There is also a project taking place called the Endangered Species Act Project that is also helping out all species. However, this species is also the most diverse. Since European settlement in the eighteenth century, nineteen mammal species have gone extinct. Again, the major reason for endangerment and extinction is the loss of habitat and degradation. Humans continue to convert forests, grasslands, river ways, wetlands, and deserts into agricultural and industrial development.
Marine mammals have to contend with the polluted waters off the coastline.
They also get caught in large fishing nets that industry fishers use. In addition to habitat loss, at least one in five threatened mammals face over exploitation, or excessive hunting for meat, hides, tusks, and medicinal products. Only about a fifth of all reptile species and barely one eighth of all amphibian species have been formally assessed by scientists. Most snakes and lizards remain unassessed, as do the two main orders of amphibians, frogs and salamanders . Like all other species, habitat loss is again the leading factor, contributing for 68 percent of all threatened reptile species.