Conservation and Biodiversity
Endangered Animals Now Thriving
December 4, 2025
It is estimated that there are roughly 8.7 million different animal species on planet Earth and while only 2 million have been fully described, they all play a part in the planet’s success.
Pollinators like butterflies, honeybees, birds and bats are the driving force behind plant reproduction itself. They don’t just help flowers bloom — they make pollination happen, which allows plants and trees to form fruit, seeds, nuts, driving entire new generations of growth. Birds and bats also keep insect populations in balance, protecting the very plants they help sustain. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly three-quarters of all flowering plants and about 35% of global food crops depend on animal pollinators. Without them, the fruits, seeds, and food systems we rely on would collapse.
It’s not just pollinators, other species contribute to the balance and stability of our ecosystem in ways we often don’t even realize. Beavers, for example, engineer entire waterways with their dams, creating wetlands that filter water, prevent floods, and support fish, birds, and countless other species.Predators like wolves help control herbivore populations, like deer, elk, and moose, and prevent overgrazing, allowing forests and grasslands to recover.
Termites, often dismissed as pests, build underground tunnels that aerate soil, improve water flow, and help plants survive in dry climates. Vultures quickly clear carcasses, preventing the spread of diseases like rabies and anthrax—outbreaks that rise when vulture numbers fall. Elephants reshape landscapes by opening forests into grasslands and dispersing seeds over vast distances, with some plants germinating only after passing through their digestive system. Every creature, no matter how overlooked, plays a vital role in keeping ecosystems healthy and balanced.
Today is World Wildlife Conservation Day —a perfect reminder of just how invaluable animals are to our planet. In celebration, let’s explore three species that, thanks to conservation efforts, are no longer considered endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
Soaring High: The Bald Eagle
The bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, has been synonymous as a symbol of the United States since 1782, with its image prominently featured on the nation’s Great Seal and official documents. Representing strength, freedom, and resilience, the bald eagle has become an enduring icon of the United States itself. It was not until 2024, however, that the species was officially designated as the United States’ national bird, when President Joe Biden signed it into law.
The Founding Fathers made an appropriate choice when they selected the bald eagle as the emblem of the nation. The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America. But as latter-day citizens we shall fail our trust if we permit the eagle to disappear.
President John F. Kennedy, letter to the Audubon Society, 1961
By the mid-1900s, bald eagles were in trouble across much of their range in North America, stretching from Alaska and Canada, down through the contiguous United States, and into northern Mexico. Their decline was driven by habitat loss, illegal shootings, and the widespread use of DDT, a pesticide that contaminated the fish they relied on for food and caused dangerously thin eggshells, severely reducing reproduction.
DDT was used in the U.S. from the 1940s to 60s to control mosquitoes and other insects. But DDT’s residue washed into waterways and was absorbed by fish. Because fish are bald eagles’ main source of food, many eagles became poisoned after ingesting contaminated fish.
The Bald Eagle Protection Act, passed in 1940, prohibited the killing, selling, or possession of the bird’s parts, nests, and eggs. However, it wasn’t until 1962, with the publication of Rachel Carson’s seminal book Silent Spring, that the issue became a national outrage. Carson’s work exposed the destructive effects of pesticides like DDT on wildlife, the environment, and human health. In 1962, an amendment expanded the law to include the golden eagle, and it was renamed the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA).
By 1963, only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles were known to exist.
It wasn’t until 1972 that the Environmental Protection Agency took the historic step of banning DDT in the United States. The Endangered Species Act (ESA), passed in 1973, further protected the bald eagle, listing it as endangered throughout the lower 48 states in 1978, (except in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin, where it was listed as threatened). The ESA helped kickstart the species’ recovery through captive breeding, reintroduction programs, and nest-site protection during the breeding season.By 2007, the species was officially delisted from the ESA, with an estimated 9,789 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. By 2020, that number had climbed to an impressive 71,400 nesting pairs.
Nature’s Secret Gardener: The Green Sea Turtle
Recently, the green sea turtle, which you may recognize from their memorable role in Finding Nemo, has been reclassified from endangered to least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). The least concern category entails species that are not threatened by extinction and are abundant in the wild.
Green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, have bounced back by about 28% since the 1970s, and their comeback matters for more than just their survival. These turtles are the ocean’s gardeners, grazing on seagrass to keep meadows healthy and productive—benefiting countless other marine species. They’ve long faced threats from hunting, egg collection, and habitat loss, so protecting them isn’t just about saving a species; it’s about keeping entire tropical marine ecosystems in balance.
Conservation initiatives for this species focus on protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches, community-based efforts to lower the unsustainable harvesting of turtles and their eggs for human consumption and using Turtle Excluder Devices to mitigate accidental captures of turtles in fishing nets. Such practices in Brazil, Mexico, Hawai’i and Ascension Island, located in the middle of the tropical south Atlantic, have all proven to be successful.
In Florida this past August, 61,708 green sea turtle nests were produced, making it the second highest total on record.
The ongoing global recovery of the green turtle is a powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve to stabilise and even restore populations of long-lived marine species. Such approaches must focus not only on the turtles, but on keeping their habitats healthy, and their ecological functions intact. Sea turtles cannot survive without healthy oceans and coasts, and humans can’t either. Sustained conservation efforts are key to assuring that this recovery lasts.
Roderic Mast, Co-Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group
While this global resurgence in green turtle numbers activity is strong, there are still significantly less green turtles, compared to the species’ abundance prior to European colonization. Climate change has also shown to negatively impact green turtle habitats, specifically nesting beaches.
So work to protect this species cannot waiver or slow down.
Meet the Giant Panda
The giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, is native exclusively to the bamboo forests of the mountainous regions of Southwestern China, particularly in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. This famous mammal was reclassified by the IUCN from endangered to vulnerable in 2016. This means that while this species still faces a high risk of extinction, unless conditions affecting their survival improve, it is no longer imminently endangered.
The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries in China were designated as UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites in 2006, reflecting the ongoing efforts to preserve and protect the species and the natural habitats they need to survive.
While the giant panda population is currently increasing, it is projected that climate change will reduce more than 35% of their bamboo habitat in the next 80 years as warmer temperatures and unpredictable weather interrupt bamboo growth patterns. Given that bamboo makes up 99% of their diet this is a serious concern for panda numbers.
Deforestation and human encroachment, mainly from agricultural expansion, are also impacting their habitats. As of 2024, the global captive giant panda population sits at 757, while an estimated 1,900 survive in the wild in China.
Protecting pandas is protecting Mother Nature, and embracing pandas is embracing peace and friendship.
Xie Feng, 12th Ambassador of China to the United States
Take Action for Animals
Please join the EARTH DAY movement and help us to keep shining a light on these important stories. Plus, if you want to do more – take 2 minutes and please help us save two captive orcas — Wikie and her son Keijo, along with 12 bottlenose dolphins — all of them are at risk right now in a crumbling and closed marine park in France.
In 2021, France passed a law banning whales and dolphins from being held in captivity to perform in entertainment shows. This led to the park’s closure in early 2025. However these animals have continued to be housed in dangerous conditions, as their tanks fill with algae and the integrity of their concrete tanks seems to be in question with sediment leaking into the water they are swimming in.
Thousands of people responded and wrote to France’s President to uphold the country’s promise of ceasing marine captivity and to find a stable and safe home for these animals. We urge you to add your voice to this campaign too. Add your voice to actors and animal campaigners, Corey Feldman Feldman and William Shatner, and ask President Macron to step up and save Wikie, Keijo and the dolphins.
Wikie and Keijo, do not have the luxury of time. We urge you to share their story and make sure the world knows what is happening
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