1. AUSTIN BLIND SALAMANDER
Photo credit: USFWS
- Status: Endangered
- Austin blind salamanders are found only in the subterranean caves that feed into Barton Springs in Austin, Texas. As their name suggests, these rare amphibians who spend their life in the dark can’t see. They have spots where their eyes would be, but those spots can’t actually form images. Although they’ve adapted to live in total darkness, their underground existence can’t protect them from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides that pollute their habitat. Drought and ground water pumping for a growing human population are also drying up the springs they call home, making it even harder for this unique species to survive.
2. CAROLINA MADTOM
Photo credit: Richard Biggins / USFWS
- Status: Endangered
- The Carolina madtom is a small but fierce catfish that lives in rivers in southeastern North Carolina in the Tar River Basin. Madtoms can sting potential predators with their pectoral spines, but their natural defenses are no match for human expansion. Unfortunately this feisty fish has already disappeared from over 80% of its habitat because runoff and sediment from logging and urbanization have flooded the rock crevices where they nest and feed on insect larvae.
3. FLORIDA PANTHER
- Status: Endangered
- Florida panthers are one of the few large felines found in the United States. These big cats need big territories to hunt -- males can roam up to 200 to 250 square miles. While they used to roam much of the southeast, they are now limited to only about 5% of their historic range in a small part of southern Florida. Roads and highways constructed to serve a growing human population fragment the habitat of these majestic cats, isolating individuals and populations. Those that attempt to cross the busy roads often fall victim to vehicle collisions.
4. KENTUCKY GLADE CRESS
Photo credit: James Gruhala / USFWS
- Status: Threatened
- Kentucky glade cress is a small, white flower that grows in cedar glades in only two counties in Kentucky and nowhere else on Earth. Development driven by human population growth, along with livestock grazing and off-road vehicles, contribute to habitat degradation for this fragile and beautiful species.
5. LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE
- Status: Endangered
- Loggerhead sea turtles are named for their large heads with strong jaws that allow them to eat hard-shelled prey. They’re intrepid travelers, making an incredible migration of thousands of miles between nesting beaches. But that migration is cut short for hundreds of loggerheads each year who get tangled and drown in fishing lines and nets we use to feed our growing population.
6. MOAPA DACE
Photo credit: USFWS
- Status: Endangered
- The moapa dace is a small fish with a leathery appearance found only in Nevada. Its home is limited to just two miles of the upper Muddy River — a fraction of its original range. When first discovered in 1938, the dace was considered common. But the side effects of population pressure, like rapid development and depletion of the aquifers that feed the warm springs they call home, now threaten this fish’s survival.
7. MONARCH BUTTERFLY
- Status: Candidate for protection
- The monarch butterfly is an iconic species that was once commonly found in backyards across the country. Multiple generations of the orange and black butterfly migrate together each year between the northern United States and Mexico. But the growing pressures of urban development, pesticides and climate change have devastated monarch populations. The native plants that feed the monarch are being replaced with monoculture crops to feed livestock, and the pesticides used on these crops harm the butterflies.
8. TUCSON SHOVEL-NOSED SNAKE
Photo credit: USGS
- Status: In need of protection
- The Tucson shovel-nosed snake is a small, colorful, non-venomous snake that makes the most of its size. It lives in the upper Sonoran Desert and has adapted to swim through the sandy soils using its spade-shaped mouth. Unfortunately, 80% of Arizona’s growing human population lives in the Sonoran Desert too. These snakes protect themselves from predators by curling into a tight ball, but with almost three-quarters of their habitat lost to agriculture and urban sprawl, they’re being squeezed out of their core range.
9. WESTERN BURROWING OWL
Photo credit: Kevin Cole
- Status: In need of protection
- Burrowing owls are a bit of an anomaly as you’ll find them nesting in the ground rather than high up in the trees like other birds. They like to take over abandoned rodent burrows and, unlike other owls, are often active day and night. Unfortunately, their ground-dwelling habits put them at a greater risk for disturbance by humans. That risk is exacerbated by sprawl in southern California that continues to encroach upon the burrowing owl’s habitat. Once common in the region, by the early 2000s, urban development had nearly wiped out the breeding population from the entire California coast.
10. BLACK BEAR
Black Bear
- Status: Common but sometimes in conflict with people
- Black bears have become the poster child for human-wildlife conflict, even though they usually prefer to avoid people. As urban sprawl from population pressure continues to encroach on their habitat, there are increasing reports of dumpster diving bears taking advantage of the easy access they have to human food. Attacks are rare, but as these bears continue to become desensitized to people, the likelihood of negative interactions increases and the bears often pay with their lives.