10 species you hope can be saved, but ain't looking good

Daktari JG said:
at the moment

My list
1) Sumatran rhino
2) Javan rhino
3) vaquita
4)yangtze giant softshell
5) Northern right whale
6) saola
7)Great Indian bustard
8) Hainan black crested gibbon
9) Rice's whale
10) Sinu parakeet
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I'd add the indri to the list. The fact that breeding problems are basically impossible for this species make it really difficult for conservation.

Also, the crossriver gorilla is very close to extinction. We might see it go extinct in the next 20 years.
 
1) Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personatus) (The population of this species has been declining at a shockingly rapid pace in the 2020s; there are possibly fewer than 50 individuals remaining.)
2) 'Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi)
3) Stresemann's Bristlefront (Merulaxis stresemanni)
4) Tooth-billed Pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris)
5) Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi)
6) Giant Ibis (Pseudibis gigantea)
7) Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil)
8) Armenian Birch Mouse (Sicista armenica)
9) Russian Desman (Desmana moschata)
10) Riverine Rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis)
 
1. Sumatran Rhinoceros
2. Javan Rhinoceros
3. Vaquita
4. Red Wolf
5. Sun Bear
6. Northern Spotted Owl
7. Malayan Tapir
8. African Forest Elephant
9. Dhole
10. Gopher Tortoise
 
Red Handfish Thymichthys politus. Recent success in captive breeding is very promising, but the chances of this species persisting in the wild seem to be increasingly bleak. It's wild population is less than 100 individuals, clustered in two known patches of seabed each no more than a few metres across, breeding success has been heavily reduced by the introduced sea star Asterias amurensis, and marine heatwaves in it's tiny range (a single estuary) are becoming more frequent and more intense (recently, requiring the entire wild population to be temporarily taken into captivity to avoid dieoff during one such heatwave). As painful as it is to think about it, this species could easily become extinct in the wild within my lifetime.
 
Tapirus Lar said:
Captive breeding for great Indian bustards is actually going on pretty well
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I am glad of that but they still are in a precarious situation. I understand that researchers have been collecting eggs found in the wild and hatched them in incubation centres (42 eggs since 2019 of which 30 birds hatched from these wild-laid eggs). In the wild, fewer than 150 survive mostly in India’s Rajasthan state so why have so many eggs been collected rather than individuals?

Luckily, some of the founder birds have bred in captivity since March 2023 and laid eggs, which were also “artificially bred” (in other words, the fertilised egg was incubated artificially by humans, rather than naturally by the mother). 20 additional chicks have been born this way, 7 in 2025. Despite this, there are only around 50 captive-raised birds. Another problem is that, because the birds born in these breeding centres have imprinted on human researchers, they have apparently lost about 60-70% of their ability to survive in the wild.

I do hope that this incredible bird species survives, but I think more attention is needed if we are to preserve this unique bird.

Captive-raised chicks offer hope for extremely rare great Indian bustard.
Rajasthan centre racing to save Great Indian Bustard clocks big win(g)—1st captive-born chick of 2025
 
Daktari JG said:
at the moment

My list
1) Sumatran rhino
2) Javan rhino
3) vaquita
4)yangtze giant softshell
5) Northern right whale
6) saola
7)Great Indian bustard
8) Hainan black crested gibbon
9) Rice's whale
10) Sinu parakeet
Click to expand...
Someone seriously needs to think about cloning the rhinoceros
 
Dr. Loxodonta said:
I am glad of that but they still are in a precarious situation. I understand that researchers have been collecting eggs found in the wild and hatched them in incubation centres (42 eggs since 2019 of which 30 birds hatched from these wild-laid eggs). In the wild, fewer than 150 survive mostly in India’s Rajasthan state so why have so many eggs been collected rather than individuals?

Luckily, some of the founder birds have bred in captivity since March 2023 and laid eggs, which were also “artificially bred” (in other words, the fertilised egg was incubated artificially by humans, rather than naturally by the mother). 20 additional chicks have been born this way, 7 in 2025. Despite this, there are only around 50 captive-raised birds. Another problem is that, because the birds born in these breeding centres have imprinted on human researchers, they have apparently lost about 60-70% of their ability to survive in the wild.

I do hope that this incredible bird species survives, but I think more attention is needed if we are to preserve this unique bird.

Captive-raised chicks offer hope for extremely rare great Indian bustard.
Rajasthan centre racing to save Great Indian Bustard clocks big win(g)—1st captive-born chick of 2025
Click to expand...
Wild caught adult bustards don’t necessarily settle well in captivity, and are too precious to risk. Hand rearing from wild taken eggs gives a captive population that is relatively tame and more inclined to breed. Hand rearing is necessary in the early generations of such a project to increase production and get the numbers up quickly. Parent rearing can follow when the population is well established. This approach has worked with many species over the years
 
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