 m (4.6–5.6 ft) high. Its horn is usually
shorter than 25 cm (9.8 in). Only adult bulls have horns. The Javan rhinoceros
ranged from the islands of Java and Sumatra throughout Southeast Asia and
into India and China. Today, it is critically endangered, with only one known
population in the wild, and no individuals in captivity. It is one of the rarest
large mammals on Earth   with a population of approximately 74 in Ujung
Kolon National Park at the western tip of Java in Indonesia The Javan
rhinoceros population in Vietnam's Cat Tien National Park was declared to be
locally extinct in 2011. The decline of Javan rhinoceros is attributed
to poaching, primarily for its horns, which are highly valued in traditional
Chinese medicines, fetching as much as US$30,000 per kg on the black
market.  As European presence in its range increased, trophy hunting also
became a serious threat. Loss of habitat, especially as the result of wars, such
as the Vietnam war, has also contributed to its decline and hindered
recovery. The remaining range is within one nationally protected area, but it is
still at risk from poachers, disease, and loss of genetic diversity leading
to inbreeding depression.

BLACK-
FOOTED
FERRET
The black-footed ferret (Mustela
nigripes), also known as
the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a species of mustelid native
to central North America.
The black-footed ferret is roughly the size of a mink and is similar in
appearance to the European cat and the Asian steppe polecat. It is largely
nocturnal and solitary, except when breeding or raising litters. Up to 90% of
its diet is composed of prairie dog.
The species declined throughout the 20th century, primarily as a result of
decreases in prairie dog populations and sylvatic plague. It was declared
extinct in 1979, but a residual wild population was discovered in Meeteetse,
Wyoming in 1981. A captive-breeding program launched by the United State
fish and wildlife services resulted in its reintroduction into eight western US
states, Canada, and Mexico from 1991 to 2009. As of 2015, over 200 mature
individuals are in the wild across 18 populations, with four self-sustaining
populations in South Dakota, Arizona, and Wyoming. It was first listed as
"endangered" in 1982, then listed as "extinct in the wild" in 1996 before being
upgraded back to "endangered" in the IUCN Red list in 2008. In February
2021, the first successful clone of a black-footed ferret, a female
named Elizabeth Ann, was introduced to the public.

GIANT PANDA
The giant
panda (Ailurop oda
melanoleuca,
 sometimes panda bear or simply panda) is
a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-
white coat and rotund body. Though it belongs to the order carnivora, the giant
panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99%
of its diet. The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China,
mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of
farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven
out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-
reliant vulnerable species. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in
captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. By December 2014,
49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13
countries. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are
about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA
analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some
reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. By
March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864
individuals. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN red list from
"endangered" to "vulnerable", affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda.
In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as
vulnerable.

AFRICAN WILD DOG

The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as the painted
dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Sahara Africa. It is
the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the
genus Lycoan, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly
specialised for a hypercarnivores diet, and by a lack of dewclaws. It's
estimated that there are around 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature
 individuals) living in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by Habitat
fragmantation, human persecution, and outbreaks of disease. As the largest
subpopulation probably comprises fewer than 250 individuals, the African
wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list since 1990.[2]
The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of ungulates, which it captures by
using its stamina and cooperative hunting to exhaust them. Its natural
competitors are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where
possible, whilst the latter are frequent kleptoparasites.

FUN FACT
African wild dogs are wanderers

BONOBO
The bonobo (Pan paniscus), also historically called the pygmy
chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is
an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up
the genus Pan (the other being the common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes).
While bonobos are, today, recognized as a distinct species in their own right,
they were initially thought to be a subspecies of Pan troglodytes, due to the
physical similarities between the two species. Taxonomically, the members of
the chimpanzee/bonobo subtribe Panina—composed entirely by the genus Pan
—are collectively termed panins. Their forest habitat spans about 500,000 sq.
kilometres and is demarcated by three rivers, the Congo, Kasai, and Lualaba.
Throughout their range, bonobos are increasingly at risk from human beings,
who have killed them off to the point of endangerment. Today there are an
estimated 15,000-20,000 wild bonobos remaining.

FUN FACT
Bonobos Share 98.7% of Their DNA with Humans!

DUGONG
The dugong ( Dugong dugon) is a marine mammal. It is one of four living
species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It
is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its
closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted
to extinction in the 18th century. The dugong has been hunted for thousands of
years for its meat and oil. Traditional hunting still has great cultural
significance in several countries in its modern range, particularly northern
Australia and the Pacific Islands. The dugong's current distribution is
fragmented, and many populations are believed to be close to extinction.
The IUCN lists the dugong as a species vulnerable to extinction, while
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species limits or bans
the trade of derived products. Despite being legally protected in many
countries, the main causes of population decline remain anthropogenic and
include fishing-related fatalities, habitat degradation and hunting. With its long
lifespan of 70 years or more, and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is
especially vulnerable to extinction.

FUN FACT
Dugongs can live up to 70 years. .
POLAR BEAR
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a large bear native to the Arctic and
surrounding areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species
can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear, with adult
males weighing 300–800 kg (700–1,800 lb). The species is sexually dimphic,
as adult females are much smaller. The polar bear is white- or yellowish-furred
with black skin and a thick layer of fat. It is more slenderly built than the
brown bear, with a narrower skull, longer neck and lower shoulder hump. Its
teeth are sharper and more adapted to cutting meat. The paws are large and
allow the bear to walk on ice and paddle in the water. The polar bear is
considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Its biggest threats are climate change,
pollution and oil/gas development. Climate change has caused a decline in sea
ice, giving the polar bear less access to its favoured prey and increasing the
risk of malnutrition and starvation. Less sea ice also means that the bears must
spend more time on land, increasing conflicts with people. Polar bears have
been hunted, both by native and non-native peoples, for their coats, meat and
other items. They have been kept in captivity in zoos and circuses and are
prevalent in art, folklore, religion and modern culture.
 KASHMIR STAG
The Kashmir stag (Cervus hangul Hangul), also called hangul is a subspecies
of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is
found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys and mountains of Jammu
and Kashmir and northern Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, it is found primarily
in the Dachigam National Park where it receives protection, and elsewhere it is
more at risk. In the 1941s, the population was between 3000 and 5000
individuals, but since then habitat destruction, over-grazing by domestic
livestock and poaching have reduced population dramatically. Earlier believed
to be a subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus), a number of mitochondrial
DNA genetic studies later had the hangul as a part of the Asian clade of the elk
(Cervus canadensis). The IUCN and American Society of Mammalogists,
however, include it in the new grouping of Central Asian red deer (Cervus
hangul), with the Kashmir stag being the type subspecies (Cervus hangul
hangul). According to the census in 2019, there were only 237 hangul.
According to 2023 census, the numbers have improved to 289.
 BROWN BEAR
The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America.
In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies
that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is known as the Kodiak bear. The brown bear's range
includes parts of Russia, Central Asia, the Himalayas, China, Canada, the United States,
Hokkaido, Scandinavia, Finland etc. The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal
in several European countries.[10] While the brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced
local extinctions across its wide range, it remains listed as a least concern species by the
International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) with a total estimated
population in 2017 of 110,000. As of
2012, this and the American black bear
are the only bear species not
classified as threatened by the
IUCN, though the large sizes of both
bears may be a disadvantage due to increased competition with humans. Populations that were
hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries are the Atlas bear of North Africa and the
Californian, Ungavan and Mexican populations of the grizzly bear of North America. Many of
the populations in the southern parts of Eurasia are highly endangered as well.

LION
The lion (Panthera Leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa
and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round
ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male
lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species,
forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males,
related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together,
preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator;
although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known
to hunt humans, lions typically do not actively seek out and prey on humans.
Lions are currently listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In some parts
of Africa, lions are classified as “critically endangered” because lion
populations are still plummeting at an unprecedented rate.
 FUN FACT
Lions are the only cats that live in groups.
SNOW LEOPARD
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), commonly known as the ounce, is a
species of large cat in the genus Panthera of the family Felidae. The species is
native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated
to number fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline
about 10% by 2040. It is mainly threatened by poaching and habitat
destruction following infrastructural developments. It inhabits alpine and
subalpine zones at elevations of 3,000–4,500 m (9,800–14,800 ft), ranging
from eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern
Siberia, Mongolia and western China. In the northern part of its range, it also
lives at lower elevations. Taxonomically, the snow leopard was long classified
in the monotypic genus Uncia. Since phylogenetic studies revealed the
relationships among Panthera species, it has since been considered a member
of that genus. Two subspecies were described based on morphological
differences, but genetic differences between the two have not yet been
confirmed. It is therefore regarded as a monotypic species. The species is
widely depicted in Kyrgyz culture.
.