Pixiq

WWF have listed 10 animal species that were on the brink of extinction before habitat protection, hunting control and captive breeding programs helped to redress the balance. Photography plays an important part in public awareness of endangered species – both in their native countries and worldwide.  

The species are:

 1 Amur tiger

2 Gray Whale

3 Southern White Rhinoceros

4 Black Rhinoceros

5 African Savannah Elephant

6 Mountain Gorilla

7 Saiga

8 Indian Rhinoceros

9 Golden Lion Tamarind

10 Przewalski's Horse

 More images of Amur tigers can be seen here.

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 The saiga has to be the most bizarre antelope with a large fleshy nose that wobbles back and forth as it runs. It is thought to warm up cold air before it enters the lungs and also to function as a dust filter. The most northern of all antelopes, it is hunted for fur, meat, and horns.

Once widespread across Central Asia, over a million saiga antelopes roamed over Kazakhstan and Russian as recently as 1993. After male saiga horn became used as an alternative to rhino horn in Chinese TCM, wild saiga become extinct in China in the 1960s.Then males in Russia and Kazakhstan were hunted using motorcycles and high-powered weapons and within a decade, the saiga population had plummeted by 97%. From 1988-1991, eight saiga were transferred from zoos in Germany and the USA to the Gansu Endangered Wildlife Breeding Centre, where they are being bred for release back into the wild.  By 2007, this captive bred herd totaled 52 animals

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The Greater one-horned Asian Rhinoceros was once found within the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, but trophy hunting and the bounty tea growers placed on rhino heads caused their populations to plummet. A century ago, hunting ceased and today this rhino can be seen in several parks, including Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park.

I have photographed these rhinos in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, where elephant safaris are organized. The elevated seat is perfect for viewing rhinos and other wildlife above the tall clumps of elephant grass. Before clambering up onto an elephant you have to have everything at the ready (there is no chance to go back to get spare batteries or another memory card).

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Wild Przewalski's horses once lived in Europe and Asia, but this ancestor of the domestic horses became extinct in the wild in the 1960s.  Fortunately, many zoos had captive animals, so extensive captive breeding programs were possible and some horses have been reintroduced to Mongolia.

Many more endangered species in China can be seen in my latest book Exploring Natural China which has a special section Back from the Brink.