Most people are aware of the threat to rhinos, but a couple of months ago, I attended a meeting where the guest speaker mentioned the plight of the Oribi. Oribi are small antelope with slender legs and long necks that are found in grasslanzds. Sadly they are highly prized trophies in illegal dog hunts. We were told that Oribi are even more endangered than Rhino and this got me wondering about other endangered species.
The most user friendly sites I’ve found so far is:
- EWT
- I also like Conservation.org
- You can also check out IUCN Redlist, but as I don’t know all the scientific names the first two sites suit me better.
Depending on what site you’re looking at, your list of endangered species could include animals like the African Wild Dog; Mountain Zebra; Oribi; Tsessebe; Roan and Sable Antelope; Blue Duiker; Suni; Cheetah; Honey Badger; Pangolin; Antarctic Blue Whale; Humpback Dolphin; Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphin; Samango Monkey; bats; shrews; Golden Moles; and even rats and Giant Bullfrogs! And then you have birds like the Wattled Crane, Blue Crane, Grey Crowned Crane; Blue Swallows; African Grass Owl; Yellow-billed and Red-billed Oxpeckers; Southern Ground Hornbills.
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- Watled Crane
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- Honey badger
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- Hornbill
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- Oxpeckers
The sad reality is that mammals, birds, reptiles and even plants in the world around us are under threat, but therein also lies the challenge – that each of us is able to make a difference.
If you are interested in our academic field trips, click here.
Gwyn Fryer
African Insight Self-drive Consultant & Administration
gwyn@africaninsight.co.za
087 940 3553
African Insight 