# The world's 100 most threatened species

The World's 100 most threatened species is a compilation of the most threatened animals, plants, and fungi in the world. It was the result of a collaboration between over 8,000 scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC), along with the Zoological Society of London. The report was published by the Zoological Society of London in 2012 as the book, Priceless or Worthless?
While all the species on the list are threatened with extinction, the scientists who chose them had another criterion: all the species have no obvious benefit for humans and therefore humans have no vested interests trying to save them. Iconic and charismatic species, such as tigers and pandas—along with economically important species—have many defenders, while these apparently "worthless" species had none. The title of the report, "Priceless or Worthless?", is based on that shared quality of the species. The report's co-author, Ellen Butcher, stated one of the guiding principles of the list, "If we take immediate action we can give them a fighting chance for survival. But this requires society to support the moral and ethical position that all species have an inherent right to exist."
The report was released in Jeju, South Korea, on September 11, 2012, at the quadrennial meeting of IUCN, the World Conservation Congress. At the Congress, it was reported that scientists are finding it more and more common to have to justify funding for protection of species by showing what the human benefits would be. Jonathan Baillie, of the Zoological Society of London and co-author of the report, stated that, "The donor community and conservation movement are increasingly leaning towards a 'what can nature do for us?' approach, where species and wild habitats are valued and prioritised according to these services they provided for people. This has made it increasingly difficult for conservationists to protect the most threatened species on the planet."
Some of the threatened species are down to only a handful of surviving members. Santa Catarina's guinea pig, native to a single island in Brazil, is down to its last 40–60 individuals, reduced by hunting and habitat disturbance. The great Indian bustard is threatened by habitat loss resulting from agriculture and human development, and is down to the last 50–249 individuals. Elaeocarpus bojeri, a flowering plant found only on the island of Mauritius, has fewer than 10 surviving individuals, because of loss of habitat. The Baishan fir (Abies beshanzuensis), native to China, is down to five surviving mature individuals. "Priceless or Worthless?" describes the threats that each species is facing, along with measures that would aid their survival.

## Species list

The world's 100 most threatened species :
| Species | Common name | Type | Location(s) | Estimated population | Threats |
| Abies beshanzuensis | Baishan fir | Plant (Tree) | Baishanzu Mountain, Zhejiang, China | Three mature individuals | agriculture fire |
| Actinote zikani | | Insect (butterfly) | Near São Paulo, Atlantic forest, Brazil | Unknown | habitat loss from human expansion |
| Aipysurus foliosquama | Leaf scaled sea-snake | Reptile | Ashmore Reef and Hibernia Reef, Timor Sea | Unknown | unknown—probably degradation of coral reef habitat |
| Amanipodagrion gilliesi | Amani flatwing | Insect (damselfly) | Amani-Sigi Forest, Usamabara Mountains, Tanzania | < 500 individuals | population pressure and water pollution |
| Antisolabis seychellensis | | Insect | Morne Blanc, Mahé island, Seychelles | Unknown | invasive species climate change |
| Antilophia bokermanni | Araripe manakin | Bird | Chapado do Araripe, South Ceará, Brazil | 779 individuals | recreational facilities water diversion |
| Aphanius transgrediens | Aci Göl toothcarp | Fish | south-eastern shore of former Lake Aci, Turkey | few hundred pairs | competition and predation by Gambusia road construction |
| Aproteles bulmerae | Bulmer's fruit bat | Mammal | Luplupwintern Cave, Western Province, Papua New Guinea | 150 | hunting cave disturbance |
| Ardea insignis | White bellied heron | Bird | Bhutan, North East India and Myanmar | 70–400 individuals | hydropower development |
| Ardeotis nigriceps | Great Indian bustard | Bird | Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya, India | 50–249 mature individuals | agricultural development energy transmission lines |
| Astrochelys yniphora | Ploughshare tortoise | Reptile | Baly Bay region, northwestern Madagascar | 440–770 | illegal collection for international pet trade |
| Atelopus balios | Rio Pescado stubfoot toad | Amphibian | Azuay, Cañar and Guyas provinces, south-western Ecuador | Unknown | Chytridiomycosis logging agricultural expansion |
| Aythya innotata | Madagascar pochard | Bird | volcanic lakes north of Bealanana, Madagascar | 80 mature individuals | agriculture hunting and fishing introduced fish |
| Azurina eupalama | Galapagos damsel fish | Fish | Unknown | Unknown | climate change oceanographic changes related to the 1982/1983 El Nino |
| Bahaba taipingensis | Giant yellow croaker | Fish | Chinese coast from Yangtze River, China to Hong Kong | Unknown | over-fishing due to value of swim-bladder in traditional medicine |
| Batagur baska | Common batagur | Reptile (turtle) | Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia | Unknown | illegal export to China |
| Bazzania bhutanica | | Plant | Budini and Lafeti Khola, Bhutan | 2 sub-populations | forest clearance overgrazing development |
| Beatragus hunteri | Hirola | Mammal (antelope) | South-east Kenya and possibly south-west Somalia | < 1,000 individuals | habitat loss competition with livestock poaching |
| Bombus franklini | Franklin's bumblebee | Insect (bee) | Oregon and California | Unknown | disease from commercial bees habitat destruction and degradation |
| Brachyteles hypoxanthus | Northern muriqui Woolly spider monkey | Mammal (primate) | Atlantic forest, south-eastern Brazil | < 1,000 | large-scale deforestation and logging |
| Bradypus pygmaeus | Pygmy three-toed sloth | Mammal | Isla Escudo de Veraguas, Panama | < 500 | illegal logging of mangrove forests for firewood and construction hunting |
| Callitriche pulchra | | Plant (freshwater) | pool on Gavdos, Greece | Unknown | habitat exploitation by livestock modification of the pool by locals |
| Calumma tarzan | Tarzan's chameleon | Reptile | Anosibe An'Ala region, eastern Madagascar | < 100 | agriculture |
| Cavia intermedia | Santa Catarina's guinea pig | Mammal (rodent) | Moleques do Sul Island, Santa Catarina, Brazil | 40–60 | habitat disturbance possible hunting result of having such a small population |
| Cercopithecus roloway | Roloway guenon | Mammal (primate) | Côte d'Ivoire | Unknown | hunting habitat loss |
| Coleura seychellensis | Seychelles sheath-tailed bat | Mammal (bat) | Two small caves on Silhouette and Mahé, Seychelles | < 100 | habitat degradation predation by invasive species |
| Cryptomyces maximus | Willow blister | Fungi | Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom | Unknown | limited habitat |
| Cryptotis nelsoni | Nelson's small-eared shrew | Mammal (shrew) | Volcán San Martín Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico | Unknown | logging cattle grazing fire agriculture |
| Cyclura collei | Jamaican iguana Jamaican rock iguana | Reptile | Hellshire Hills, Jamaica | Unknown | habitat destruction predation by introduced species |
| Daubentonia madagascariensis | Aye-aye | Mammal (primate) | Deciduous forest, East Madagascar | Unknown | poaching limited habitat |
| Dendrophylax fawcettii | Cayman Islands ghost orchid | Plant (orchid) | Ironwood Forest, George Town, Grand Cayman | Unknown | infrastructure development |
| Dicerorhinus sumatrensis | Sumatran rhino | Mammal (rhino) | Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia | < 100 | hunting (horn is used in traditional medicine) |
| Diomedea amsterdamensis | Amsterdam albatross | Bird | Breeds on Plateuau des Tourbières, Amsterdam Island, Indian Ocean. | 100 mature individuals | disease incidental by-catch in long-line fishing |
| Dioscorea strydomiana | Wild yam | Plant | Oshoek area, Mpumalanga, South Africa | 200 | collection for medicinal use |
| Diospyros katendei | | Plant (tree) | Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve, Uganda | 20 individuals in a single population | agricultural activity illegal tree felling alluvial gold digging small population |
| Dipterocarpus lamellatus | | Plant (tree) | Siangau Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia | 12 individuals | logging of lowland forest creation of industrial plantations |
| Discoglossus nigriventer | Hula painted frog | Amphibian | Hula Valley, Israel | Unknown | predation by birds range restriction due to habitat destruction |
| Dombeya mauritiana | | Plant | Mauritius | Unknown | encroachment by invasive plant species habitat loss due to cannabis cultivation |
| Elaeocarpus bojeri | Bois Dentelle | Plant (tree) | Grand Bassin, Mauritius | < 10 individuals | habitat degradation |
| Eleutherodactylus glandulifer | La Hotte glanded frog | Amphibian | Massif de la Hotte, Haiti | Unknown | charcoal production slash-and-burn agriculture |
| Eleutherodactylus thorectes | Macaya breast-spot frog | Amphibian | Formon and Macaya peaks, Masif de la Hotte, Haiti | Unknown | charcoal production slash-and-burn agriculture |
| Eriosyce chilensis | Chilenito (cactus) | Plant | Pta Molles and Pichidungui, Chile | < 500 individuals | collection of flowering plants |
| Erythrina schliebenii | Coral tree | Plant | Namatimbili-Ngarama Forest, Tanzania | < 50 individuals | limited habitat and small population size increase vulnerability |
| Euphorbia tanaensis | | Plant (tree) | Witu Forest Reserve, Kenya | 4 mature individuals | illegal logging agricultural expansion infrastructure development |
| Eurynorhyncus pygmeus | Spoon-billed sandpiper | Bird | Breeds in Russia, migrates along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway to wintering grounds in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar | 100 breeding pairs | trapping land reclamation |
| Ficus katendei | | Plant | Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve, Ishasha River, Uganda | < 50 mature individuals | agriculture illegal tree felling alluvial gold digging |
| Geronticus eremita | Northern bald ibis | Bird | Breeds in Morocco, Turkey and Syria. Syrian population winters in central Ethiopia. | about 3000 individuals | habitat degradation and destruction hunting |
| Gigasiphon macrosiphon | | Plant (flower) | Kaya Muhaka, Gongoni and Mrima Forest Reserves, Kenya, Amani Nature Reserve, West Kilombero Scarp Forest Reserve, and Kihansi Gorge, Tanzania | 33 | timber extraction agriculture encroachment and development predation by wild pigs |
| Gocea ohridana | | Mollusc | Lake Ohrid, Macedonia | Unknown | increasing pollution levels off-take of water sedimentation events |
| Heleophryne rosei | Table mountain ghost frog | Amphibian | Table Mountain, Western Cape Province, South Africa | Unknown | invasive plants water abstraction |
| Hemicycla paeteliana | | Mollusc (land snail) | Jandia peninsula, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands | Unknown | overgrazing trampling by goats and tourists |
| Heteromirafa sidamoensis | Liben lark | Bird | Liben Plains, southern Ethiopia | 90–256 | agricultural expansion overgrazing fire suppression |
| Hibiscadelphus woodii | | Plant (tree) | Kalalau Valley, Hawaii | Unknown | habitat degradation due to feral ungulates competition with invasive plant species |
| Hucho perryi | Sakhalin taimen | Fish | Russian and Japanese rivers, Pacific Ocean between Russia and Japan | Unknown | overfishing damming agriculture other land use |
| Johora singaporensis | Singapore freshwater crab | Crustacean | Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and streamlet near Bukit Batok, Singapore | Unknown | habitat degradation due to reduction in water quality and quantity |
| Lathyrus belinensis | Belin vetchling | Plant | Outskirts of Belin village, Antalya, Turkey | < 1,000 | urbanisation over-grazing conifer planting road widening |
| Leiopelma archeyi | Archey's frog | Amphibian | Coromandel peninsula and Whareorino Forest, New Zealand | Unknown | Chytridiomycosis predation by invasive species |
| Lithobates sevosus | Dusky gopher frog | Amphibian | Harrison County, Mississippi, USA | 60–100 | fungal disease climate change land-use changes |
| Lophura edwardsi | Edwards's pheasant | Bird | Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, Viet Nam | Unknown | habitat loss hunting |
| Magnolia wolfii | | Plant (tree) | Risaralda, Colombia | 3 | isolation of species low regeneration rates |
| Margaritifera marocana | | Mollusc | Oued Denna, Oued Abid and Oued Beth, Morocco | < 250 | pollution development |
| Moominia willii | | Mollusc (snail) | Silhouette Island, Seychelles | < 500 | invasive species climate change |
| Natalus primus | Cuban greater funnel eared bat | Mammal (bat) | Cueva La Barca, Isle of Pines, Cuba | < 100 | habitat loss human disturbance |
| Nepenthes attenboroughii | Attenborough's pitcher plant | Plant | Mount Victoria, Palawan, Philippines | Unknown | poaching |
| Nomascus hainanus | Hainan black crested gibbon | Mammal (primate) | Hainan Island, China | 20 | hunting |
| Neurergus kaiseri | Luristan newt | Amphibian | Zagros Mountains, Lorestan, Iran | < 1,000 | illegal collection for pet trade |
| Oreocnemis phoenix | Mulanje red damsel | Insect (damselfly) | Mulanje Plateau, Malawi | Unknown | habitat destruction and degradation due to drainage agricultural expansion exploitation of forest |
| Pangasius sanitwongsei | Pangasid catfish | Fish | Chao Phraya and Mekong basins in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam | Unknown | overfishing collection for aquarium trade |
| Parides burchellanus | | Insect (butterfly) | Cerrado, Brazil | < 100 | human expansion limited range |
| Phocoena sinus | Vaquita | Mammal (porpoise) | Northern Gulf of California, Mexico | 12 | capture in fishermen's gillnets |
| Picea neoveitchii | Type of spruce tree | Plant (tree) | Qinling Range, China | Unknown | destruction of forest |
| Pinus squamata | Qiaojia pine | Plant (tree) | Qiaojia, Yunnan, China | < 25 | limited distribution small population size |
| Poecilotheria metallica | Gooty tarantula Metallic tarantula Peacock tarantula Salepurgu | Spider | Nandyal and Giddalur, Andhra Pradesh, India | Unknown | deforestation firewood collection civil unrest |
| Pomarea whitneyi | Fatuhiva monarch | Bird | Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia | 50 | predation by introduced species - Rattus rattus and feral cats |
| Pristis pristis | Common sawfish | Fish | Coastal tropical and subtropical waters of Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Currently largely restricted to northern Australia | Unknown | exploitation has removed the species from 95 per cent of its historical range |
| Hapalemur simus | Greater bamboo lemur | Mammal (primate) | Southeastern and southcentral rainforests of Madagascar | 500 | agriculture mining illegal logging |
| Propithecus candidus | Silky sifaka | Mammal (primate) | Maroantsetra to Andapa basin, and Marojeju Massif, Madagascar | 100–1,000 | hunting habitat disturbance |
| Psammobates geometricus | Geometric tortoise | Reptile | Western Cape Province, South Africa | Unknown | loss of habitat destruction predation |
| Pseudoryx nghetinhensis | Saola | Mammal | Annamite mountains, on the Viet Nam - PDR Laos border | Unknown | habitat destruction hunting |
| Psiadia cataractae | | Plant | Mauritius | Unknown | development project competition from invasive plant species |
| Psorodonotus ebneri | Beydaglari bush-cricket | Insect | Beydaglari range, Antalaya, Turkey | Unknown | climate change habitat loss |
| Rafetus swinhoei | Red River giant softshell turtle | Reptile | Hoan Kiem Lake and Dong Mo Lake, Viet Nam, and Suzhou Zoo, China | 3 | hunting for consumption wetland destruction pollution |
| Rhinoceros sondaicus | Javan rhino | Mammal (rhino) | Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia | < 100 | hunting for traditional medicine small population size |
| Rhinopithecus avunculus | Tonkin snub-nosed monkey | Mammal (primate) | Northeastern Vietnam | < 200 | habitat loss hunting |
| Rhizanthella gardneri | West Australian underground orchid | Plant (orchid) | Western Australia, Australia | < 100 | land clearance for agriculture climate change salinisation |
| Rhynchocyon spp. | Boni giant sengi | Mammal | Boni-Dodori Forest, Lamu area, Kenya | Unknown | development causing habitat loss |
| Risiocnemis seidenschwarzi | Cebu frill-wing | Insect (damselfly) | Rivulet beside the Kawasan River, Cebu, Philippines | Unknown | habitat degradation and destruction |
| Rosa arabica | | Plant | St Katherine Mountains, Egypt | Unknown, 10 sub-populations | domestic animal grazing climate change and drought medicinal plant collecting limited range |
| Salanoia durrelli | Durrell's vontsira | Mammal (mongoose) | Marshes of Lake Alaotra, Madagascar | Unknown | loss of habitat |
| Santamartamys rufodorsalis | Red crested tree rat | Mammal (rodent) | Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia | Unknown | urban development coffee cultivation |
| Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis | Red-finned blue-eye | Fish | Edgbaston Station, central western Queensland, Australia | 2,000–4,000 | predation by introduced species |
| Squatina squatina | Angel shark | Fish | Canary Islands | Unknown | benthic trawling |
| Sterna bernsteini | Chinese crested tern | Bird | Breeding in Zhejiang and Fujian, China. Outside breeding season in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand. | < 50 | habitat destruction egg collection |
| Syngnathus watermeyeri | Estuarine pipefish | Fish | Kariega Estuary to East Kleinemonde Estuary, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa | Unknown | dam construction is altering river flows flood events into estuaries |
| Tahina spectabilis | Suicide palm Dimaka | Plant | Analalava district, north-western Madagascar | 90 | fires logging agricultural developments |
| Telmatobufo bullocki | Bullock's false toad | Amphibian (frog) | Nahuelbuta, Arauco Province, Chile | Unknown | construction of hydro-electricity |
| Tokudaia muenninki | Okinawa spiny rat | Mammal (rodent) | Okinawa Island, Japan | Unknown | habitat loss predation by feral cats |
| Trigonostigma somphongsi | Somphongs's rasbora | Fish | Mae Khlong basin, Thailand | Unknown | farmland conversion and urbanization |
| Valencia letourneuxi | | Fish | Southern Albania and Western Greece | Unknown | habitat destruction water abstraction aggressive interaction with Gambusia |
| Voanioala gerardii | Forest coconut | Plant | Masoala peninsula, Madagascar | < 10 | deforestation harvesting for consumption of palm heart |
| Zaglossus attenboroughi | Attenborough's echidna | Mammal | Cyclops Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia | Unknown | habitat modification and degradation logging agricultural encroachment shifting cultivation and hunting by local people |