Collection
Back From The Brink
Every animal here came close to vanishing and did not. Some were saved by a single law, one hunting ban, or a few dozen survivors hidden in a valley.
All 10 animals in this collection, from the Akita to the turkey. Most of them live in Asia and North America.
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Akita
Canis familiaris
The breed nearly vanished twice. Every modern Akita descends from a handful hidden in mountain villages.
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Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis and Alligator sinensis
Listed as endangered in 1967 and off the list entirely by 1987.
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Elephant Seal
Mirounga angustirostris and Mirounga leonina
Every northern elephant seal alive descends from perhaps 20 survivors of 1890s hunting.
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Giant Panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Numbers are rising. In 2016 it was downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable.
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Ibex
Capra (genus); figures from the Alpine ibex, Capra ibex
By the 1800s fewer than 100 were left. There are now over 55,000, every one descended from them.
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Kite
Milvus migrans and Milvus milvus, plus related genera
Britain's red kites fell to a handful of pairs in Wales. They now number in the thousands.
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Macaw
Ara and five other genera (scarlet macaw: Ara macao)
The last wild Spix's macaw vanished in 2000. Captive-bred birds were released in 2022 and have since bred.
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Otter
Lutrinae (Eurasian otter: Lutra lutra; sea otter: Enhydra lutris)
The fur trade cut sea otters to perhaps 1,000 animals. They are back.
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Terrapin
Malaclemys terrapin (diamondback); terrapin is a common name, not a taxonomic group
Prohibition saved it. Terrapin soup needed sherry, sherry became illegal in 1920, and the fashion died.
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Turkey
Meleagris gallopavo
From perhaps 30,000 birds in the late 1930s to about 7 million, moved back a crate at a time.
No animals match those filters.