page_title: Environmental issues in Afghanistan
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Environmental issues in Afghanistan / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: Grus leucogeranus , Vogelpark Walsrode
context_page_description: Environmental issues in Afghanistan predate the political turmoil of the past few decades. Forests and wetlands have been depleted by centuries of grazing and farming, practices which have only increased with modern population growth. In Afghanistan, environmental conservation and economic concerns are not at odds; with 80% of the population dependent on herding or farming, the welfare of the environment is critical to the economic welfare of the people. In 2007, the World Health Organization released a report ranking Afghanistan as the lowest among non-African nations in deaths from environmental hazards.
context_section_description: With very little government infrastructure to discourage hunting, and habitat disappearing because of conflict and drought, much of the country's wildlife is at risk. In 2006, Afghanistan and the Wildlife Conservation Society began a three-year project to protect wildlife and habitats along the Wakhan Corridor and Central Plateau regions. 
  Endangered species
  Snow leopard (Uncia uncia)
  Wild goat (Capra aegagrus)
  Markhor (Capra falconeri)
  Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii)
  Urial (Ovis orientalis)
  Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)
  Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus)
  Critically endangered species
  White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala)
  Marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris)
  Pallas’s sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus)
  Greater spotted eagle (Aquilla clanga)
  Imperial eagle (Aquilla heliaca)
  Lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)
  Corncrake (Crex crex)
  Sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregaria)
  Pale-backed pigeon (Columba hodgsonii)
  Little is known about the status of the salamander Batrachuperus mustersi, which is found only in the Hindu Kush.
caption: Siberian crane
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