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Last One

In the United States, as elsewhere, stopping the countdown to extinction means preserving healthy habitat—the aim of the celebrated and scorned Endangered Species Act.

/2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-01-ocelot-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-01.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the San Diego Zoo OCELOT (Leopardus pardalis)
195 (Estimated U.S. population is fewer than 100 wild, 95 captive)

Wild ocelots are gone from all U.S. states except Texas, driven out by human development. The elusive cats still roam the wilds of Central and South America, but there's little reliable data on their true numbers.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198172 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-02-sparrow-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-02.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Florida Museum of Natural History/University of Florida DUSKY SEASIDE SPARROW (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens)
Extinct

Slipping into extinction almost unnoticed, the dusky seaside sparrow—found mainly on Florida's Merritt Island—declined from some 3,000 pairs to none as its salt marsh habitat was sprayed with DDT and taken over for use by the space program. The last dusky died in 1987.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198162 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-03-rabbit-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-03.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Oregon Zoo PYGMY RABBIT (Brachylagus idahoensis)

Bryn the pygmy rabbit died in 2008, months after this photograph was made. Though her species survives, the genetically distinct Columbia Basin population to which she belonged does not. Responsible for its downturn: conversion of sagebrush habitat to agriculture. Conservationists hope a breeding program will salvage part of the genome.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198175 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-04-toad-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-04.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kansas PUERTO RICAN CRESTED TOAD (Peltophryne lemur)
2,400 (Estimated 500 to 2,000 wild and 400 captive)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198149 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-05-campion-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-05.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed with permission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Athens, Georgia FRINGED CAMPION (Silene polypetala)
10,700 (Estimated 5,500 to 10,700 patches)

A true habitat specialist of the forest understory, the fringed campion requires very specific soil, chemical, and light conditions to thrive, and occurs in only 37 locations in Florida and Georgia. What harms hardwood groves—logging, invasive plants, overbrowsing by deer—harms these beauties as well. Says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Pete Pattavina, "Globally, the entire habitat occupied by this species could probably fit in a few big-box-store parking lots."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198157 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-06-bobwhite-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-06.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Phoenix Zoo, Arizona MASKED BOBWHITE(Colinus virginianus ridgwayi)
700 (Nearly extinct in the wild, some 700 captive)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198167 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-07-fox-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-07.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at Middle Ranch Veterinary Field Clinic, Santa Catalina, California SANTA CATALINA ISLAND FOX (Urocyon littoralis catalinae)
572]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198171 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-08-yellow-turtle-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-08.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Tennessee Aquarium YELLOW-BLOTCHED MAP TURTLE (Graptemys flavimaculata)
Estimated 50,000]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198181 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-09-loggerhead-turtle-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-09.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia, South Carolina LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE (Caretta caretta)
90,000

Biologists tally nests, not individuals. Some 47,000 to 90,000 nests were counted each year on the Atlantic Coast over the past decade.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198161 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-10-fish-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-10.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at Conservation Fisheries, Knoxville, Tennessee BOULDER DARTER (Etheostoma wapiti)
4,100 (Estimated 3,500 wild and 600 captive)

Known from a single river and one major tributary in the southern United States, boulder darters appear to be swimming against the current. Breeding efforts aim to reestablish a key population that died out more than a century ago. Myriad species of small fish have been hard-hit by dams and other changes to natural hydrology, and by sediment pollution from development, cattle grazing, and agricultural runoff. They are also very tough to monitor, so population estimates are wobbly. ]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198154 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-11-fly-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-11.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed in Colton, California, with permission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service DELHI SANDS FLOWER-LOVING FLY (Rhaphiomidas terminatus abdominalis)
Fewer than 1,000

No flies were harmed in the making of this photograph of a Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, the only fly so far listed under the Endangered Species Act. It took photographer Joel Sartore three months to get the permit required to capture, photograph, and release a single fly from its threatened sand dune habitat in California. Three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists oversaw the process, which took about 20 minutes, start to finish. "It was the most nerve-racking experience of the whole shoot," says Sartore. "Such scrutiny. . . . I was nervous we'd do the wrong thing, harm the fly, or miss the shot."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198170 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-12-goose-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-12.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Great Plains Zoo, Sioux Falls, South Dakota HAWAIIAN GOOSE (Branta sandvicensis)
2,100 (Estimated 2,000 wild and 100 captive)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198150 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-13-woodpecker-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-13.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the North Carolina Zoo RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER (Picoides borealis)
Estimated 12,210 breeding birds]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198160 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-14-leopard-frog-475.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-14.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Phoenix Zoo, Arizona CHIRICAHUA LEOPARD FROG (Lithobates chiricahuensis)
Estimated 5,000 adults]]> /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-15-yellowfin-fish-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-15.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at Conservation Fisheries, Knoxville, Tennessee YELLOWFIN MADTOM (Noturus flavipinnis)
5,800 (Estimated 5,000 wild and 800 captive)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198155 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-16-wolverine-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-16.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park WOLVERINE (Gulo gulo)

Though not officially listed, some 300 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198174 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-17-red-squirrel-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-17.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum MOUNT GRAHAM RED SQUIRREL (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis)
300 ]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198168 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-18-blue-butterfly-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-18.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville PALOS VERDES BLUE BUTTERFLY (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis)
4,300 (Estimated 300 wild and 4,000 captive)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198163 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-19-blind-salamander-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-19.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Detroit Zoological Society, Michigan TEXAS BLIND SALAMANDER (Eurycea rathbuni)
1,150 (150 captive, estimated 100 to 1,000 wild)]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198165 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-20-polar-bear-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-20.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Tulsa Zoo, Oklahoma POLAR BEAR (Ursus maritimus)
Estimated 3,500 in Alaska

Beasts without boundaries, polar bears journey across the ice and through the seas from Russia to Alaska, Canada to Greenland, and onto the Svalbard archipelago. Once most threatened by hunters, the bears, which number some 22,000 across their range, are now being stressed by melting sea ice due to climate change. Populations are declining in some areas, and distribution is changing across the north.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198176 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-21-owl-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-21.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Wildlife Center, Española, New Mexico MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL (Strix occidentalis lucida)
Estimated 1,000 to 2,000]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198147 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-22-pyne's-ground-plum-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-22.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens State Natural Area, Tennessee PYNE'S GROUND-PLUM (Astragalus bibullatus)
Estimated 2,500 to 3,000 plants]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198156 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-23-tortoise-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-23.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science GOPHER TORTOISE (Gopherus polyphemus)

Gopher tortoises in the southeastern U.S. often end up as roadkill. Invasive fire ants and armadillos also prey on their eggs and young, while urban expansion, land conversion for pine plantations, and fire mismanagement degrade tortoise habitat, pushing these reptiles closer to the edge.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198179 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-24-beach-mouse-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-24.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed with permission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ALABAMA BEACH MOUSE (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates)

The Alabama beach mouse ekes out a living on a 14-mile stretch of the state's Fort Morgan Peninsula, where its dune habitat is fragmented by construction and lit up at night. Habitat saved under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) prevented these nocturnal mice from going the way of the dodo.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198178 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-25-condor-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-25.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Phoenix Zoo, Arizona CALIFORNIA CONDOR (Gymnogyps californianus)
336 (156 wild, 180 captive)

They survived the Ice Age, but condors barely held out against Homo sapiens. Many of these scavengers were shot or poisoned by fragments of lead left behind by hunters. In 1985 just nine wild birds remained. Captive breeding and reduced use of lead ammunition have brought the species back.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198148 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-26-american-beetle-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-26.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the St. Louis Zoo, Missouri AMERICAN BURYING BEETLE (Nicrophorus americanus)
25,000

American burying beetles like dark, undisturbed areas rich in carrion. Nature's undertakers, they bury dead animals to feed their young. Their range is down from 35 states to 9; numbers are falling too.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198153 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-27-woodland-caribou-475.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-27.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the New York State Zoo WOODLAND CARIBOU (Rangifer tarandus caribou)
40 in the lower 48 states

Reliant on now scant old-growth forest, woodland caribou are nearly absent from the lower 48 states. Just a few holdouts still cross from Canada into northern Idaho and Washington.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198173 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-28-whooping-crane-475.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-28.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, New Orleans WHOOPING CRANE (Grus americana)
538 (387 wild, 151 captive)

Captive breeding, migration training, and the ESA have saved the whooping crane. Still troubling: development along migration routes and reduced genetic diversity from earlier population crashes.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198164 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-29-grizzly-bear-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-29.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kansas GRIZZLY BEAR (Ursus arctos horribilis)
1,500 in the lower 48 states

Shielded by the ESA, grizzlies are returning to old haunts while conservationists work to reconnect remaining habitat blocks in the northern Rockies. Humans nearly felled these bears: Montana grizzly expert Chris Servheen reckons that between 1920 and 1940 fewer than 300 existed in the lower 48 states.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198177 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-30-bog-turtle-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-30.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at Zoo Atlanta BOG TURTLE (Clemmys muhlenbergii)
18,100 (Estimates range from 14,500 to 18,100)

The palm-size bog turtle, smallest in the country, now survives mostly on private lands. Adapted to soggy soils, the species suffers where wetlands are filled or groundwater is diverted.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198158 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-31-beach-mouse-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-31.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed with permission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ST. ANDREW BEACH MOUSE (Peromyscus polionotus peninsularis)
6,000 (Estimates range from 3,500 to 6,000)

"The world wouldn't crumble without them," says biologist Sandra Sneckenberger, "but they're indicators of ecosystem health." In faltering numbers, St. Andrew beach mice survive in Florida on dune habitat in public and private hands. If both sides can work together, Sneckenberger says, the mice just might beat the odds.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198159 /2009/01/endangered-species/img/endangered-species-32-gray-wolf-714.jpg /2009/01/endangered-species/img/species-60-32.jpg Photograph by Joel Sartore; photographed at the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center, Eureka, Missouri MEXICAN GRAY WOLF (Canis lupus baileyi)
320 (60 wild, 260 captive)

Still on shaky ground, the Mexican gray wolf, an endangered subspecies, is slowly increasing in number in Arizona and New Mexico thanks to captive breeding.]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1198152