There are 19 animals on the World Wild fauna Fund's (WWF) critically endangered list, including iii species of rhino, seven primates and four big cats.

The South China tiger, which has not been seen in the wild for more than than 25 years and is considered "functionally extinct", is pinnacle of the list.

The South China tiger is "functionally extinct"

Epitome: REUTERS/Aly Song

While Red china outlawed tiger hunting in 1979 and alleged the Southward People's republic of china tiger's survival a conservation priority in 1995, no existing protected areas are sufficiently big, healthy or undisturbed enough to sustain viable tiger populations, WWF says.

Paradigm: WWF

On the verge of extinction

The list besides shows five species that each take fewer than 100 animals left, including the Amur leopard, of which in that location are merely most 60 remaining despite having adapted to life in eastern Russia's temperate forests.

Meanwhile, the vaquita, a type of porpoise plant simply in the northern Gulf of California, is also on the verge of extinction, mainly due to getting caught and drowned in gillnets used in illegal fishing operations. WWF estimates in that location are now fewer than 30 vaquita left.

Mixed fortunes for rhino species

The Javan rhinoceros is besides critically endangered and is the most threatened of the v rhino species, with merely 58 to 68 individuals left – all of which are idea to live in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia.

Typically killed by trophy hunters during the European colonial period, Javan rhinos also endure from low genetic variety and inbreeding, which WWF predicts could make it difficult for the long-term survival of the species.

Despite this, major conservation efforts in recent years have brought back several other species of rhino from the signal of extinction, including the black rhino. And while the black rhino is yet considered critically endangered, its numbers take doubled from an celebrated low 20 years ago to between 5,042 and 5,455 today.

Similarly, the southern subspecies of the white rhino, which was thought to exist extinct in the late 19th century, has seen numbers surge to betwixt 19,600 and 21,000 today, meaning it is now classified every bit "near threatened".

The aforementioned, still, cannot be said for its northern cousin. To combat nigh extinction, the last remaining northern white rhinoceros, Sudan, joined dating app Tinder last year as function of fundraising efforts by conservationists.

Northern white rhinos are close to extinction

Image: REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Creating protected areas

Fortunately, conservation is now a major priority around the earth, with some governments taking an active function in protecting animals.

Concluding yr Mexico designated the Revillagigedo Archipelago, located 390 km (242 miles) southeast of the Baja California peninsula, as a marine park, making it the largest ocean reserve in North America.

The park, which is roughly the size of Illinois, is designed for the conservation of giant rays, whales and turtles, including dozens of species owned to the area.

Meanwhile, the government of the Democracy of Chad recently signed a new understanding with African Parks for the management and protection of an expanded territory of critical conservation areas. These include peripheral reserves Siniaka Minia, Bahr-Salamat and adjoining wild animals corridors to create the Greater Zakouma Functional Ecosystem.

More than investment is needed

Despite these and other conservation efforts, poorly protected areas remain a serious concern. A new study by WWF of over 100 tiger conservation areas reveals just 13% meet global standards, for instance.

The majority of these sites are in Southeast Asia, where tigers have suffered the most dramatic refuse in the past decade, WWF says. According to the report, depression investment from governments is i of the principal reasons for the lack of management of these protected areas.

"Unless governments commit to sustained investments in the protection of these sites, tiger populations may confront the catastrophic refuse that they have suffered over the last few decades," warns Michael Baltzer, chairman of the executive commission of Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) project.