• Question: what is the most endangered species?

    Asked by anon-217277 to Savannah, Edoardo, Harrison, Joanna, Lucy, Philippe on 10 Jun 2019. This question was also asked by anon-217303.
    • Photo: Savannah Clawson

      Savannah Clawson answered on 10 Jun 2019:

      Sadly there are lots of endangered and critically endangered species – I am not a biologist so I am not really qualified to talk about this topic but if you want to see the list of endangered species, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have a comprehensive list here: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?sort=extinction_status&direction=desc

      Some critically endangered species include the Black Rhino and the Orangutan.

    • Photo: Harrison Prosper

      Harrison Prosper answered on 11 Jun 2019: last edited 11 Jun 2019 4:35 pm

      Homo Sapiens! Other species reach a natural balance within the ecosystem, but we do not. I am an optimist and like to believe that humans (our whatever we change into through our bio-engineering) have a long and glorious future in which we colonize the Solar System and one day reach for the stars. But, there are things we do that have an annoying habit of tempering my optimism about our species. We have a fantastic opportunity to lay the foundations of an amazing future, but we also have the capacity to wipe ourselves out. It is unclear which path we shall take. For a more useful answer see Savannah’s!

    • Photo: Edoardo Vescovi

      Edoardo Vescovi answered on 11 Jun 2019: last edited 11 Jun 2019 6:10 pm

      The most endangered species are those that don’t exist in the wild and only few living members live in refuges and zoos. The risk of extinction is quite high, as the loss of one of the two genders, limited offspring and parental care can affect negatively the reintroduction in the wild. Even if some members are released, another problem is to keep their number well above the “minimum viable population”. Below this number, the population spirals slowly to extinction. Another problem is genetic diversity. When the population is small, diversity is low and tends to reduce the ability to survive and produce a strong offspring.

    • Photo: Philippe Gambron

      Philippe Gambron answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      Many are unfortunately endangered. We are damaging the planet in a way that could be irreversible. We must change the way we live and the way the economy works. Pursuing profit and economic growth at all costs will do a huge damage.

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