Against All Odds: Top 15 Mammals Saved from the Brink of Extinction

Introduction

The history of life on the Earth is a history of continual flux, of species appearing and disappearing through millennia. However, the present day era, traditionally referred to as the Anthropocene, can be characterised by a sudden reduction in biodiversity, and much of it is due to human influence. Due to the habitat destruction, poaching, pollution, and climate change, endless numbers of species have been driven to extinction. But in this crisis there is an equal story of unbelievable hope and perseverance--an act of human resourcefulness, determination, and our ability to adapt.

The story behind the Lazarus species is that of the animals that have actually been revived literally. Conservationists have authored some of the most promising chapters in the contemporary natural history through decades of relentless work that includes international treaties, captive breeding, restoration of natural habitats and communal participation. In this case, we are celebrating the 15 best mammals whose populations remain intact to this day only thanks to the concerted, global efforts to conserve them.

Understanding the "Brink of Extinction"

It is vital to know the meaning of saved from extinction before we immerse ourselves in it. Not all of these animals are totally safe; they tend to change their status to either endangered or vulnerable. Not a rescue, conservation is a pledge. The measures involved are population growth, geographic range expansion, and formal declines in threat by the IUCN RedList.

The Top 15 Mammalian Conservation Success Stories

1. The American Bison (Bison bison)

The menace: The American Bison, the greatest tragedy in the world of wildlife in history, was hunted out of an estimated population of 30-60 million to only a handful of hundreds in only several decades. Western expansion, hides trading, and a calculated effort to suppress the Native American tribes pushed the legendary king of the plains to the verge of extinction.

The Comeback: The rescue of the bison started with a group of individual ranchers and conservationists who protected the last animals. The awareness of the people was brought up by prominent personalities such as William Hornaday. The population has since recovered to approximately 31,000 wild bison and hundreds of thousands in commercial herds through sustained breeding programs and releases into the wild with reintroduction into protected places such as Yellowstone National Park. They are still a Near Threatened living relic of wild America and a tribute to ancient conservation ethics.

2. The Vancouver Island Marmot (Marmota vancouverensis)

The Danger: This marmot is the most threatened mammal in Canada, as well as in the rest of the world. Logging and predator prey interactions resulted in a disastrous loss of habitat. As early as 2003, the population in the wild was less than 30.

The Comeback: The Toronto Zoo, Calgary Zoo and a special facility on the Vancouver Island initiated an emergency captive breeding program. Pups are captively bred, and after a process known as soft release (acclimatization of animals to the wild), are free-released into fenced alpine meadows. The wild population has since grown to more than 300 individuals which has shifted it to the very edge of extinction to a fighting chance.

3. The Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr)

The Endangered: It is the smallest subspecies of leopard that once was inhabiting the mountains of the Arabian Peninsula. Protection and habitat loss, and extinction of its food supply (including the Nubian ibex) caused it to become very low numbers, perhaps dwindling to 50-100 animals in fragmented groups.

The Comeback: It is still Critically Endangered, but now its destiny is a high priority. A massive breeding and reintroduction center has been established by Royal Commission in Saudi Arabia with a view of returning leopard to its original habitat. Together with this, massive rewilding efforts are rebuilding habitats and prey populations. It is a proactive, heavily-invested approach to the conservation of a species at the margins.

4. The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)

The Threat: This particular subspecies of tigers has been wiped out by trading on the black market and losing their habitats to palm oil plantations; as this is only present in the Malay Peninsula. It declined to an estimated 250-340 adults.

The Comeback: Malaysian government and non-governmental organisations, such as MYCAT (Malayan Tiger Conservation Alliance) have embarked on a multi-faceted assault. These involve tough anti-poaching patrols (military assistance), the restoration of habitat corridors and covert effort to break up trafficking networks. These initiatives have stabilized some of the population groups and avoided a near-certain extinction spiral although the circumstances are still dire.

5. The Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus)

The Threat: The Javan Rhino used to be abundant in the southeast of Asia and this is the most dangerous of all. Horn poaching and habitat loss by extinction pushed it down to one, small population.

The Comeback: The whole species are now gathered in a single reserve: the Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia. Close guarding by park rangers has held off poaching and has enabled the population to increase gradually, painstakingly to approximately 76 individuals (Fewer than 50 people). There is the establishment of a second sanctuary so as to provide a safety net in the event of disease or natural disaster. It is one of the most intensive conservation focuses in the world as each individual is monitored and recognizable.

6. The Red Wolf (Canis rufus)

The Threat: The Red Wolf is indigenous to the southeastern United States which became declared dead in the wild in 1980 due to violent predator control practices and habitat destruction.

The Comeback: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have taken the last 14 pure red wolves to begin a captive breeding program. They would be reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina in 1987. It was also the first wild large carnivore to be declared dead and then brought back to the United States. The population increased to approximately 120-130 animals, but it has now begun to encounter a lot of new obstacles which show that conservation is a constant war.

7. The Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur simus)

The Threat: native to Madagascar, this giant lemur feeds on 98% giant bamboo that has lethal cyanide concentrations. It was driven to its thin end by habitat fragmentation and slash-and-burn agriculture, and not believed to exist again until its rediscovery in 1986.

The Comeback: Conservation organizations such as the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership engage local people in the establishment of protection areas and the planting of bamboo. They also enhance sustainable agriculture in order to minimise forest clearance. The population has grown to well more than 500 people, out of the initial estimated number of 100, a credit to conservation efforts by the community, on an Island of amazing biodiversity.

8. The Takhi or Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)

The Threat: By the 1960s the last wild horse on the world had been hunted out of the wild in Mongolia.

The Comeback: A trapped people in zoos, based on a mere 12 pioneers, turned into the genesis of an unbelievable voyage back. Horses started to be reintroduced to the steppes of the Mongolia in the 1990s in a confined area such as Hustai national park. It has now increased to more than 760 in the wild and the species has been reclassified as an Endangered one, not Extinct in the Wild-a major milestone.

9. The Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica)

The Threat: This little-known, weird-looking Central Asian steppe antelope, with a population of only 6,700 in 1995, lost 95 percent of their population in the short period of just 15 years once the Soviet Union collapsed due to unregulated poaching of their horns, which form part of traditional medicine. Only to see in 2015 a tragic bacterial outbreak claim over 200,000 lives in just a few weeks.

The Comeback: The international cooperation of the NGOs and Russia with Kazakhstan had resulted into some of the most aggressive anti-poaching efforts on the earth. Protected zones were extended and community participation programs were introduced. The main population in Kazakhstan has recovered, after going down to 48,000, to more than 1.3 million, one of the most rapid recoveries known of a mammal.

10. The Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus)

The Threat: the Australian hibernating marsupial was initially known by fossil record only until a living population was discovered in 1966. It survives only in alpine, where it is endangered by climate change (reducing the snow cover), habitat fragmentation, and its predators (feral cats and foxes).

The Comeback: A focused national recovery plan includes protection of habitat, construction of tunnels underneath the roads that would allow populations to be connected that are currently fragmented and captive breeding program at Healesville Sanctuary. These actions have stopped the imminent extinction of this highly specialized and ancient animal, purchasing time when time is of the essence in the warming climate.

11. The Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

The Threat: The most threatened cat in the globe at the beginning of the 2000s. It was endangered by a disastrous decline in its major food source, the European rabbit (infested with disease), destruction of habitats, and road carnage.

The Comeback: A multi-pronged EU-Life funded project addressed all the threats in one go: breeding rabbits, rehabilitating Mediterranean scrub habitat, engineering wildlife underpasses on roads and a giant captive breeding and reintroduction program of the lynx itself. The population has risen dramatically with an increase of more than 1,000 adults since in 2002 when the number was less than 100; a condition that was labeled as Critically Endangered, the population has changed to the Endangered category.

12. The Black Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus)

The Threat: This is an intimidating black monkey that exists in a small portion of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. Virtually destroyed through cutting down the trees to get timber and food.

The Comeback: With the establishment of the Morro do Diabo State Park and other pieces of forests, core habitat was saved. One effective captive breeding program has made it possible to make reintroductions and enhance populations. It was also shifted to an improved status of Endangered instead of Critically Endangered just like its golden counterpart was doing.

13. The Hainan Gibbon (Nomascus hainanus)

The Threat: It is the rarest ape of the world and probably the most rare mammal. Decades of deforestation and poaching on its native Hainan Island, China, brought the population down to a paltry 10 people in the 1970s, restricted to an area of just one patch of forest.

The Comeback: Strict conservation of the Bawangling National Nature Reserve and prohibition of hunting was able to stabilize the small population and grow very slowly. Close surveillance with special teams is on every person. Out of these 10 individuals, the number of people has now increased over three times to an excess of35 people in various family units. It is still dangerously near extinction but its population is headed in the right direction.

14. The Kouprey (Bos sauveli)

The Threat: This is a warning story of a wild forest ox of Southeast Asia. It was extensively poached away because of its horns and meat and its environment was destroyed by war and agricultural land development. It is not seen confirmed since 1969-1970.

The Comeback: The story is added to help reveal the sad truth that not everything works out. Kouprey is Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). Large scale surveys have not located any indication of its survival. It is one of the strongest reminders of what we lose when we act too late or not early enough to conserve, and why we should stop wasting time to save the species we can.

15. The Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus)

The Threat: Commercial harvesting drove numerous populations to local extinction as they were heavily exploited because of their luxurious fur in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Comeback: The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 was an early first of its kind global agreement which stopped unregulated at-sea harvesting. This enabled the recovery of populations in a large measure. Although there are new dangers, such as entanglement and altered food supplies, to some populations, the act of cooperation between nations saved the species as a whole group, which is a strong example of the force of policy and accord.

The Common Threads of Success

These 15 mammals have stories that have several important features that helped them recover:

• Law: This requires well-developed national and international legislation (such as the Endangered Species Act, CITES and whaling moratoriums).
• Habitat Preservation: There is no bargain with regards to protecting and restoring the home these animals require to live.
• Captive Breeding: In the worst threatened, zoos and breeding facilities gave a lifeline called ark to conserve genetic variation and recreate populations.
• Community Involvement: Effective conservation is one that acknowledges that people are not left out of the equation. Local stewardship is promoted by programmes providing economic payoffs (e.g. ecotourism).
• Cooperation on the international level: Species have no boundaries. Their existence demands government cooperation, NGOs, scientists and communities globally.

Conclusion: A Hopeful Future Demands Continued Effort

It is not merely a feel-good narrative that these ornate animals have made a comeback to the brink of extinction; it is hard evidence that conservation works. It shows that political determination, scientific knowledge, proper funding and the people are capable of undoing the harm that we have done.

Nevertheless, the job is not done. A lot of these animals are weak and in need of constant and attentive care. Their tales are by no means the end but the continuation. They act as a celebration of what mankind is capable of, as well as a strong reminder as to our duty to preserve the amazing biodiversity of our planet to generations to come. The moral is obvious: there is never too late to do something.