100 thousand Cheetahs at the start of the 20th century. 12 thousand by the start of the 21st. The species is in critical danger of extinction, still while all other endangered animals fight for survival, by all scientific rights , the cheetahs should no longer even exist. The species decline like its on going existence remains among the animal kingdoms greatest puzzle.
At the start of the 20th century, 200 thousand elephants roams the jungle of Asia, India and Southern China. Over the years they disappeared from forest populated by their ancestors. In 1970 the species was declared endangered. Today 40 thousand Asian elephants have survived. They may become extinct.
At the start of the 20th century, there were 100 thousand Tigers in the world. In 2010 there are less than 3 thousand with only about 2/3 of this capable of reproducing. Half of the surviving animals live in India. Of 9 modern era sub species, 3 are already extinct and 2 others are in immediate danger of extinction.
It's been said that numbers can foretell the end of the world. In 1900 there were 315 thousand orangutans on the island of Sumatra and Borneo, now there are between 45 thousand and 70 thousand on the first island and less than 75 hundred on the second. Each year the numbers dwindled by another thousand. The species is in critical danger of extinction.
Symbolizing the strength and power for Pre-Colombian civilizations. Jaguars are becoming an endangered species. At one time more than 20 thousand jaguars were killed each year. They have now vanished from 1/3 of the territories they once populated. Yet the areas they continue to inhabit gave still hope of saving them from extinction.
Because they live in an ecosystem on which our planets future depends. The polar bear has become something of a symbol. Today 20 to 25 thousand polar bears live in 19 populations, with over half of these in decline. Experts predicted by 2015, 1/3 of the worlds Polar bear will vanish and yet the species resists, its fight for survival surely one of the fiercest ever between the forces of adaptation and extinction.
