MEXICO CITY — Forty years ago the winter habitat of the monarch butterfly in Mexico was supposedly discovered. After searching for decades, on January 9, 1975 the Canadian scientist Fred A. Urquhart, an entomologist at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough College, received a phone call from an American living in Mexico City named Kenneth Brugger, married at the time to Mexican-born Cathy Aguado (known today as Catalina Trail), who told him that “We have located the colony. We have found them — millions of monarchs — in evergreens beside a mountain clearing.â€
The “discovery†had taken place a week earlier in northern Michoacan, in an oyamel forest on Cerro Pelon, 10,000 feet up in the mountains of Mexico’s Transvolcanic Belt, and a few days later the Bruggers happened upon other monarch roosts at El Rosario and Chincua. The Bruggers were volunteer “research associates†in Urquhart’s longstanding monarch tagging program, in which tiny labels reading “Send to Zoology University Toronto Canada†were stuck onto thousands of southbound migrating butterflies.
But it was only a year after receiving the news that Urquhart and his wife visited the site, and a full 20 months after the find that a stunning photo of Cathy Brugger amidst thousands of monarch butterflies perched on trees and on her, and the headline “Discovered: The Monarch’s Mexican Haven†were emblazoned on the cover of the August 1976 issue of National Geographic.
In his article, Urquhart did not reveal the location of the monarch sites the Bruggers had told him about. When asked for details by Dr. Lincoln Brower, today the world’s foremost monarch butterfly expert, and colleague Dr. William Calvert, Urquhart steered them to a bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Brower, Calvert and photographer John Christian figured out the general area from some clues in Urquhart’s article and a paper he published in the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, and they located the sanctuaries on New Year’s Eve of 1976.
In his article, Urquhart affirmed that “Cathy Brugger and her husband Kenneth discovered the site where millions rendezvous.†This undisputed claim that has been widely repeated in the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican media would lead one to believe that the overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly in Mexico were unknown to Mexicans before the Bruggers made their call to Urquhart.
This January, as the 40th anniversary of the “discovery†is commemorated, isn’t it time to revise the telling of history? What date should we put on the discovery — that generations of Mexicans have made for themselves — of a phenomenon that has been taking place for thousands of years?
We local residents always knew where the monarchs settled at the end of October, but we had no idea where they had come from, nor where they went each spring. The Canadian and American lepidopterists knew that. Just as the discovery of America is a misnomer — because America had been discovered ever since it was inhabited by human beings, and what Columbus so momentously initiated was a meeting of two worlds — so we can say that what occurred in January 1975 was a mutual enlightenment for people at both ends of the fabulous 3,000-mile-long migration of the monarch butterfly.
In celebration of the arrival every autumn of millions of monarchs to Altamirano Hill and the streets of Contepec, the village in Michoacan where I grew up, I wrote in the autobiographical El poeta niño (The Child Poet), published in 1971:
I have said and written many times that the presence of the monarchs in my town is part of my childhood memories (I was born in 1940), and I have described the yearly pilgrimages made by Contepec’s residents to the Plain of the Mule on the summit of Altamirano to picnic and glory in the spectacle
“Blanketing a thousand trees, monarchs converge in November on a mountain slope at 9,000 feet,†wrote Urquhart 40 years ago in La montaña de las mariposas (Butterfly Mountain).
I marveled at the abundance of butterflies we observed during a school trip in the 1950s: “The monarchs were there, a million-strong colony in the sun-swept patches of the ancient crater.†I return to these memories as if to a lost world.
In 1996, the butterfly population in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve was estimated at one billion, occupying 21 hectares of forest.
The 2013-2014 population plummeted to 33 million, covering 0.67 hectares, the lowest ever in the 20 years since measuring and counting began.
The main culprit for this precipitous decline is no longer logging in the reserve (although that still takes place) but the huge increase in land planted with genetically modified, herbicide resistant soybean and corn crops (93 percent of total soybean acreage and 85 percent of corn acreage in 2013) in the U.S. Corn Belt. Relentless spraying of glyphosate herbicides on the fields has destroyed the once abundant milkweed, the only plants that monarch caterpillars can eat. The monarch butterfly is literally being starved to death.
Before Christmas, I visited Sierra Chincua and learned that butterflies were on less than half a hectare of trees. On Dec. 29, on national television news, an official in charge of the Piedra Herrada sanctuary said that fewer than 30 trees had monarch clusters. Ejidatarios, the locals who own the land, told me the monarchs were sparse this year. In El Rosario, the butterflies were scattered, either very high up or in the ravines. Climate change is a threat throughout the monarchs’ migratory route, and an unusual number of cold fronts hitting the area this year is worrying. The day after the news report, the director of the reserve was quoted by AP as feeling “encouraged, because we’ve seen more.†Monarch enthusiasts are anxiously awaiting release by WWF Mexico and the reserve of this year’s winter colonies count to learn how things stand, and scientists are eager to have access to the hard data.
Meanwhile, in the wake of last year’s bad news, there has been an upsurge in home planting of milkweed in the United States, but unfortunately much of it has been tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), identified by Brower and scientists such as Dara Satterfield as a direct threat to the monarchs because it does not die back in the winter, allowing butterflies to halt their migration and breed all year round, thus making them more susceptible to the deadly protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha.
Native milkweed, specific to each part of the country, is what individuals should be planting, while we wait for action on a larger scale in the United States by the High Level Federal Monarch Working Group, which includes the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Highway Administration, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and other agencies, as well as entomologists Karen Oberhauser and Scott Hoffman Black.
The challenge is no less than restoration of millions of acres of monarch habitat.
The survival of the monarch butterfly migration will depend on measures taken in Canada, the United States and Mexico. As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in its December 29, 2014 response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety, the Xerces Society and Lincoln Brower, “This journey has become more perilous for many monarchs because of threats along their migratory path and on their breeding and wintering grounds.“
USFWS announced it will conduct a status review of the monarch butterfly to consider listing it as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The three NAFTA leaders will meet in Canada later this year. At last year’s summit in Mexico, in reply to our letter from scientists, writers and artists from around the world, the so-called “Tres Amigos†agreed to cooperate “to ensure the conservation of the Monarch butterfly, a species that symbolizes our association.â€
And I am left wondering if the monarch colonies will ever return to Altamirano Hill in Contepec, where they have been absent for years.
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Scientific Name: Diceros sumatrensis
Common Name: Sumatran rhino
Category: Rhino
Population:
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Scientific Name: Eleutherodactylus thorectes
Common Name: Macaya Breast-Spot Frog
Category: Frog
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture
Credit: Robin Moore
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Scientific Name: Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis
Common Name: Red-Finned Blue Eye
Category: Freshwater Fish
Population: 2,000 – 4,000 Individuals
Threats To Survival: Predation by introduced species
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Scientific Name: Rafetus Swinhoei
Common Name: Red River Giant Softshell Turtle
Category: Turtle
Population: 4 known individuals
Threats To Survival: Hunting for consumption and habitat destruction and degradation as a result of wetland destruction and pollution
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Scientific Name: Neurergus kaiseri
Common Name: Luristan newt
Category: Newt
Population:
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List Provided By Zoological Society Of London/ International Union For Conservation Of Nature†width=â€52? height=â€52?/
Scientific Name: Poecilotheria metallica
Common Name: Peacock Parachute Spider
Category: Spider
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and degradation as a result of deforestation, firewood collection and civil unrest
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Scientific Name: Atelopus balios
Common Name: Rio Pescado Stubfoot Toad
Category: Toad
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Chytridiomycosis and habitat destruction due to logging and agricultural expansion
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Scientific Name: Johora Singaporensis
Common Name: Singapore Freshwater Crab
Category: Crab
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation – reduction in water quality and quantity
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Scientific Name: Abies beshanzuensis
Common Name: Baishan Fir
Category: Conifer
Population: 5 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Agricultural expansion and fire
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Scientific Name: Actinote zikani
Common Name: None
Category: Butterfly
Population: Unknown, one population remaining
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation due to pressure from human populations
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Scientific Name: Aipysurus foliosquama
Common Name: Leaf Scaled Sea-Snake
Category: Sea snake
Population: Unknown, two subpopulations remain
Threats To Survival: Unknown – likely degradation of coral reef habitat
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Scientific Name: Amanipodagrion gilliesi
Common Name: Amani Flatwing
Category: Damselfly
Population:
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Scientific Name: Antilophia bokermanni
Common Name: Araripe Manakin
Category: bird
Population: 779 individuals (est 2010)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to expansion of agriculture and recreational facilities and water diversion
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Scientific Name: Antisolabis seychellensis
Common Name: Seychelles Earwig
Category: Earwig
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Invasive species and climate change
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Scientific Name: Aphanius transgrediens
Common Name: None
Category: Freshwater fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Competition and predation by Gambusia and road construction
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Scientific Name: Ardeotis nigriceps
Common Name: Great Indian Bustard
Category: Bird
Population: 50 -249 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and modification due to agricultural development
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Scientific Name: Aproteles bulmerae
Common Name: Bulmer’s Fruit Bat
Category: Bat
Population: 150 individuals (est)
Threats To Survival: Hunting and cave disturbance
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Scientific Name: Ardea insignis
Common Name: White Bellied Heron
Category: Bird
Population: 70-400 individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction and degradation due to hydropower development
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Scientific Name: Astrochelus yniphora
Common Name: Ploughshare Tortoise / Angonoka
Category: Tortoise
Population: 440-770
Threats To Survival: Illegal collection for international pet trade
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Scientific Name: Aythya innotata
Common Name: Madagascar Pochard
Category: Bird
Population: Approximately 20 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation due to slash-and-burn agriculture, hunting, and fishing / introduced fish
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Scientific Name: Azurina eupalama
Common Name: Galapagos damsel fish
Category: Pelagic fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Climate Change – oceanographic changes associated with the 1982 / 1983 El Nino are presumed to be responsible for the apparent disappearance of this species from the Galapagos
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Scientific Name: Bahaba taipingensis
Common Name: Giant yellow croaker
Category: Pelagic fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Over-fishing, primarily due to value of swim-bladder for traditional medicine – cost per kilogram exceeded that of gold in 2001
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Scientific Name: Batagur baska
Common Name: Common Batagur/ Four-toed terrapin
Category: Turtle
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Illegal export and trade from Indonesia to China
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Scientific Name: Bazzania bhutanica
Common Name: None
Category: Liverwort
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation and destruction due to forest clearance, overgrazing and development
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Scientific Name: Beatragus hunteri
Common Name: Hirola
Category: Antelope
Population:
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Scientific Name: Bombus franklinii
Common Name: Franklin’s Bumble Bee
Category: Bee
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Disease from commercially bred bumblebees and habitat destruction and degradation
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Scientific Name: Brachyteles hypoxanthus
Common Name: Northern muriqui
Category: Primate
Population:
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Scientific Name: Bradypus pygmaeus
Common Name: Pygmy sloth
Category: Sloth
Population:
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Scientific Name: Callitriche pulchra
Common Name: None
Category: Freshwater plant
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Exploitation of the species’ habitat by stock, and modification of the pool by local people
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Scientific Name: Calumma tarzan
Common Name: Tarzan’s Chameleon
Category: Chameleon
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction for agriculture
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Scientific Name: Cavia intermedia
Common Name: Santa Catarina’s Guinea Pig
Category: Guinea Pig
Population: 40-60 individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat disturbance and possible hunting; small population effects
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Scientific Name: Cercopithecus roloway
Common Name: Roloway Guenon
Category: Primate
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Hunting for consumption as bushmeat, and habitat loss
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Scientific Name: Coleura seychellensis
Common Name: Seychelles Sheath-Tailed Bat
Category: Bat
Population:
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Scientific Name: Cryptomyces maximus
Common Name: None
Category: Fungus
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Limited availability of habitat
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Scientific Name: Cryptotis nelsoni
Common Name: Nelson’s Small-Eared Shrew
Category: Shrew
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: habitat loss due to logging cattle grazing, fire and agriculture
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Scientific Name: Cyclura collei
Common Name: Jamaican Iguana
Category: Iguana
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Predation by introduced species and habitat destruction
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Scientific Name: Dendrophylax fawcettii
Common Name: Cayman Islands Ghost Orchid
Category: Orchid
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to infrastructure development
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Scientific Name: Diomedea amsterdamensis
Common Name: Amsterdam Island Albatross
Category: Bird
Population: 100 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Disease and incidental capture in long-line fishing operations
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Scientific Name: Diospyros katendei
Common Name: None
Category: Tree
Population: 20 individuals, one population
Threats To Survival: High pressure from communities for agricultural activity, illegal tree felling, habitat degradation due to alluvial gold digging and small population
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Scientific Name: Dipterocarpus lamellatus
Common Name: None
Category: Dipterocarp (tree)
Population: 12 individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and degradation due to logging of lowland forest and creation of industrial plantations
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Scientific Name: Discoglossus nigriventer
Common Name: Hula painted frog
Category: Frog
Population: Unknown (recent rediscovery in 2011)
Threats To Survival: Predation by birds and range restriction due to habitat destruction
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Scientific Name: Discorea strydomiana
Common Name: Wild Yam
Category: Yam
Population: 200 Individuals
Threats To Survival: Collection for medicinal use
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Scientific Name: Dombeya mauritiana
Common Name: None
Category: Flowering plant
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation and destruction due to encroachment by alien invasive plant species and cannabis cultivation
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Scientific Name: Eleocarpus bojeri
Common Name: None
Category: Flowering plant
Population:
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Scientific Name: Eleutherodactylus glandulifer
Common Name: La Hotte Glanded Frog
Category: Frog
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture
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Scientific Name: Eriosyce chilensis
Common Name: Chilenito
Category: Cactus
Population:
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Scientific Name: Erythrina schliebenii
Common Name: Coral Tree
Category: Flowering tree
Population:
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Scientific Name: Euphorbia tanaensis
Common Name: None
Category: Semi-deciduous tree
Population: 4 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Illegal logging and habitat degradation due to agricultural expansion and infrastructure development
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Scientific Name: Eurynorhynchus pygmeus
Common Name: Spoon-Billed Sandpiper
Category: Bird
Population:
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Scientific Name: Ficus katendei
Common Name: None
Category: Tree (ficus)
Population:
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Scientific Name: Geronticus eremita
Common Name: Northern Bald Ibis
Category: Bird
Population: 200-249 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation and destruction, and hunting
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Scientific Name: Gigasiphon macrosiphon
Common Name: None
Category: Flowering tree
Population: 33 mature individuals
Threats To Survival: Timber extraction and habitat degradation due to agricultural encroachment and development, seed predation by wild pigs
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Scientific Name: Gocea ohridana
Common Name: None
Category: Mollusc
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation due to increasing pollution levels, off-take of water and sedimentation events
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Scientific Name: Heleophryne rosei
Common Name: Table Mountain Ghost Frog
Category: Frog
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation due to invasive plants and water abstraction
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Scientific Name: Hemicycla paeteliana
Common Name: None
Category: Mollusc
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to overgrazing and trampling by goats and tourists
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Scientific Name: Heteromirafa sidamoensis
Common Name: Liben Lark
Category: Bird
Population: 90- 256 individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and degradation due to agricultural expansion, over-grazing and fire suppression
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Scientific Name: Hibiscadelphus woodii
Common Name: None
Category: Hibiscus
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation due to feral ungulates and invasive introduced plant species
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Scientific Name: Hucho perryi (Parahucho perryi)
Common Name: Sakhalin Taimen
Category: Salmonid
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Overfishing (sport fishing and commercial bycatch) and habitat loss from damming, agriculture and other land use practices.
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Scientific Name: Lathyrus belinensis
Common Name: None
Category: Sweet-pea
Population:
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Scientific Name: Leiopelma archeyii
Common Name: Archey’s Frog
Category: Frog
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Chytridiomycosis and predation by invasive species
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Scientific Name: Lithobates sevosus
Common Name: Dusky Gopher Frog
Category: Frog
Population: 60-100 individuals (est 2003)
Threats To Survival: Fungal disease and habitat limitation due to climate change and land-use changes
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Scientific Name: Lophura edwardsi
Common Name: Edward’s pheasant
Category: Bird
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Hunting and habitat loss
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Scientific Name: Magnolia wolfii
Common Name: None
Category: Magnolia
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Isolation of species and low regeneration rates
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Scientific Name: Margaritifera marocana
Common Name: None
Category: Mussel
Population:
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Scientific Name: Moominia willii
Common Name: None
Category: Mollusc
Population:
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Scientific Name: Natalus primus
Common Name: Cuban Greater Funnel Eared Bat
Category: Bat
Population:
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Scientific Name: Nepenthes attenboroughii
Common Name: Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant
Category: Carnivorous plant
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Poaching
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Scientific Name: Nomascus hainanus
Common Name: Hainan Gibbon
Category: Primate
Population:
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Scientific Name: Oreocnemis phoenix
Common Name: Mulanje Red Damsel
Category: Butterfly
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction and degradation due to drainage, agricultural expansion and exploitation of forest
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Scientific Name:Pangasius sanitwongsi
Common Name: Pangasid Catfish
Category: Freshwater fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Overfishing and collection for aquarium trade
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Scientific Name: Parides burchellanus
Common Name: None
Category: Butterfly
Population:
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Scientific Name: Phocoena sinus
Common Name: Vaquita
Category: Porpoise
Population: 200+ individuals and declining
Threats to Survival: Incidental capture in gillnets
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Scientific Name: Picea neoveitchii
Common Name: None
Category: Conifer
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Forest destruction
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Scientific Name: Pinus squamata
Common Name: Qiaojia Pine
Category: Conifer
Population:
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Scientific Name: Pomarea whitneyi
Common Name: Fatuhiva Monarch
Category: Butterfly
Population: 50 individuals
Threats To Survival: Predation by introduced species – Rattus rattus and feral cats
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Scientific Name: Pristis pristis
Common Name: Common Sawfish
Category: Sawfish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Exploitation – has removed the species from 95% of its historical range
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Scientific Name: Prolemur simus
Common Name: Greater Bamboo Lemur
Category: Primate
Population: 100-160 individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction due to slash-and-burn agriculture, mining and illegal logging
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Scientific Name: Propithecus candidus
Common Name: Silky Sifaka
Category: Primate
Population: 100 -1,000 individuals
Threats To Survival: Hunting and habitat disturbance
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Scientific Name: Psammobates geometricus
Common Name: Geometric Tortoise
Category: Tortoise
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction and degradation, and predation
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Scientific Name: Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
Common Name: Saola
Category: Saola (bovid affinities)
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Hunting and habitat destruction
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Scientific Name: Psiadia cataractae
Common Name: None
Category: Flowering plant
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation and destruction due to development project and alien invasive plant species
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Scientific Name: Psorodonotus ebneri
Common Name: Beydaglari Bush-cricket
Category: Cricket
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: climate change, habitat loss
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Scientific Name: Rhinoceros sondaicus
Common Name: Javan Rhino
Category: Rhino
Population:
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Scientific Name: Rhinopithecus avunculus
Common Name: Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey
Category: Primate
Population:
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Scientific Name: Rhizanthella gardneri
Common Name: West Australian Underground Orchid
Category: Orchid
Population:
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Scientific Name: Rhyncocyon spp
Common Name: Boni Giant Sengi
Category: Sengi
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Highly restricted habitat and distribution, security issues, oil development in area with associated increase in human population in area
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Scientific Name: Risiocnemis seidenschwarzi
Common Name: Cebu Frill-Wing
Category: Damsel fly
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat degradation and destruction.
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Scientific Name: Rosa arabica
Common Name: None
Category: Flowering tree
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Domestic animals grazing, climate change and drought, medicinal plant collection and restricted range
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Scientific Name: Salanoia durrelli
Common Name: Durrell’s Vontsira
Category: Vontsira (small carnivore)
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss
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Scientific Name: Santamartamys rufodorsalis
Common Name: Red-Crested Tree Rat
Category: Rat
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss through urban development and coffee cultivation
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Scientific Name: Squatina squatina
Common Name: Angel Shark
Category: Shark
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Benthic trawling
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Scientific Name: Sterna bernsteini
Common Name: Chinese Crested Tern
Category: Bird
Population:
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Scientific Name: Sygnathus watermeyeri
Common Name: Estuarine Pipefish (River Pipefish)
Category: Pipefish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Construction of dams altering river flows and flood events into estuaries
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Scientific Name: Tahina spectabilis
Common Name: Suicide Palm
Category: Palm
Population: 90 Individuals
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss due to fires, logging and agricultural developments
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Scientific Name: Telmatobufo bullocki juvenile
Common Name: Bullock’s False Toad
Category: Toad
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction as a result of energy development
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Scientific Name: Tokudaia muenninki
Common Name: Okinawa Spiny Rat
Category: Rat
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and predation by feral cats
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Scientific Name: Trigonostigma sompongsi
Common Name: Somphongs’s rasbora
Category: Freshwater fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat loss and degradation from farmland conversion and urbanization
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Scientific Name: Valencia letourneuxi
Common Name: None
Category: Freshwater fish
Population: Unknown (declining)
Threats To Survival: Habitat destruction, water abstraction and agressive interaction with Gambusia
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Scientific Name: Voanioala gerardii
Common Name: Forest Coconut
Category: palm
Population:
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Scientific Name: Zaglossus attenboroughii
Common Name: Attenborough’s Echidna
Category: echidna
Population: Unknown
Threats To Survival: Habitat modification and degradation due to logging, agricultural encroachment shifting cultivation and hunting by local people
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Watch one National Geographic photographer’s attempt at saving endangered species.