Saiga Antelope

 Saiga's are a relic of the last ice age, and roamed Central Asia alongside mammoths and sabre tooth tigers.  Now, these antelopes are critically endangered  on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a 95% decline in its population size since 1995, caused by uncontrolled poaching in the aftermath of the break-up of the Soviet Union. It has only five populations, which are found in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia

 

In June 2010. Nearly 12,000 Critically Endangered Saiga antelopes have been found dead in the Ural population in western  Kazakhstan, Exactly one year later, people found 450 new dead bodies followed by another 1000 deaths .Although the deaths are currently being ascribed to the bacteria pasteurellosis, the underlying trigger remains to be identified. Pasteurellosis is caused by a bacterium that lives naturally in healthy individuals, but can cause acute illness and rapid death if the animal's immune system is compromised, either by another infection, poisoning, stress or malnutrition. Some ecologist points the cause of the death may be due to the  chemicals from launches at the Baikonur space-launch site in central Kazakhstan

Sumatran Tiger

The Sumatran Tiger is a rare tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008.The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving member of the Sunda Islands group of tigers that included the now extinct Bali tiger and Javan tiger.As late as 1978, experts estimated the population of Sumatran tigers at 1,000. Today fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers exist.

Sumatran tigers are the smallest surviving tiger subspecies and are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange coats. They are protected by law in Indonesia, with tough provisions for jail time and steep fines. But despite increased efforts in tiger conservation—including law enforcement and anti-poaching capacity a substantial market remains in Sumatra and the rest of Asia for tiger parts and products. Sumatran tigers are losing their habitat and prey fast, and poaching shows no sign of decline.

Amur Leopard

The Amur leopard is the world's most endangered big cat, with as few as 25 individuals now surviving in the Russian Far East. This population is in grave danger of extinction due to various factors including ongoing development in the region, logging activity, hunters and poachers in the forests, forest fires, inbreeding depression due to low genetic diversity within the remaining leopard population, the potential for disease transmission from domestic animals and environmental disasters.

Many specialists consider the Amur leopard to be the most beautiful of all the leopard species, with its long winter coat the Amur leopard is well adapted to the harsh climate of the Amur-Ussuri region. The hairs of its summer coat are 2.5 cm long, in the winter they grow to 7 cm long. In some ways, it is reminiscent of the Snow leopard. Apart from its long winter coat the Amur leopard is easily told apart from other leopard subspecies by it large rosettes and vibrant color. Its prey animals are mainly hares, roe and sika deer, badgers and raccoon dogs

Amur leopards caught on camera trap

Today, the Amur leopard inhabits about 5,000 km². The last remaining viable wild population, estimated 20-25 individuals, is found in a small area in the Russian Province of Primorsky Krai, between Vladivostok and the Chinese border. In adjacent China, 7-12 scattered individuals are estimated to remain. In South Korea, the last record of an Amur leopard dates back to 1969, when a leopard was captured on the slopes of Odo Mountain, in South Kyongsang Province.

Arabian leopard

The Arabian leopard ,the second most highly endangered large cat on Earth classified as critically by IUCN since 1996, is up to 30 times rarer than the Bengal tiger. There are probably fewer than 100 wild Arabian leopards left in widely scattered populations in Oman and Yemen and, 'Unless drastic action is taken across their range, I'm afraid that the Arabian leopard is not going to make it. These beautiful cats are also the smallest of all the nine subspecies of leopard and most genetically distinct of all leopard subspecies. Adult females can weigh less than 20 kg and even a "big" male is smaller than the average German shepherd