These Nature Posters Show The Most Endangered Species In Each US State

The smallest of all rabbits, pygmy rabbits are understandably prey to a range of creatures, from bobcats to owls. Only 50% of bunnies make it home during the first five weeks of their lives! But the pygmy rabbit’s numbers have plummeted due to the loss of its natural habitat. They rely on sagebrush for both food and shelter. The last purebred Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit died ten years ago, and wildlife services are working hard to increase crossbreed numbers and redistribute them to the wild.

The Virginia big-eared bat really does have very big ears – around a quarter the length of its entire body. It lives in caves near oak-hickory or beech-maple-hemlock regions. Nobody’s quite sure where the males go in the summer, while the females give birth to a single pup each June. Disturbing these bats during hibernation can cause them to use up precious fat reserves, so that they starve before the moths that they survive on return in the spring. The number of big-eared bats in West Virginia was on the decline as of 2005.

The copperbelly’s red-striped tummy is a thing of beauty to behold; unfortunately, this has made the snake vulnerable to collection from enthusiasts looking for an exotic pet. But the main damage has been done by habitat fragmentation. The water snake needs large, unbroken areas of water to roam. These sorts of areas have been broken up for agriculture, roads and housing. Now only around 200 copperbelly water snakes remain in the north.

This ice-age flying squirrel became separated from other populations as the region around the Southern Appalachians thawed. Today, it can only be found in North Carolina, Tennessee and southwest Virginia. The clearing of forests in these areas allowed new pests such as the balsam woolly adelgid to enter. In addition to this, pollution and climate change are harming the Carolina northern flying squirrel’s hopes for survival.

North America’s only native ferret relies on the prairie dog (see number 44) for food. Dropping prairie dog numbers mean hungry times for the black-footed ferret. This mink-sized member of the weasel family became extinct in North Dakota back in the 1950s, and as of 2006 fewer than 500 live in South Dakota. Predators and sylvatic plague in the region are not helping conservation efforts.

Just over two inches long, with a spotted belly and a snazzy stripes-and-blotches design on its back, the Wyoming toad was once ubiquitous around the Laramie River Basin in Wyoming. Today, this warty fellow is considered extinct in the wild. The reintroduction of tadpoles and toadlets has been tried with mixed success. Pesticides, urban development and disease have done away with the Wyoming toad for now, although perhaps he will be back.

It wasn’t until 1987 that commercial whaling of this 60-foot baleen whale came to an end. They swim deep and far from coastlines, and have not been spotted in New Jersey recently – although, despite their size, it’s hard to tell if they’re there! Similarly, it is difficult to know if the sei whale is now recovering from its depleted numbers. They still get caught up with boats and fishing gear, while the noise from shipping and other man made disturbances such as naval sonar can be disturbing and damaging to these massive creatures.

There are just 100 Mississippi sandhill cranes remaining, all of whom live on or near the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. They used to range as far as southern Louisiana and right down to the west of the Florida panhandle. The four-foot bird, with an astonishing seven-foot wingspan, has a stunning red crown and white cheeks, as though painted. There were so many of them in the 19th century that they were considered a pest, but post-war conversion of open pine savanna to pine plantations disrupted their natural habitat with tragic consequences.

The Hawksbill’s vibrant yellow, orange and brown shell has enchanted beholders for many years. An increase in the demand and industrialization of tortoiseshell jewelry, brushes and furniture over the past two centuries, as well as the exploitation of their bones and other parts for tools and medicines, has caused their dramatic decline. This sea turtle doesn’t begin to reproduce until the age of 25, making it tougher for the peaceful creatures to buoy their numbers. The decline is twice as tragic since the Hawksbill sea turtle is also important to the survival of coral reefs.

The 40-ton humpback whale is just about the size of a bus, which didn’t stop whalers hunting 90% of their number to near-extinction throughout the 20th-century. The behemoth last hit the headlines just a few weeks back, when a two-year-old humpback washed up dead in Cohasset, near Gloucester in Massachusetts.

The Indiana bat has been considered endangered since 1967, following the influence of commercial caving and pollution. They hibernate in limestone caves, or – vampire-like – beneath the bark of dead trees. The last few years have seen their remaining numbers devastated by ‘white-nose syndrome,’ a fungus that affects bats while they hibernate. Over a million bats have died this way since 2006.

At over a meter long with yellow-brown fur and reddish legs, neck and ears, the red wolf is an elegant creature. It is believed to be a descendant of the gray wolf and coyote. But humans have long held different beliefs about the creature. The first settlers offered bounties for the wolves, believing them to be in cahoots with the devil. Their diet of rabbits, rodents and raccoons has also extended to livestock, which has resulted in further culling. Today, Florida’s last remaining red wolves exist only in captivity

At 200 tons and around 100-ft long, blue whales are the largest creatures ever to have graced our planet. But commercial whaling in the 19th and early 20th-century drove them to the brink of extinction. It wasn’t until 1966 that the blue whale found legal protection from commercial whaling. Many are still injured or killed by passing ships today. There are less than 25,000 left – a fraction of the number slaughtered by whalers.

Rusty patches get their name from the appearance of the workers and males of the species, whose patch is on their back. Like bees around the world, their numbers have plummeted due to the reduction of pollen sites thanks to intensive farming and climate change. Bees are vital to our ecosystem since they pollinate the plants that many other creatures rely on for survival. It’s reckoned bees do $3billion of work each year in the states! You can give something back by using native plants in your yard, leaving spaces to grow naturally and adding flowering plants to your garden.

This particularly stern-looking owl is named for its tufty ‘ears.’ They have a tendency to nest in places that look tasty to developers, such as the tall grasses around Philadelphia Airport. Intensive agricultural practices threaten those few remaining Pennsylvania spaces where it might make a home. There are now very few short-eared owls left at all.

The loggerhead is another giant, at least among sea turtles: 250lbs of jellyfish-and-crab-crunching carnivore in a three-foot shell. Pollution, trawling and poaching for leather and eggs have put America’s most common marine turtle on the ‘vulnerable’ list. Campaigners have sought to improve fishing gear so that fewer loggerheads are caught up in nets. And communities in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have created special lighting systems to help baby turtles find their way back to their nests. Still, nearly 5,000 turtles a year die in American fishing nets.

This salamander earned its name due to an excessively curved shape and skeleton. The oldest-known hellbender is thought to have live to the age of 55. They breathe through their skin, spend their days resting under rocks and walk the stream-bed at night hunting for crayfish and insects. Today, hellbenders can count only a quarter of the number they boasted in the 1980s. Habitat loss, spoiled water and poaching are among the causes of their decline.

The mountain beaver is so ancient that it is considered a ‘living fossil’ and the most primitive of rodents, with anatomical features only otherwise found in fossils! They spend their days underground, coming up to collect unlikely plants such as sword fern, stinging nettle, and thistle to eat. The Point Arena variety is under threat due to development of roads, recreational centers and agriculture around their habitat. The discovery of a burrow within the Pelican Bluffs Preserve gives hope to those working to study and preserve the critters.

The smallest of the prairie dogs was considered a pest by ranchers and the federal government, who began poisoning them in 1880. Sylvatic plague and drought have done the rest of the damage. By 1990, the clay-colored, squirrel-like rodents dwelt on less than 2% of the land that they had previously occupied. Efforts to recover the species include caution in the development of Utah’s land and voluntary conservation agreements with landowners who are prepared to host the prairie dog.

The jumping mouse is a ginger-colored critter with a white belly, who lives mostly by night. Its relatively large back feet enable the mouse not just to jump distances of up to three feet, but to swim. It’s rarely found far from running water. Humankind’s impact on the jumping mouse’s environment has been devastating. Livestock has trampled or eaten its way through their habitats. The declining beaver population – due to trapping – has robbed the jumping mouse of its natural ally in home-building.