Endangered Animals that Came Back from the Brink Quiz

Answer: Golden lion tamarin

Also known as the golden marmoset, this species owes its current survival to coordinated breeding programs conducted by zoos around the world. Habitat loss and introduction of alien species led to severe population declines to the point that it was estimated in the 1960s that there were only a few hundred individuals left in the wild.

However, captive bred animals have been successfully reintroduced into their native habitat, and a 2018 census estimated that there were 3200 individuals in the wild and about 490 more in zoos. Golden lion tamarins have a diverse diet, foraging during the day for fruits, flowers, nectar, bird eggs, insects and small vertebrates, and live in groups of 2-8 members.

Answer: Carcasses of large animals such as deer, goats, and so on

The California condor is the largest land bird in North America and, like other kinds of condors and vultures, is a scavenger. It usually feeds on large mammals, as its talons allow it to rip through the tough hides of bigger animals. Although once numerous, due to habitat loss, poaching and lead poisoning (from eating animals killed with lead shot), its population declined catastrophically during the twentieth century, to the point that there were only 27 individuals left.

As part of the California condor conservation project, all these birds were taken captive and put into a breeding program. Eventually, the project began releasing condors back into the wild in California in 1991, and later in Mexico, and their numbers have slowly begun to increase into the hundreds.

Answer: False

Australian Aboriginals never developed the bow and arrow, and were not known to use frog poison, although Amazonian tribes in South America are known to use local frog poisons in hunting. Like other species of poison frogs, this species is notable for its bright coloration.

There are two species of corroboree frog, the northern and southern varieties. (The latter is pictured.) The northern species is listed as endangered while the southern species is critically endangered. Both species have been affected by loss of habitat and prolonged drought, and have been particularly severely affected by an introduced fungal disease that damages their skin.

In recent years, captive breeding programs and selective reintroduction of the frogs into specially designed disease-free habitats have helped boost their numbers and enabled their continued survival.

Answer: Bongo

Bongos are the most colorful antelope species, notable for the pairs of vertical stripes on the torso, which actually help camouflage it in the forest. The individual pictured, with its massive spiral horns, is a male. Females also have horns, which are thinner and more parallel.

Although locals have taboos against eating bongo meat, tourist safari hunting has contributed to severe declines in their numbers and they have disappeared completely from some areas. Fortunately, zoos around the world are coordinating a Bongo breeding program to maintain a viable population to ensure its long-term survival.

Answer: New Zealand

As its name suggests, this bird is native to the North Island of New Zealand and New Zealanders are colloquially known as "Kiwis." There are five recognized species of Kiwis, all of which are small flightless birds that eat invertebrates. The North Island Brown Kiwi is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators such as dogs, stoats and feral cats that kill their young or eat their eggs. Conservation efforts have involved collecting wild eggs and hatching them in captivity for their protection, and reintroducing the birds into the wild after they have fledged.

This has increased survival of juveniles, which has led to a sufficient population increase so that they are no longer considered endangered.

Answer: True

Although they all belong to the genus Panthera, DNA sequencing has found that snow leopards form a sister group with tigers, while leopards are more closely related to lions. The snow leopard was listed as endangered in 1972, which status is based on a species having a global population of fewer than 2,500 mature adults, and a decline rate of 20 percent or more over 16 years. An assessment by several conservation organizations in 2017 found that the snow leopard did not meet these two key criteria, although its population is still in decline, as they are threatened by habitat loss, declining populations of wild prey animals, poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, and retaliatory killing by farmers. Estimates in 2017 indicated that there were between four and ten thousand snow leopards.

The World Wide Fund for Nature is engaging in conservation efforts, such as working with local farmers to reduce conflict between humans and these animals, as well as working to protect their habitat and combat the illegal wildlife trade.

Answer: A crash

One would hope not to crash into any rhinos, as one would come out worse for wear! Owls form a parliament, crows a murder (!), and crocodiles a float. White rhinoceroses form crashes of up to 14 animals, usually mostly females, while adult males tend to be solitary. White rhinos are most common in South Africa, and are also found in Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. World Wide Fund for Nature considers the southern white rhinoceros "a major conservation success story," as their numbers have increased from less than 20 individuals in a single South African reserve in the early 20th century to an estimated 19,682-21,077 individuals in 2015.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Northern white rhinoceros, a closely related subspecies, which was reduced to two females in the world in 2018. (Zookeepers froze a sperm sample from the last male before he died in the hopes of later impregnating the remaining females.) The southern white rhinoceros continues to face threats from habitat loss and illegal poaching, especially as rhinoceros horn continues to be sought after for use in Chinese medicine (despite its lack of any actual medicinal properties) and powdered horn is so highly valued that it may sometimes be worth more than its weight in gold.

Answer: Takhi

Przewalski's horse is native to the steppes of central Asia. Unlike other kinds of wild horses, such as mustangs, which are feral horses descended from domesticated animals, Przewalski's horse was never domesticated and is thought to be a distinct species. However, it went extinct in the wild in the 1960s and only survived because of conservation efforts by zoos, which have cooperated to exchange individuals to maintain genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding. Since the 1990s, attempts have been made to reintroduce the animals into the wild in Mongolia, although they faced a serious setback in the winter of 2009-2010 due to unusually harsh cold weather that reduced their numbers. Additionally, after the Chernobyl accident, 31 horses were released into the evacuation zone, which has become a kind of nature reserve; there are also free-ranging horses in parks in Hungary and France. According to the Taronga Zoo website, takhi means "spirit" or "spiritual."

An onager is a type of wild donkey, a quagga is an extinct type of zebra, and eohippus is the name for the extinct ancestor of equines that lived in the Eocene epoch over 30 million years ago.

Answer: Feather footed

They are called pinnipeds because of their wing-like flippers that they use to propel themselves through the sea. Steller's sea lion has a range that extends from the waters of Russia to Alaska, and goes as far south as the coast of central California. They are highly sexually dimorphic, as females typically weigh about 350 kilograms while males typically weigh about 1100 kilograms. Males are also slightly longer than females, growing to an average of about 3 meters in length. However, Steller's sea lion is smaller in size than walruses and some elephant seals.

Within US waters, the species has been divided into two distinct population segments, that have genetic and physical differences, for conservation purposes. Between the 1970s and 1990s, the population in the western part of their range fell by 70-80% and this group was listed as endangered in 1997. The reason for this is uncertain, although over-fishing may have reduced their preferred food supply, and predation by orcas and sharks may have also played a role. The population in the eastern part remained stable and was listed as threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service. In subsequent years, the eastern segment has experienced sustained population growth and, in 2013, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined that the eastern segment had recovered and was no longer threatened. However, the western segment is still considered endangered.

Answer: Unicorn

From certain angles, an oryx might look as if it has one horn rather than two, and Aristotle thought that it was the "prototype" of the unicorn. The Arabian oryx is native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Captive breeding of the oryx began in 1962 at Phoenix Zoo.

This was fortunate and far-sighted, as the oryx was hunted into extinction in the wild by 1972. Captive breeding was sufficiently successful to enable the animal to be reintroduced into the wild in 1980, beginning in Oman, and later in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

In 2011, it was estimated that there were more than 1,000 Arabian oryx in the wild, with 6,000-7,000 held in captivity worldwide in zoos, preserves, and private collections.