5 Most Endangered Animals Living in Europe

Wildwood Trust, Hit Hard By Pandemic, Prepares To Welcome Back Visitors — CANTERBURY, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: A European Brown Bear in its enclosure at the Wildwood Trust on March 11, 2021 in Canterbury, England. The Wildwood Trust charity near Canterbury in Kent, is home to around 1450 animals, across 82 species and specialises in native British species such as dormice, wildcats and red squirrels. The centre also cares for animals such as Bison, Wolves, Lynx and European Bears. Like many zoos and wildlife parks, Wildwood relies heavily on footfall, donations and memberships to sustain the cost of caring for the animals on site. In 2020 the site was closed for around 5 months. Keeping the animals fed costs around £11000 GBP a week alone not to mention staff and site maintenance. The conservation leg of the charity has been hit hard by the pandemic too, with funds for vital conservation projects including bringing dormice, wildcats and red squirrels back from the brink of extinction, shrinking massively. Many of the planned reintroductions were postponed in 2020. Last June the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) opened up a £100m GBP fund aimed at supporting zoos and aquariums struggling with the impact of coronavirus, with the caveat that they needed to be down to (initially) just six weeks of reserves in order to be eligible for support. That was later extended to 12 weeks. The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) has since called on the government to remove the “prohibitive barriers” to the government funding proposals, and as of late 2020, only 12 applications were received. Wildwood Kent has not been eligible to apply for the funds leaving its future in the balance. Wildwood hopes to reopen to the public on 12 April when covid restrictions across the UK are lifted. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Many of the animals living in Europe are at risk of becoming extinct. If action is not taken and no efforts are being made to help preserve them for future generations, the number of these endangered animals is expected to grow.

Here is a list of some of the endangered animals of Europe from Our Endangered World:

5 Endangered Animals of Europe

1. Eurasian Brown Bear

A subspecies of the brown bear in Europe and Asia, the Eurasian Brown Bears (Ursus arctos arctos) are larger than their North American counterparts. They thrive in the cold with their shaggy, brown fur. They are omnivorous beings in the mountainous habitat of the region.

Eurasian Brown Bears are generally loners but come together during the breeding season. If habitat loss and hunting continue, there is no doubt that the species will nearly go to extinction.

2. Pine Marten

The species of marten found in Europe are solitary and territorial animals, living in the forests and other wooded areas. Martens (Martes martes) are known to feed on small mammals like birds, insects, eggs of birds, and fruits.

Using the most accepted system for measuring extinction - the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria - the condition of the species was able to assess. To date, there are an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 European Pine Marten left in the wild, considered endangered due to habitat destruction and persecution. The animals are also at risk from climate change and forest fragmentation.

3. Iberian Lynx

Their species has the most endangered cat species in the world, with only around 400 individuals left in the wild. Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) is a wild cat native to Southwestern Europe's the Iberian Peninsula, which was also endangered due to hunting and habitat destruction.

4. European Bison

The large herbivore was once found throughout Europe and parts of Asia, but declined due to hunting and habitat destruction, with only around 2,500 European bison in the wild. The European Bison (Bison bonasus) is the largest land animal in Europe, weighing up to a ton. Due to human activities, the Bison's natural habitat has shrunk and therefore making it difficult for the animals to find sufficient food and shelter.

5. European Mink

With only around 3,000 individuals left in the wild, the European Mink (Mustela lutreola) is also endangered due to habitat loss and hunting. The animals can be found in burrows near water, and are nocturnal.

The solitary animals feed on fish, frogs, and small mammals. They only come together to mate, where females give birth to 2 to 6 young at a time. However, their numbers have declined over the last century and now only found in Spain, France, Belgium, and parts of Russia.

Also read : Extremely Rare Dragon Fish Spotted on the Deep Waters of Monterey Bay

Conservation Efforts: How to Help Protect These Animals

To help protect these animals, it is vital that their natural habitats are protected where they can live and grow. Our Endangered World provides habitat loss solutions which include even the smallest, individual changes such as reforestation, recycling, using of compost from organic waste, and many more.

Working with local communities to spread awareness is also a simple but effective means of communicating to the public what these animals need.

It doesn't have to be worth a thousand dollars to be able to meet an ecological cause.