Species at Risk
Filter
Florida manatees are unique and gentle marine mammals, found mainly in coastal estuaries and rivers of the Sunshine State.
Though they’re the state animal, only 100 to 160 of these big cats remain in a single population in south Florida.
Once common throughout much of western North America, the grizzly bear (also known as the brown bear) has been reduced to 2% of its historic range in the lower 48 states. A total of roughly 1,600 individuals still survive in five populations.
When habitats are threatened, so are the animals who live there.
Wildlife doesn’t stop at the U.S. border – so neither do we. We work internationally to protect wildlife species across the planet.
In the U.S.-Mexico borderlands the unique American jaguar has been virtually eliminated from its entire U.S. range, but Defenders and its partners are working hard to save remaining populations in Mexico.
Defenders works to create and share strategies to encourage peaceful coexistence between people and wildlife.
Mexican gray wolves once numbered in the thousands and roamed the wilds of the southwest. But today, after a century of persecution, only a few remain in the wild.
Named by fishermen as the “right” whale to hunt due to its tendency to swim close to shore and float when dead, the species was decimated by commercial whaling in the early twentieth century.
Today, wolves are back in the Northern Rockies thanks to a highly successful reintroduction program and dedicated conservation efforts. But the species’ recovery is far from over.