Critically endangered fauna species
WHS that include wild fauna species that are on the current (2021) IUCN Red List in their highest category: "Critically Endangered". Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations. Some of them could be possibly extinct.
Species must be named in description, plus some details about remaining numbers.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Air and Téneré | Dama gazelle (100-200 extant individuals worldwide), Northwest African cheetah | |
| Aldabra Atoll | Hawksbill Turtle & Aldabra Banded Snail | |
| Alejandro de Humboldt National Park | Cuban kite - "The current population is estimated 50 to 250 mature birds" (wiki) | |
| Amami-Oshima Island | Muennink's spiny rat, endemic to Okinawa Island, is a critically endangered species. It is found only on the northern part of the island, above 300 m, and is thought to inhabit an area of less than 3 km2. (Wikipedia - Muennink's spiny rat) | |
| Andrefana Dry Forests | Madagascar fish-eagle (ca. 240 remaining), Madagascan big-headed turtle | |
| Archipiélago de Revillagigedo | The only known breeding site for the Critically Endangered Townsend’s Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis) (AB ev) | |
| Atlantic Forest South-East | The southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides), a woolly spider monkey | |
| Badain Jaran Desert | Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) (AB ev) | |
| Bale Mountains National Park | Harenna Shrew (Crocidura harenna, CR); the Bale Mountains Tree Frog (Balebreviceps hillmani, CR) and the Bale Mountains Frog (Ericabatrachus baleensis, CR) (AB ev) | |
| Blue and John Crow Mountains | Arntully Robber Frog (1-249 mature individuals remaining) - possibly extinct | |
| Cape Floral Region | Table Mountain Ghost Frog - The whole of this species' range is incorporated in the Table Mountain National Park | |
| Chitwan National Park | Slender-billed Vulture (730-870 remaining), White-rumped vulture (4000-6000 remaining), Red-headed vulture (2,500-9,999 remaining), Bengal florican (250-999 remaining) (UNEP-WCMC) | |
| Cocos Island | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands | Six sturgeon, of which four are confirmed to breed in the area are Critically Endangered, among them the Colchic Sturgeon (Acipenser colchicus – CR), which is endemic to the rivers of Kolkheti. (AB ev) | |
| Darien National Park | Brown-headed Spider Monkey,& Darien Stubfoot Toad ("much of its range falls within the Darién National Park", wiki) | |
| Desembarco del Granma National Park | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Discovery Coast | Golden-bellied or Buff-headed Capuchin: The largest continuous area of forest in its known range, the Una Biological Reserve in Bahia, is estimated to contain a population of 185 individuals (wiki), remaining in total up to 2,499 (IUCN red list) | |
| Dja Faunal Reserve | Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) | |
| Dong Phayayen | Siamese crocodile (500-1000 remaining) | |
| Fanjingshan | Chinese Giant Salamander | |
| Galapagos Islands | Galapagos Petrel - "10,000-19,999 mature individuals" & Waved Albatross - ca. 34,700, of which 34,660 live on the Galapagos & Galapagos damsel (a fish) and Fernandina Giant Tortoise (both possibly extinct). | |
| Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats | Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper (AB ev) | |
| Gough and Inaccessible Islands | Gough finch or Gough bunting (a songbird) - "estimated at c.1000 individuals in 2007" | |
| Great Barrier Reef | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Gulf of California | Vaquita (a marine mammal) - 10 remaining (2023) | |
| Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago | Cat Ba Langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus, CR) | |
| Hawraman/Uramanat | The property "overlaps with the range of at least one Critically Endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Kurdistan Newt (Neurergus microspilotus)." (AB Ev – IUCN) (it's a salamander) | |
| Ichkeul National Park | Slender-billed Curlew (1-49 remaining) | |
| Iguazu National Park | Purple-winged Ground-dove - estimated to number <250 individuals | |
| Ivindo National Park | Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) | |
| Kaeng Krachan Forest | Siamese crocodile (500-1000 remaining) | |
| Kahuzi-Biega National Park | Mount Kahuzi Climbing Mouse - "It is known from just two specimens collected from localities 100 m apart" (see link); & Eastern Gorilla | |
| Kaziranga National Park | White-bellied Heron (< 250 individuals), Slender-billed Vulture (730-870 remaining), White-rumped vulture (4000-6000 remaining) | |
| Kenya Lake System | Black Rhinoceros - "Population size collapsed during the last century, from an estimated 65,000 animals in 1970 to a mere 2,300 in the 1990s. Rhino numbers are now increasing, but recovery is slow" | |
| Keoladeo National Park | Siberian Crane - rapidly declining due to Three Gorges Dam in China; they used to winter in Keoladeo but may be extinct there; plus White-rumped vulture, Indian vulture | |
| Komodo National Park | Yellow-crested Cockatoo (1,200-2,000 mature individuals remaining) | |
| Lagoons of New Caledonia | Endemic birds such as the New Caledonian owlet-nightjar (< 50 individuals remaining), and New Caledonian Lorikeet (possibly extinct) & Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Lake Baikal | Siberian Crane | |
| Lopé-Okanda | Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) - approx. 50,000 remaing, decreasing fast; And: Werneria iboundji, a species of toad endemic to Gabon | |
| Lord Howe Island | Lord Howe Island Stick-insect (Dryococelus australis) - thought to be extinct on Lord Howe Island itself, but some 30 individuals are surviving on the small islet of Ball's Pyramid (also part of the WHS) (wiki) & Lord Howe Horn-headed Stick-insect (Cornicandovia australica) : possibly extinct. | |
| Lorentz National Park | Western Long-beaked Echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) - "has not been recorded since the 1980s" in the park | |
| Machu Picchu | Royal Cinclodes (UNEP-WCMC), a passerine bird species (<250 remaining) | |
| Manas Wildlife Sanctuary | Bengal florican, a type of bustard (< 1,000 individuals remaining) | |
| Manovo-Gounda St. Floris | Black Rhinoceros - "Population size collapsed during the last century, from an estimated 65,000 animals in 1970 to a mere 2,300 in the 1990s. Rhino numbers are now increasing, but recovery is slow" | |
| Marquesas Islands | Marquesas Kingfisher (endemic to Tahuata Island), 350 mature individuals | |
| Migratory Bird Sanctuaries China | Spoon-billed Sandpiper | |
| Mount Hamiguitan | Philippine Eagle (180-500 individuals remaining) | |
| Mount Kenya | (Eastern) Black Rhino: "Lewa holds over 12% of Kenya's eastern black rhinoceros population" (wiki) | |
| Mount Nimba | Mt Nimba Viviparous Toad | |
| Mount Wuyi | Chinese giant salamander - declining fast, "Commercial over-exploitation for human consumption is the main threat to the Chinese giant salamander. They are considered to be both a luxury food item and an important source of traditional medicines in China." | |
| Ngorongoro | Black Rhinoceros - General: "Population size collapsed during the last century, from an estimated 65,000 animals in 1970 to a mere 2,300 in the 1990s. Rhino numbers are now increasing, but recovery is slow"; in Nogorongoro: "between 11-14 in 1995" | |
| Northern Martinique | an endemic frog (Martinique Volcano Frog, Allobates chalcopis, CR) (AB ev) | |
| Nyungwe National Park | Upland Horseshoe Bat, (Rhinolophus hillorum, CR) (AB ev) | |
| Odzala-Kokoua | Forest Elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, (CR) and Western Lowland Gorillas, Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla (CR) (AB ev) | |
| Papahanaumokuakea | Millerbird - a couple of hundred on the small island of Nihoa | |
| Phong Nha - Ke Bang | Saola, a bovine (< 750 individuals remaining) | |
| Pitons Management Area | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Pitons of Reunion | Reunion Cuckooshrike (66 remaining) | |
| Rainforests of the Atsinanana | "8 types" (AB ev), including Golden Bamboo Lemur (< 250 remaining), Gray-headed lemur (formerly known as White-collared Lemur), Blue-eyed black lemur | |
| Rio Abiseo National Park | Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey (1,000-10,000 remaining) | |
| Rock Islands | hawksbill sea turtle nests here, the only known location in Micronesia (nom file) | |
| Sangha Trinational | Western Lowland Gorilla, African Forest Elephant | |
| Saryarka | Siberian white crane - "world population is estimated to be around 3200-4000" (wiki) | |
| Selous Game Reserve | (Eastern) Black Rhino | |
| Serengeti | Black Rhinoceros - General: "Population size collapsed during the last century, from an estimated 65,000 animals in 1970 to a mere 2,300 in the 1990s. Rhino numbers are now increasing, but recovery is slow"; in Serengeti NP: "very few individuals remain due to rampant poaching" | |
| Shark Bay | Great hammerhead | |
| Sian Ka'an | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Socotra Archipelago | Hawksbill sea turtle | |
| Sundarbans National Park | Northern River terrapin (ca. 100 remaining) | |
| Tasmanian Wilderness | Orange-bellied Parrot (20-25 remaining) | |
| Tassili n'Ajjer | Northwest African Cheetah (a.k.a. Saharan cheetah) (UNEP-WCMC) | |
| Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley | Peromyscus mekisturus (Puebla deer mouse): only found in the area surrounding Tehuacán and is considered one of the rarest Mexican species as there are only two specimens registered (nom file) & Papaloapan chub (Notropis moralesi), a species of ray-finned fish - current status unknown, considered data deficient by IUCN | |
| The Flow Country | European Eel | |
| The Sundarbans | Northern River terrapin (UNEP-WCMC) (about 100 remaining) | |
| Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng | Red-headed vulture (< 10,000 remaining) | |
| Tikal National Park | Central American river turtle (UNEP-WCMC) | |
| Tropical Rainforest Sumatra | Sumatran orangutan - "A survey in 2004 estimated that around 7,300 Sumatran orangutans still live in the wild" (wiki), & Sumatran Rhino (30 remaining, IUCN), & Helmeted Hornbill (Gunung Leuser Avibase). | |
| Tubbataha Reefs | Christmas Island Frigatebird - ca. 1,171 breeding pairs exist; some are "a regular visitor" (AB ev) to Tubbataha; & Hawksbill Turtle | |
| Ujung Kulon National Park | Javan Rhinoceros - about 18 remaining individuals according to IUCN in 2019, other sources have it slightly higher (75 according to Save the Rhino) | |
| Uvs Nuur Basin | Siberian crane | |
| Virunga National Park | Eastern Gorilla (2,600 remaining) | |
| Volcanoes of Kamchatka | Spoon-billed sandpipers | |
| W-Arly-Pendjari Complex | Saharan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) | |
| Western Ghats | Malabar civet (<250 remaining, possibly extinct) | |
| Wet Tropics of Queensland | Armoured Mistfrog, Northern tinker frog, and the small marsupial Brush-tailed Bettong a.k.a. Woylie (12,000-18,000 remaining) | |
| Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino | Hawksbill Turtle | |
| iSimangaliso Wetland Park | (South-eastern) Black Rhino |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Critically endangered fauna species?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source