1. Lion

Over the next 20 years, it is estimated that half of the lion population will disappear from Earth. These animals gained protective laws only last year, after a few decades of extermination. Today there are just over 34, 000 lions in the world, and if something is not done urgently, it is believed that by 2050 there are no more left to tell history! Sport hunting, retaliation by farmers for the death of cattle, and shrinking natural habitat are the main threats to lions.

By 2050, Lions may be extinct

2. American Pika

This small, rabbit-like rodent inhabits mountains in western North America, where the cold is most intense. They are so adapted to this that they can die if they are exposed to more than 25 degrees Celsius for a long time. Earth's climate change is raising the temperature just where American pikas live, putting the entire population at risk - so much so that they have already lost 1/3 of their original habitat and have nowhere to flee.

Small rodent threatened by rising global temperature

3. Polar bear

Global warming also endangers the survival of polar bears, which are expected to have 2/3 of their population decimated by 2050 - in the best projections. In addition to shrinking their habitat, their natural prey is becoming scarce, further increasing the risk of their extinction.

Meltdown and climate change threaten the lives of polar bears

4. African elephant

Between 2010 and 2013, Africa lost an average of 7% of the entire African elephant population each year. This puts the species in disastrous projections, possibly extinct as early as 2020! The main cause of the disappearance of these animals is illegal hunting for ivory removal. The extinction of elephants would not only impact the species itself: many more would be endangered if they allowed it.

4 years from now, elephants could disappear

5. Amur Leopard

In 2007, there were only 30 individuals of this leopard species on earth. A worldwide effort has doubled that number to 65 animals by 2015 - 57 of them live in a national park in Russia. Even so, the amur leopard is still in serious danger of extinction, even though it has a claw to continue to exist.

Amur leopard population doubled in 8 years, but species remains threatened

6. Mountain Gorilla

In the African mountains, less than 900 animals of this gorilla species are still alive. Deforestation and human diseases such as influenza and pneumonia are the main factors in reducing the number of these animals that are at risk of disappearing. To make matters worse, this species lives in small groups, which increases the chance of inbreeding - relationship between relatives - and thus a smaller genetic variety, something normally harmful to species.

Human diseases have affected the mountain gorilla population

7. Siberian Tiger

In the 1940s, there were fewer than 40 Siberian tigers in the world. Rehabilitation to this day is difficult, as reconstituting a species from a few individuals creates a small genetic variety, putting them at risk if any disease appears. There are currently more than 500 individuals of this species released in the wild, but scientists consider only 14 because of this lack of genetic variety.

Little Genetic Variety Still Keeps Siberian Tigers Endangered