Endangered Animals

In honor of the release of the new Naked Brothers Band movie, "Polar Bears," we're pleased to add 12 new natnalex.com avatars. The avatars represent animals whose existence is threatened by destruction of habitats, hunting, or climate changes. We hope that including these avatars on natnalex.com will help you to become more interested in ways you can help protect their futures.

Polar Bear. Polar bears need ice to walk across when they hunt for food. As their icy habitat disappears, the survival of the polar bear is at risk.

Iberian Lynx. The Iberian lynx may soon be the first cat species to become extinct for at least 2,000 years because of habitat loss and the disappearance of food.

Poison Dart Frog. Poison dart frogs live in the Amazon tropical rain forest. Rapid deforestation threatens the Amazon and these beautiful creatures.

Elephant. Elephants in Africa and Asia face competition with humans for habitat and from hunters, who trade their ivory tusks illegally.

Tiger. The largest of cats is found in from India to China and from Russia to Indonesia. Tigers are hunted for their beautiful fur, and their habitat and natural prey are threatened.

Scarlet Macaw. The beautiful feathers of these Amazonian birds make them a popular species in the illegal pet trade, which has devastated populations of wild exotic birds.

Reef Fish. Coral reefs are home to thousands of species of fish, mollusks, dolphins, whales, turtles, corals, and more. Fish species are threatened by overfishing and habitat destruction.

Marine Turtle. Marine turtles are threatened by the loss of nesting and feeding habitats, excessive egg-collection, fishery-related mortality, pollution, and coastal development.

Shark. The habitat of sharks, as well as their prey, are threatened by development and overfishing. Sharks also fall victim to hunters, who trade their fins illegally.

Penguin. Penguins face destruction of nesting habitats, competition with fishermen for food, predators that eat their eggs and young, and global warming.

American Bison. Hunting has reduced the number of bison to less than a half million. Efforts to increase the number in the wild are needed to save this species.

Orangutan. The numbers of wild orangutans have declined continuously with the loss of forest habitat through logging and agriculture, and orangutans are threatened with extinction.

To find out more about threatened species and find out what people are doing to help save them, visit the World Wildlife Fund.