Thanks to environmental pollution, global warming and poaching, many of the wild animals across the Earth are slowly making their way to the endangered list. Some of the wild animals in the world have also become extinct and now we can only see their photographs in books.

No doubt the rarest animal in the world is a species of tortoise known as the Pinta Island tortoise. This is tortoise is found in the Galapagos Islands and there is just a single tortoise surviving. This tortoise is named Lonesome George. George was discovered on 1 December 1971 by Joseph Vagvolgi, a snail biologist. It is estimated that George is around 70 to 90 years old. He is presently living under the aegis of the Charles Darwin Research Station. Researchers have tried to mate George with couple of female tortoises, but this experiment was not successful as the resultant eggs did not hatch. In fact, if anyone discovers a female Pinta Island tortoise, he or she can expect a reward of $10,000.

Here are some of the rare animals in the world that need to be protected or they will be lost forever:

The Baiji or the Yangtze river dolphin is another of the rarest animal in the world. It is estimated that there are just 15 to 20 dolphins remaining in the wild. Unfortunately this species of dolphin has become a victim of the economic growth that China has seen. It has become extinct because of construction of barrages and dams across China.

The Vancouver Island marmot is found in British Columbia in Vancouver Island. In the year 1998, there were just 75 of these animals surviving in the wild and this prompted the government to begin a breeding program to prevent the Vancouver Island marmot from becoming extinct. While there are about 90 marmots in captivity, it is estimated that in the wild there are just 30. However, the number of marmots in captivity is increasing and it may soon be possible to introduce these animals into the wild to increase their numbers.

Java rhino is found just in Vietnam and Indonesia. It is estimated that there less than sixty Java rhino in the wild. The decline of this rhino started in the 1930s when poachers and hunters killed them in large numbers. These rhinos were hunted for their horns, which people believe have medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties.

The Iberian lynx is another endangered cat. In fact, it is nearly extinct as there are hardly around 100 of them remaining in the wild. The Iberian lynx is a victim of deforestation and hunting. Some of them have also keen killed while crossing roads constructed through the lynx’s habitat. It is estimated that are less than 100 Iberian lynxes surviving in the wild.

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