Backyard Action Hero Toyota Backyard Action Hero Guidebook August 2016 | Page 11

Asian Elephant
• Asian Elephants are endangered due to loss
of habitat and conflict with people. This is the
result of cities growing into their habitat.
• In 1900, there were 200,000 Asian elephants.
Today, there are only 35,000 to 40,000
elephants left in the remnant wild.
• They are now extinct along the Iranian coast,
Java, and most of China.

Status: Endangered
Ring-tailed Lemurs
• Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered due
to expanding farmlands needed for cattle
pastures and crop planting.
• The lemurs now inhabit small patches of the
forests in Madagascar in very small numbers.
• The forests are still getting smaller yearly due
to burning to create pastureland.

Status: Endangered
Orangutans

Status: Critically Endangered

• Known as gardeners of the forest. They
scatter seeds, which is important to the
health of the forest ecosystem.
• The population is about 25 percent of what
it was one century ago.
• Habitat loss is the greatest threat to
orangutans. Forests have been cleared and
the land used for palm oil — a product that
is found in more than half of packaged
products in supermarkets.

Black-Footed Ferret
• The black-footed ferret was considered
extinct until a small population was
discovered in Wyoming in 1981.
• The Louisville Zoo participates in the BlackFooted Ferret Recovery Program and has
produced over 1000 kits (newborn ferrets).
• As of August 2014, there were 300 to 600
surviving ferrets in the remnant wild.

Status: Endangered