Endangered species in the context of Sefton Coast

The genus Pan consists of two extant species: the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Taxonomically, these two ape species are collectively termed panins; however, both species are more commonly referred to collectively using the generalized term chimpanzees, or chimps. Together with humans, gorillas, and orangutans, they are part of the family Hominidae (the great apes, or hominids). Native to sub-Saharan Africa, chimpanzees and bonobos are currently both found in the Congo jungle, while only the chimpanzee is also found further north in West Africa. Both species are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and in 2017 the Convention on Migratory Species selected the chimpanzee for special protection.

Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and species numbers. Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide.

Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the use of natural resources, agriculture, industrial production and urbanization (urban sprawl). Other activities include mining, logging and trawling. Environmental factors can contribute to habitat destruction more indirectly. Geological processes, climate change, introduction of invasive species, ecosystem nutrient depletion, water and noise pollution are some examples. Loss of habitat can be preceded by an initial habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation and loss of habitat have become one of the most important topics of research in ecology as they are major threats to the survival of endangered species.

Fish stocking is the practice of releasing fish that are artificially raised in a hatchery into a natural body of water (river, lake, or ocean), to supplement existing wild populations or to create a new population where previously none exists. Stocking may be done for the benefit of commercial, recreational or tribal heritage fishing, but may also be done for ecological conservation to restore or increase the population of threatened/endangered fish species that is pressured by prior overfishing, habitat destruction, and/or competition from invasive species.

Fish stocking may be conducted by governmental fisheries management agencies, non-profit organizations, and voluntary associations in public waters, or by for-profit NGOs, clubs and commercial enterprises in privately owned waters. When in public waters, fish stocking creates a common-pool resource which is rivalrous in nature but non-excludable. Thus, on public grounds, all can enjoy the benefits of fishing so long as fish continue to be stocked.

Shebenik National Park (Albanian: Parku Kombëtar i Shebenikut) is a national park in eastern Albania adjacent to the border with North Macedonia. It encompasses 34,507.9 hectares (345.079 km) and is specifically marked by a mountainous landscape supplied with glacial lakes, valleys, dense coniferous and deciduous forests and alpine meadows and pastures. Elevations in the park vary from 300 metres to over 2,200 metres above the Adriatic at the peak of Shebenik and Jabllanica, hence the name. It dwells a number of endangered species that are fast becoming rare in Southern Europe, including the brown bear, gray wolf and Balkan lynx. The abundance in wildlife can in part be explained by the variety of vegetation types and remote location.

The park offers some of the most rugged scenery in the eastern section of country that were carved into their present shapes by the glaciers of the last ice age. It is home to 14 glacial lakes, the highest situated between 1,500 and 1,900 metres elevation above the Adriatic. Small cirque glaciers are fairly common in the mountain ranges, situated in depressions on the side of many mountains. Two rivers flow and multiple smaller water sources flow through the park's area including the rivers of Qarrishte and Bushtrice, both of which are 22 km long. The park area is thought to contain one of the primary remaining ranges of the Balkan lynx, a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx.

The wild horse (Equus ferus) is a species of the genus Equus, which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (Equus ferus caballus) as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii, sometimes treated as a separate species i.e. Equus przewalskii). The European wild horse, also known as the tarpan, that went extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century has previously been treated as the nominate subspecies of wild horse, Equus ferus ferus, but more recent studies have cast doubt on whether tarpans were truly wild or if they actually were feral horses or hybrids.

Other subspecies of Equus ferus may have existed and could have been the stock from which domesticated horses are descended. Przewalski's horse had reached the brink of extinction, but was reintroduced successfully into the wild. The tarpan became extinct in the 19th century, but is theorized to have been present on the steppes of Eurasia at the time of domestication. Since the extinction of the tarpan, attempts have been made to reconstruct its phenotype using domestic horses, resulting in horse breeds such as the Heck horse. However, the genetic makeup and foundation bloodstock of those breeds is substantially derived from domesticated horses, so these breeds possess domesticated traits.

Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Przewalski or Prjevalsky; 12 April [O.S. 31 March] 1839 – 1 November [O.S. 20 October] 1888) was a Russian geographer and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia. Although he never reached his ultimate goal, the city of Lhasa in Tibet, he still travelled through regions then unknown to Westerners, such as northern Tibet (modern Tibet Autonomous Region), Amdo (now Qinghai) and Dzungaria (now northern Xinjiang). He contributed substantially to European knowledge of Central Asian geography.

Przhevalsky described several species previously unknown to European science, such as Przewalski's horse, Przewalski's gazelle, and the wild Bactrian camel, all of which are now endangered. He was also a mentor of the explorer Pyotr Kozlov.

African elephants are members of the genus Loxodonta comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (L. africana) and the smaller African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. However, they differ in the size and colour of their tusks as well as the shape and size of their ears and skulls.

Both species are at a pertinent risk of extinction according to the IUCN Red List; as of 2021, the bush elephant is considered endangered while the forest elephant is considered critically endangered. They are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, along with poaching for the illegal ivory trade in several range countries.

The false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii), also known by the names Malayan gharial, Sunda gharial and tomistoma, is a freshwater crocodilian of the family Gavialidae native to Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Java. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the global population is estimated at around 2,500 to 10,000 mature individuals.

The species name schlegelii honors Hermann Schlegel.

Araucaria araucana, commonly called the pewen, monkey-puzzle, pehuen or piñonero, is an evergreen tree belonging to the family Araucariaceae and growing to a height of 30–40 m (98–131 ft) and a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft). Native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina, it is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria.

Because of the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory, it is sometimes called a 'living fossil'. It is also the official tree of Chile and of the neighboring Argentine province of Neuquén. The IUCN changed its conservation status to Endangered in 2013, because logging, forest fires, and grazing have caused its population to dwindle.

Sequoiadendron giganteum (also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood, Sierra redwood or Wellingtonia) is a species of coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the largest trees on Earth. They are native to the groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California but have been introduced, planted, and grown around the world.

The giant sequoia is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN with fewer than 80,000 remaining in its native California.

Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 375 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Central and South America. As of 2025, 21 hummingbird species are listed as endangered or critically endangered, with about 191 species declining in population.

Hummingbirds have varied specialized characteristics to enable rapid, maneuverable flight: exceptional metabolic capacity, adaptations to high altitude, sensitive visual and communication abilities, and long-distance migration in some species. Among all birds, male hummingbirds have the widest diversity of plumage color, particularly in blues, greens, and purples. Hummingbirds are the smallest mature birds, measuring 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) in length. The smallest is the 5 cm (2.0 in) bee hummingbird, which weighs less than 2.0 g (0.07 oz), and the largest is the 23 cm (9 in) giant hummingbird, weighing 17–31 grams (0.60–1.09 oz). Noted for long beaks, hummingbirds are specialized for feeding on flower nectar, but all species also consume small insects.

Charismatic megafauna are animal species that are large—relative to the category that they represent—with symbolic value or widespread popular appeal, and are often used by environmental activists to gain public support for environmentalist goals. In this definition, animals such as penguins or bald eagles are megafauna because they are among the largest animals within the local animal community, and they disproportionately affect their environment. The vast majority of charismatic megafauna species are threatened and endangered by issues such as overhunting, poaching, black market trade, climate change, habitat destruction, and invasive species. In a 2018 study, the top twenty most charismatic megafauna (first to last) are the tiger, lion, elephant, giraffe, leopard, panda, cheetah, polar bear, wolf, gorilla, chimpanzee, zebra, hippopotamus, great white shark, crocodile, dolphin, rhinoceros, brown bear, koala, and blue whale.

The black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis), also known as the black-footed rock-wallaby or warru, is a species of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus Petrogale. A shy, nocturnal herbivore, its two main subspecies are found in mostly isolated populations across western and southern Western Australia (WA), the Northern Territory and parts of South Australia (SA). With some subspecies showing a decline in populations in recent years, the whole species is classed as an endangered species under the Commonwealth EPBC Act.

The Tippecanoe River (/ˌtɪpəkəˈnuː/ TIP-ə-kə-NOO) is a gentle, 182-mile-long (293 km) river in the Central Corn Belt Plains ecoregion in northern Indiana. It flows from Crooked Lake in Noble County to the Wabash River near what is now Battle Ground, about 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Lafayette. The name "Tippecanoe" was derived from a Miami–Illinois word for buffalo fish, reconstructed as */kiteepihkwana/ or as kiteepihkwana siipiiwi.

The Tippecanoe River is fed by 88 natural lakes and has a drainage area of 1,250,000 acres (5,100 km), spanning 14 counties. It supports more numerous imperiled species and overall species diversity than most streams of the upper Midwest. The Nature Conservancy has identified it as one of the top ten rivers in the United States to preserve due to its ecological diversity and the high proportion of endangered species found in it.

Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as Wildschutzgebiet in 1958, and was awarded the status of national park in 1967, by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa. It spans an area of 22,270 km (8,600 sq mi) and was named after the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. With an area of 4,760 km (1,840 sq mi), the Etosha pan covers 23% of the total area of the national park. The area is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. Sixty-one black rhinoceros were killed during poaching in Namibia during 2022, 46 of which were killed in Etosha.

The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa.

The steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "Booted eagles". This species was once considered to be closely related to the sedentary tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) and the two forms have previously been treated as conspecific. They were split based on pronounced differences in morphology and anatomy; two molecular studies, each based on a very small number of genes, indicate that the species are distinct but disagree over how closely related they are.

The Steppe eagle is in many ways a peculiar species of eagle. It is a specialized predator of ground squirrels on the breeding ground, also taking other rather small mammals and other prey, doing so more often when ground squirrels are less consistently found. In rather treeless areas of the steppe habitats, these eagles tend to nest on a slight rise, often on or near an outcrop, but may even be found on flat, wide-open ground, in a rather flat nest. They are the only eagle to nest primarily on the ground. Usually, one to three eggs are laid and, in successful nests, one to two young eagles fledge. The steppe eagle undertakes a massive migration from essentially its entire breeding range, moving en masse past major migration flyways, especially those of the Middle East, Red Sea and the Himalayas. In winter, though less closely studied than during breeding, the steppe eagle is remarkable for its sluggish and almost passive feeding ecology, focusing on insect swarms, landfills, carrion and the semi-altricial young of assorted animals, lacking the bold and predatory demeanor of their cousin species. Although still seen by the thousands at migration sites in larger numbers than other migrating eagles of these areas, the steppe eagle's entire population has declined precipitously. The threats to this species consist of increasing steppe fires and pests around the nests (both probably increased by the warming climate) which can cause a large volume of nest failures. Rivaling these factors, declines are being exacerbated by disturbance and persecution by humans, as well as trampling of nests by livestock. Free-flying steppe eagles are also being killed in alarmingly large numbers, especially in the stronghold nation for breeding of Kazakhstan, by electrocutions on dangerous electricial wires and pylons. Due to these and other reasons, the decline of the species is thought to be considerably more than 50%. Therefore, the species is considered to be endangered by the IUCN. The steppe eagle appears on the flag of Kazakhstan and is the national bird of both Kazakhstan and Egypt.