We’re well into 2022. But as time trudges along, the clock is counting down to the end of some of the animal’s beloved birds and animals – they are expected to go extinct by 2030.
Click start to play today’s Spell It, and spot “dodo”, a bird that went extinct in 1681.
According to a report in US-based weekly news magazine Newsweek, one large category of animals that’s likely to go extinct by 2030 are species that we know almost nothing about – they are already so rare, they will disappear without us ever having the opportunity to gain any real knowledge about them.
Here are a few other animals that environmentalists say are on the brink:
1. Red wolf
Red wolves used to roam all across the southeastern part of the US. Now, there are only 12 left in the wild. Legal and illegal shooting, as well as hybridisation with coyotes, are some of the reasons they are dying out.
2. Chinese pangolin
With their oddball appearance, and often called ‘pinecones with legs’, pangolins are the world’s only scaly mammal. But all eight of their species are under threat – in China and Vietnam, they are eaten, and their scales used in traditional medicine.
3. Maui dolphin
Only 60 Maui dolphin are left on the planet, living off the coast of North Island in New Zealand. The rare species of dolphin are often the victims of entanglement in fishing nets, which leads to their death.
4. Bornean orangutans
In the past 60 years, the Bornean orangutan’s numbers have reduced by half, according to Worldwide Fund for Wildlife (WWF). With hunting and logging as the biggest threats to its survival and habitat, there are only about 41,000 of these animals left in the wild.
5. Hawksbill turtle
As the most threatened turtle species, because of wildlife trade, these sea turtles are also hurt by the loss of their habitats, fishing, pollution and coastal development. Tragically, sea turtles have been around for 100 million years, and help keep coral reefs healthy – and now, we may be seeing the last of the hawksbill variety.
What do you think should be done to prevent these animals’ extinction? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
