Endangered Animals in North America

When we think of animals that are extinct or endangered, we often think of them as being native to some other country.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that there are animals that are endangered right in our own "backyard".

These are a list of Animals, including mammals, amphibians and reptiles that are listed as endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild or already extinct in North America.

87 records in the US alone - and these are just the mammals

Inverted Common Name

Bat, gray

Bat, Hawaiian hoary

Bat, Indiana

Bat, lesser long-nosed

Bat, little Mariana fruit

Bat, Mariana fruit (=Mariana flying fox)

Bat, Mexican long-nosed

Bat, Ozark big-eared

Bat, Virginia big-eared

Bear, American black

Bear, grizzly

Bear, Louisiana black

Bear, polar

Bison, wood

Caribou, woodland

Deer, Columbian white-tailed

Deer, key

Ferret, black-footed

Fox, San Joaquin kit

Fox, San Miguel Island

Fox, Santa Catalina Island

Fox, Santa Cruz Island

Fox, Santa Rosa Island

Jaguar

Jaguarundi, Gulf Coast

Jaguarundi, Sinaloan

Kangaroo rat, Fresno

Kangaroo rat, giant

Kangaroo rat, Morro Bay

Kangaroo rat, San Bernardino Merriam's

Kangaroo rat, Stephens'

Kangaroo rat, Tipton

Lynx, Canada

Manatee, West Indian

Mountain beaver, Point Arena

Mouse, Alabama beach

Mouse, Anastasia Island beach

Mouse, Choctawhatchee beach

Mouse, Key Largo cotton

Mouse, Pacific pocket

Mouse, Perdido Key beach

Mouse, Preble's meadow jumping

Mouse, salt marsh harvest

Mouse, southeastern beach

Mouse, St. Andrew beach

Ocelot

Otter, Northern Sea

Otter, southern sea

Panther, Florida

Prairie dog, Utah

Pronghorn, Sonoran

Puma (=cougar), eastern

Puma (=mountain lion)

Rabbit, Lower Keys marsh

Rabbit, pygmy

Rabbit, riparian brush

Rice rat

Seal, Guadalupe fur

Seal, Hawaiian monk

Sea-lion, Steller

Sea-lion, Steller

Seal, spotted

Sheep, Peninsular bighorn

Sheep, Sierra Nevada bighorn

Shrew, Buena Vista Lake ornate

Squirrel, Carolina northern flying

Squirrel, Delmarva Peninsula fox

Squirrel, Mount Graham red

Squirrel, northern Idaho ground

Squirrel, Virginia northern flying

Vole, Amargosa

Vole, Florida salt marsh

Vole, Hualapai Mexican

Whale, Beluga

Whale, blue

Whale, bowhead

Whale, finback

Whale, humpback

Whale, killer

Whale, North Atlantic Right

Whale, North Pacific Right

Whale, Sei

Whale, sperm

Wolf, gray

Wolf, red

Woodrat, Key Largo

Woodrat, riparian (=San Joaquin Valley)

Ammospermophilus nelsoni

These adorable little squirres are listed as endangered because they are only found in the central and wester San Joaquin Valley and neighboring areas of Cuyama Valley, Panoche Valley, Carrizo Plain, and the Elkhorn Plains. Their habitat is on the decline and their population numbers are decreasing by less than 30% over the last ten years.

Their Habitat consists of dry flat or rolling terrain, and they live on grassy, sparsely shrubby ground (shrubs include saltbush, ephedra, bladder pod, goldenbush, and snakeweed.

These squirrels seldom dig their own burrows; most often they use burrows made by other small mammals under shrubs, in banks of the arroyos, at the bottom of alluvial fans.

Breeding season is in the spring, they give birth in March after a gestation period of 26 days and usually the babies are not seen until around April when they begin their first adventures above ground to find food. The only breed once a year, and have litters of from six to twelve babies, averaging nine. Their lifespan ranges from less than a year to five or more years. The average is less than a year.

They eat bugs, green vegetation and forb seeds.

Their decline is a result of loss of habitat due to agricultural and urban development as well as oil and gas exploration practices. Primary existing threats include loss of habitat due to agricultural development, urbanization, and petroleum extraction, and the use of rodenticides for ground squirrel control. Overgrazing and associated loss of shrub cover is a concern in some areas. These threats will be alleviated by the implementation of the San Joaquin Endangered Species Recovery Plan.

Should we save the endangered animals?

Thank you for taking the first step to learn what animals are endangered in North America. Please leave a comment or share your ideas or thoughts below.