World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/why-are-sea-turtles-endangered): Why Are Sea Turtles Endangered? The Threats — and How to Help.

## Summary
Sea turtles are endangered mainly because of accidental capture (bycatch) in fishing gear, plastic and marine pollution, the loss of nesting beaches to coastal development and light, the poaching of eggs, meat and shells, and warming sand that skews hatchling sex ratios — and because only around one hatchling in a thousand survives to adulthood, populations recover very slowly.

## Excerpt
Sea turtles have survived for more than 100 million years, yet within a few human generations most species have been pushed toward extinction. Here is what is driving the decline — bycatch, plastic, poaching and lost nesting beaches — and what actually helps.

## Takeaway
Of the seven sea turtle species, the hawksbill is Critically Endangered and the green turtle is Endangered on the IUCN Red List; most species are declining.

## Takeaway
Bycatch — accidental capture in nets, trawls and on longlines — is one of the single largest causes of sea turtle deaths worldwide.

## Takeaway
Only about one hatchling in 1,000 survives to adulthood, so every nest and breeding female lost has an outsized impact.

## Takeaway
Plastic pollution, lost nesting beaches, artificial light and the illegal trade in shells and eggs all compound the pressure.

## Takeaway
Turtle-safe fishing gear, protected nesting beaches and rescue-and-rehabilitation work are proven to help — and are exactly what WARN funds through partners.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/why-are-sea-turtles-endangered): Why Are Sea Turtles Endangered? The Threats — and How to Help.

## Briefing
Sea turtles have navigated the world's oceans for more than 100 million years — outlasting the dinosaurs.

Yet within just a few human generations, most of the seven species have been pushed toward extinction.

Of those seven, the hawksbill is Critically Endangered and the green turtle Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and only around one hatchling in a thousand ever reaches adulthood.

Why are sea turtles endangered?

There is no single cause.

Sea turtles face a stack of overlapping, mostly human-made threats, and because they are slow to mature and produce so few surviving young, populations recover very slowly when they fall.

1.

Bycatch: drowned in fishing gear Accidental capture in fishing gear — known as bycatch — is one of the single largest causes of sea turtle deaths worldwide.

Turtles are air-breathing reptiles, so when they are caught in trawl nets, gillnets or on longline hooks they can drown before they are released.

Simple, proven fixes exist: turtle excluder devices in nets, circle hooks on longlines, and training for crews.

2.

Plastic and marine pollution A floating plastic bag looks almost exactly like a jellyfish — a favourite food of several turtle species.

Turtles swallow plastic that blocks their gut, and become entangled in discarded "ghost" fishing gear.

Chemical pollution and oil spills add further pressure on the feeding grounds and reefs they depend on.

3.

Lost and degraded nesting beaches Female turtles return to nest on the same beaches where they hatched.

When those beaches are built on, lit by artificial light, or eroded, females cannot nest successfully.

Hatchlings, which find the sea by heading toward the brightest horizon, are disoriented by streetlights and hotels and crawl inland instead — straight into predators, roads and exhaustion.

4.

Poaching and the illegal trade Eggs are still dug up for food, adults are taken for meat, and hawksbills in particular are killed for their shells — sold as "tortoiseshell" jewellery and ornaments.

The trade is illegal across most of the world but persists wherever enforcement is weak.

5.

A warming climate A sea turtle's sex is determined by the temperature of the sand around the eggs.

As beaches warm, far more females than males are being produced in many rookeries — a slow-motion threat to future breeding.

Rising seas and stronger storms also erode the beaches turtles depend on.

Why each individual turtle matters so much Sea turtles take decades to reach breeding age, and only around one hatchling in 1,000 survives to adulthood.

That means every breeding female, every protected nest and every rescued adult has an outsized effect on whether a population survives.

It is also why rescue and rehabilitation — returning an injured adult to the sea — is so valuable.

What actually helps Protecting nesting beaches — patrols and managed hatcheries that guard nests from poaching, predators and tides until the hatchlings reach the sea.

Reducing bycatch — turtle-safe gear and crew training so fewer turtles drown in nets and on hooks.

Rescue and rehabilitation — clinics that treat turtles injured by boats, hooks, entanglement and plastic, then release them.

Cleaner seas and stronger enforcement — cutting plastic at source and shutting down the illegal shell and egg trade.

How WARN helps — and how you can World Animal Rescue Network is a global not-for-profit animal welfare organisation — a not-for-profit, not a charity.

We do not run our own hatcheries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/why-are-sea-turtles-endangered): Why Are Sea Turtles Endangered? The Threats — and How to Help.

Instead we raise funds and make grants to, and partner with, established marine rescue teams, hatcheries and veterinary services along the coasts of WARN's partner-network countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Colombia — with wider nesting regions such as Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania kept live for education and search, so the maximum possible share of your gift reaches the turtles.

You can read the full Sea Turtle Appeal , symbolically adopt a sea turtle from £5 a month, or make a one-off donation today.

Every protected nest is another thousand-to-one chance taken.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/adopt-an-animal-as-a-gift): How to Adopt an Animal as a Gift: Symbolic Animal Adoptions Explained.

## Summary
To adopt an animal as a gift you choose a species through an animal-welfare organisation's symbolic adoption scheme and set it up as a one-off or monthly gift; the recipient receives a personalised adoption certificate and updates, while your money funds real conservation and rescue work rather than the ownership of an actual animal.

## Excerpt
A symbolic animal adoption is one of the most meaningful gifts you can give — a present that funds real frontline conservation instead of adding to the clutter. Here is how symbolic adoptions work, what the recipient gets, and how to choose one.

## Takeaway
A symbolic adoption is a donation in someone's name — you are not taking ownership of a real animal, you are funding the work that protects the species.

## Takeaway
It makes an ideal gift for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas, especially for people who already 'have everything' or care about wildlife.

## Takeaway
Recipients typically receive a personalised adoption certificate, a species fact file and regular updates from the field.

## Takeaway
With WARN you can symbolically adopt a dog, cat, elephant, tiger, orangutan or sea turtle from £5 a month.

## Takeaway
Choose a scheme that is transparent about how much of your money reaches frontline work.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/adopt-an-animal-as-a-gift): How to Adopt an Animal as a Gift: Symbolic Animal Adoptions Explained.

## Briefing
A symbolic animal adoption is one of the most meaningful gifts you can give — a present that funds real frontline conservation instead of adding to the clutter. It is ideal for the person who "has everything", for animal-loving children, and for anyone who would rather their birthday or Christmas did some good in the world. What is a symbolic animal adoption? Adopting an animal symbolically does not mean a tiger arrives at your door. It is a donation made in your name — or the name of the person you are gifting it to — that funds the rescue, veterinary care, anti-poaching and habitat work protecting that species. You are adopting the cause , not an individual animal. What does the recipient receive? With a WARN symbolic adoption, the recipient gets: A personalised digital adoption certificate (a gift-ready PDF) A species fact file and rescue story Quarterly updates from the programme A gift receipt for your records The option to dedicate the adoption as a gift, with the recipient's name on the certificate Which animals can you adopt? Through WARN you can symbolically adopt an animal from £5 a month, choosing the species whose crisis matters most to you: Adopt a dog — funding humane street dog rescue and CNVR clinics abroad. Adopt a cat — funding community cat sterilisation, vaccination and emergency care. Adopt an elephant — funding anti-snare patrols and humane human-elephant coexistence. Adopt a tiger — funding anti-poaching patrols and rescue from the illegal trade. Adopt a sea turtle — funding nest protection and bycatch reduction. Adopt an orangutan — funding rescue, rehabilitation and release. Adoption as a gift: birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas Because the certificate can carry the recipient's name, a symbolic adoption works beautifully as a present. Set it up as a one-off gift, or as a monthly adoption that keeps giving through the year. It is a popular choice for grandchildren, teachers, colleagues and the hard-to-buy-for. How to choose a good adoption scheme Not all schemes are equal. Look for one that is clear about how much of your money reaches frontline work , names the kind of work it funds, and is honest about its model. WARN is a global not-for-profit animal welfare organisation — a not-for-profit, not a charity — and we do not run our own facilities. We raise funds and make grants to, and partner with, established sanctuaries, rescue teams and veterinary services, so the maximum possible share of your gift reaches the animals. Adopting and sponsoring are closely related — if you would like to understand exactly what these gifts pay for, read our guide on how to sponsor an animal . When you are ready, you can choose an animal to adopt or make a one-off donation .


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/adopt-an-animal-as-a-gift): How to Adopt an Animal as a Gift: Symbolic Animal Adoptions Explained.

## What is a symbolic animal adoption?
It is a donation made in your or a recipient's name to support a species. You do not own, house or receive a real animal — your gift funds the rescue, veterinary care, anti-poaching and habitat work that protects animals like the one you adopt.

## What does the recipient actually receive?
Typically a personalised digital adoption certificate (gift-ready), a species fact file and rescue story, and quarterly updates. With WARN you can also dedicate the adoption as a gift with the recipient's name on the certificate.

## How much does it cost to adopt an animal as a gift?
WARN symbolic adoptions start from £5 a month, with one-off options available. You can choose a higher tier to fund more — for example a day of ranger patrol or a rapid veterinary call-out.

## Is adopting an animal the same as sponsoring one?
They are very similar terms. Both are donations that fund conservation rather than animal ownership. See our guide on how to sponsor an animal for more on what these gifts fund.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/deforestation-effects-on-animals): How Does Deforestation Affect Animals? The Real Costs of Habitat Loss.

## Summary
Deforestation affects animals by destroying and fragmenting their habitat, eliminating food sources, blocking migration routes, and driving displaced wildlife into contact with humans and traffickers — leading directly to population collapse, rescue demand, and extinction risk.

## Excerpt
Deforestation kills animals in slow motion. When forests are cleared for agriculture, logging or urban development, the effects on wildlife are immediate, cascading and often irreversible — and they are the direct cause of most of the animal rescue crises WARN responds to across Asia, Africa and South America.

## Takeaway
Habitat loss from deforestation is the single largest driver of wildlife decline globally — responsible for more species being at risk than any other factor.

## Takeaway
Habitat fragmentation — where forest is broken into isolated patches — is often more damaging long-term than outright clearance, cutting animals off from mates, food and migration routes.

## Takeaway
In Borneo, orangutans displaced by palm-oil plantation expansion are the direct source of most rescue intake at WARN's partner centres in Indonesia and Malaysia.

## Takeaway
Deforestation and wildlife trafficking are directly linked: animals forced out of forest into human settlements are far easier to capture and sell.

## Takeaway
Reforestation is proven to work, but requires sustained community-based effort and long-term funding.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/deforestation-effects-on-animals): How Does Deforestation Affect Animals? The Real Costs of Habitat Loss.

## Briefing
Deforestation kills animals in slow motion. When forests are cleared for agriculture, logging or urban development, the effects on wildlife are immediate, cascading and often irreversible — and they are the direct cause of most of the rescue crises WARN responds to across Asia, Africa and South America. The direct impacts: death, displacement and capture The most immediate effect of deforestation is outright habitat destruction. Animals living in a section of forest that is cleared face three choices: die, migrate, or adapt. Most cannot adapt quickly enough. Many cannot migrate because surrounding habitat is already degraded or fragmented. The result, for millions of individual animals every year, is death. In Indonesia and Malaysia — two of WARN's operational countries — orangutans displaced by palm-oil plantation expansion are routinely found starving in cleared land. They are injured by plantation machinery, deliberately killed by workers, or confiscated by wildlife officers. The infants of killed mothers are sold as pets. These are the animals that arrive at WARN's partner rescue centres. Habitat fragmentation: the hidden long-term killer Even when deforestation doesn't kill animals outright, it fragments their habitat into isolated patches separated by agriculture, roads and urban development. This is often more damaging in the long run than direct clearance. Isolated populations cannot interbreed , leading to inbreeding depression and lower juvenile survival. Animals cannot reach seasonal food sources when the landscape between forest patches has been converted. Released rescued animals cannot establish territories when corridors are broken — making rescue outcomes unsustainable. Disease spreads faster in stressed, crowded populations confined to reduced habitat. Human-wildlife conflict increases as animals cross into farmland in search of food, leading to retaliatory killing. Which animals suffer most? Forest-dependent specialists suffer most because they cannot easily switch habitats. Among the species WARN works to protect: Orangutans are strictly arboreal and cannot easily cross open ground. Fragmentation is catastrophic for them. Pangolins need undisturbed forest floor for their insect prey. Deforestation pushes them into cleared areas where traffickers find them easily. Indochinese tigers need 60–100 km² of contiguous forest each. Fragmented forests in Vietnam and Cambodia cannot support viable tiger populations. Amazon parrots and macaws nest in old-growth tree cavities. When those trees are cleared, nesting sites disappear entirely. African elephants require vast landscape-scale ranges. As woodland fragments in Kenya and Tanzania, elephants enter farms and deadly human-wildlife conflict follows. Deforestation and the wildlife trafficking trade There is a direct, well-documented link between deforestation and increased trafficking. As forest is cleared and animals are forced into open ground or human-adjacent areas, they become far easier to capture. In Cambodia, snares are concentrated in the last remaining forest patches — exactly where wildlife congregates and traffickers focus their effort. WARN's planned anti-trafficking work centres on its partner network in Indonesia, with regions such as Cambodia and Kenya as wider context, because deforestation has made wild animals dangerously accessible. Rescue is not enough WARN's animal rescue and anti-trafficking programmes treat the immediate crisis. But they cannot work sustainably if the habitat those animals need for release is gone. This is why WARN adopted a third community purpose specifically covering habitat protection and restoration, and why the Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds tree planting, corridor restoration and community forestry in all of our partner-network countries. Help WARN restore the habitats our rescued animals need WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds native tree planting, forest corridor protection and reforestation projects across all of our partner-network countries — giving the animals we rescue somewhere safe to return to after rehabilitation. Read the appeal or donate today to fund your first trees planted and your first corridor protected. Every pound goes directly to on-the-ground habitat work in Borneo, the Amazon, East Africa or Southeast Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/deforestation-effects-on-animals): How Does Deforestation Affect Animals? The Real Costs of Habitat Loss.

## Which animals are most affected by deforestation?
Forest-dependent specialists suffer most: orangutans, pangolins, tigers, gibbons, parrots, slow lorises and Andean bears are among the animals most directly threatened. WARN works to rescue and rehabilitate many of these species across its partner-network countries.

## How many animals die from deforestation each year?
A precise global figure cannot be calculated, but FAO data shows the world loses 10 million hectares of forest per year, and biodiversity studies estimate that habitat loss drives population declines of billions of individual animals annually.

## Does deforestation cause extinction?
Yes. Habitat loss and degradation are the primary drivers of species extinction globally. The IUCN lists habitat loss as the leading threat for the majority of Critically Endangered species on its Red List.

## Can reforestation reverse the damage?
Reforestation can restore habitat connectivity and reverse some population declines, but it requires planting native species, managing restored land long-term, and decades for forest ecosystems to fully recover. WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds exactly this kind of work.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/why-are-orangutans-endangered): Why Are Orangutans Endangered? Palm Oil, Deforestation and the Rescue Crisis in Borneo.

## Summary
Orangutans are endangered primarily because of deforestation — the clearing of Borneo's and Sumatra's lowland forests for palm-oil plantations, pulpwood and logging has destroyed more than 50% of their habitat in 40 years, confining surviving populations to increasingly fragmented and isolated forest patches.

## Excerpt
Orangutans are endangered because of a single dominant cause: deforestation. All three remaining species have been reduced to small, fragmented populations in what remains of Borneo's and Sumatra's lowland and peat-swamp forests — and the crisis is getting worse, not better.

## Takeaway
The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is listed as Endangered — its population has declined by over 50% in 60 years and stands at approximately 104,700 individuals.

## Takeaway
The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is Critically Endangered with around 13,846 individuals remaining.

## Takeaway
The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) is the most endangered great ape on Earth, with fewer than 800 individuals left.

## Takeaway
Palm-oil plantation expansion is the single largest driver of orangutan habitat loss in both Indonesia and Malaysia.

## Takeaway
When orangutans are displaced by deforestation, they enter human settlements and become vulnerable to capture, killing and trafficking.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/why-are-orangutans-endangered): Why Are Orangutans Endangered? Palm Oil, Deforestation and the Rescue Crisis in Borneo.

## Briefing
Orangutans are endangered because of a single dominant cause: deforestation. The three remaining orangutan species have all been reduced to small, fragmented populations in what remains of the lowland and peat-swamp forests of Borneo and Sumatra — and the rate of habitat loss continues to outpace the rate of rescue and rehabilitation. How many orangutans are left? Current IUCN population estimates: Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus): approximately 104,700 — listed as Endangered Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii): approximately 13,846 — listed as Critically Endangered Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis): fewer than 800 — listed as Critically Endangered , the most endangered great ape on Earth The Bornean population may seem large, but it represents a decline of over 50% from population levels 60 years ago — and surveys show it is still falling. Why palm oil threatens orangutans Palm oil is found in approximately 50% of supermarket products — from bread and biscuits to cosmetics and biofuel. The oil palm industry in Indonesia and Malaysia has been responsible for the largest portion of Bornean and Sumatran deforestation over the past four decades. When lowland forest is cleared for a plantation, orangutans lose their food sources, their shelter, and their ability to move through the landscape. Isolated by cleared land they cannot cross, they starve, are killed by plantation workers who view them as pests, or are captured by traffickers. Infant orangutans are particularly vulnerable: mothers are killed so their infants can be sold as pets — a trade that WARN's partner rescue programmes in Indonesia and Malaysia respond to directly. Beyond palm oil: the other drivers Illegal logging removes individual large trees — the kind that orangutans nest in and that provide their main food sources. Peatland fires , often deliberately set to clear land, create mass mortality events. The 2015 Indonesian fires killed thousands of orangutans directly. Infrastructure development — roads built through forest fragment populations and provide access for hunters and traffickers. Plantation expansion into secondary forest, which many orangutans rely on as primary habitat has become unavailable. What orangutans need to survive in the wild Orangutans are slow-reproducing primates. Females give birth approximately every 7–8 years and invest years teaching their offspring survival skills. Each death is a significant population setback. Each adult male needs up to 6 km² of forested range, with diverse fruiting trees available year-round. They cannot survive in plantation monocultures. After rescue and rehabilitation, released orangutans require intact, connected forest to establish a territory, find a mate and access the food diversity their diet requires. If the forest isn't there, release isn't possible — and the rescue becomes a permanent sanctuary burden. WARN's response WARN funds partner rescue centres in Indonesia and Malaysia for orangutans confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade or displaced by plantation operations. But rescue without habitat restoration is a revolving door. WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds the native tree planting and corridor restoration that gives rehabilitated orangutans a viable future — turning rescue into genuine recovery. Help WARN restore the habitats our rescued animals need WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds native tree planting, forest corridor protection and reforestation projects across all of our partner-network countries — giving the animals we rescue somewhere safe to return to after rehabilitation. Read the appeal or donate today to fund your first trees planted and your first corridor protected. Every pound goes directly to on-the-ground habitat work in Borneo, the Amazon, East Africa or Southeast Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/borneo-deforestation-palm-oil-wildlife): Borneo Deforestation and Palm Oil: The Wildlife Crisis in the World's Third Largest Island.

## Summary
Borneo has lost more than 50% of its lowland forest since 1980, primarily due to oil palm and pulpwood plantation expansion — driving the orangutan, slow loris, pygmy elephant and hundreds of other species into a permanent conservation and rescue crisis.

## Excerpt
Borneo is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth and one of the most rapidly deforested. More than half of the island's lowland forest has been lost in 40 years — a scale of destruction that has produced a permanent wildlife rescue crisis in Indonesia and Malaysia, two of WARN's partner-network countries.

## Takeaway
Borneo's forests once covered virtually the entire island. By 2020, more than 50% of the original lowland forest had been lost.

## Takeaway
Oil palm plantations now cover more than 14 million hectares of Indonesia alone — the primary driver of Bornean deforestation.

## Takeaway
The island hosts more endemic species per square kilometre than almost anywhere on Earth, including the Bornean orangutan, pygmy elephant and slow loris — found nowhere else.

## Takeaway
Deforestation forces wildlife into human settlements, creating the trafficking and rescue crises that WARN's Indonesia and Malaysia programmes directly address.

## Takeaway
Corridor restoration in the buffer zones around protected areas is the most effective near-term intervention for Borneo's wildlife.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/borneo-deforestation-palm-oil-wildlife): Borneo Deforestation and Palm Oil: The Wildlife Crisis in the World's Third Largest Island.

## Briefing
Borneo is the world's third largest island and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

It is also one of the most rapidly deforested.

The island — shared between Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Brunei — has lost more than half of its lowland forest in 40 years, in a scale of destruction with no parallel in the history of documented deforestation.

The scale of Borneo's forest loss Borneo's forests once covered virtually the entire island — around 74 million hectares.

By 2010, satellite analysis showed approximately 30% of total forest cover had been lost since 1973.

For lowland forest specifically — the habitat most critical to endemic species like the orangutan — the loss exceeds 50% compared to 1980 levels.

Between 2000 and 2019, Indonesia lost more forest than any other country in the world.

The primary driver is oil palm plantation expansion, followed by pulpwood development, illegal logging and infrastructure construction.

The numbers are not just environmental statistics — they are the direct cause of the rescue crisis that fills partner animal rehabilitation centres in Kalimantan and Sabah year-round.

Why Borneo's biodiversity is unique Borneo hosts more species per square kilometre than almost anywhere on Earth.

Among its endemic species: The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) — found nowhere else on the planet, and listed as Endangered The Bornean pygmy elephant — the smallest Asian elephant subspecies The Bornean slow loris — a venomous primate and one of the most heavily trafficked mammals on the illegal wildlife market The Sunda clouded leopard — a canopy-dwelling big cat found only in Borneo and Sumatra The proboscis monkey — a Bornean endemic entirely dependent on riverine and coastal forest These species exist in Borneo and nowhere else.

Deforestation is not just reducing their numbers — for some, it is eliminating the only place they have ever existed.

Palm oil: the dominant driver Palm oil plantations now cover more than 14 million hectares of Indonesia's land area, with a significant proportion in Kalimantan.

For wildlife, the conversion of forest to plantation means the loss of canopy cover, food-source diversity, denning and nesting habitat, and the corridors that allow animals to move between remaining forest patches.

Animals displaced from cleared forest enter plantations or human settlements, where they face killing, capture or starvation.

The rescue crisis in numbers Rescue centres in Kalimantan and Sabah report rising intake year-on-year.

Every orangutan confiscated from a plantation, every slow loris seized from a trafficker, every pygmy elephant shot in a crop-raiding incident — these are the direct, measurable outputs of habitat loss translating into wildlife welfare crisis.

WARN's Indonesia and Malaysia programmes are designed to fund this rescue capacity directly, working through vetted local partner organisations that are already on the ground.

What restoration looks like on the ground The most effective near-term intervention in Borneo is restoring the habitat corridors that connect remaining forest patches — enabling surviving wildlife populations to move, interbreed and access food.

Community-based reforestation in the buffer zones around protected areas can restore functional corridors within a decade when properly managed.

This is the work WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds: planting native species in the right places, protecting restored land from re-clearing, and monitoring corridor use by the animals WARN's partners rescue and release.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/borneo-deforestation-palm-oil-wildlife): Borneo Deforestation and Palm Oil: The Wildlife Crisis in the World's Third Largest Island.

Help WARN restore the habitats our rescued animals need WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds native tree planting, forest corridor protection and reforestation projects across all of our partner-network countries — giving the animals we rescue somewhere safe to return to after rehabilitation.

Read the appeal or donate today to fund your first trees planted and your first corridor protected.

Every pound goes directly to on-the-ground habitat work in Borneo, the Amazon, East Africa or Southeast Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/borneo-deforestation-palm-oil-wildlife): Borneo Deforestation and Palm Oil: The Wildlife Crisis in the World's Third Largest Island.

## How much forest has Borneo lost?
Satellite analysis shows Borneo lost approximately 30% of its total forest cover between 1973 and 2010. For lowland forest specifically — the habitat most critical to endemic species like the orangutan — the loss exceeds 50% compared to 1980 levels.

## Is palm oil the only cause of Borneo deforestation?
Palm oil is the dominant cause, but illegal logging, pulpwood plantation development, road construction, and to a lesser extent subsistence clearing also contribute. Palm oil and pulpwood together account for the vast majority of large-scale forest conversion.

## What animals are unique to Borneo?
Borneo is home to the Bornean orangutan, Bornean pygmy elephant, Bornean slow loris, Sunda clouded leopard, proboscis monkey, and thousands of endemic plant, invertebrate and bird species — all found nowhere else on Earth.

## What can be done to stop Borneo deforestation?
The most effective interventions include enforcement of existing forest protection law, certification of sustainable land use, financial support for community forestry, and restoration of degraded habitat corridors — all of which WARN's habitat programme funds alongside its rescue work.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/habitat-loss-wildlife-extinction): Habitat Loss and Wildlife Extinction: The Single Biggest Threat to Wild Animals.

## Summary
Habitat loss — the destruction, degradation or fragmentation of natural environments — is the single largest cause of wildlife extinction risk globally, responsible for more species decline than hunting, pollution and climate change combined.

## Excerpt
Habitat loss — the destruction, degradation or fragmentation of the natural environments animals depend on — is the single largest driver of wildlife decline and extinction globally. It is the root cause behind most of the rescue crises WARN's programmes are designed to address across Asia, Africa and South America.

## Takeaway
The IUCN identifies habitat loss as the leading threat for the majority of the world's Critically Endangered species.

## Takeaway
The world loses 10 million hectares of forest per year — an area approximately the size of Iceland — according to FAO data.

## Takeaway
Habitat fragmentation is often more damaging long-term than outright clearance, because it isolates populations and prevents genetic exchange.

## Takeaway
The five main causes of habitat loss are: agricultural expansion, logging, infrastructure development, urban growth, and climate-driven habitat shifts.

## Takeaway
Habitat restoration — at scale and using native species — can reverse population declines, but requires sustained long-term investment.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/habitat-loss-wildlife-extinction): Habitat Loss and Wildlife Extinction: The Single Biggest Threat to Wild Animals.

## Briefing
Habitat loss is the single largest driver of wildlife decline and extinction globally. More species face elevated risk because of habitat loss than because of hunting, pollution, invasive species and climate change combined — and the rate of loss is accelerating, not slowing. What is habitat loss? Habitat loss occurs when natural environments that animals depend on — forests, wetlands, grasslands, savannahs, coral reefs — are destroyed, degraded or fragmented by human activity or environmental change, making them unable to support the species that once lived there. It takes three main forms: Habitat destruction — outright clearance, such as forest conversion to farmland or peatland drainage for plantation development. Habitat degradation — partial damage that reduces habitat quality, such as selective logging, pollution or invasive species introduction, leaving a reduced or lower-quality version of the original ecosystem. Habitat fragmentation — breaking continuous habitat into isolated patches, often more damaging long-term than either destruction or degradation because it cuts populations off from each other, preventing genetic exchange and seasonal migration. The scale of the crisis The numbers are well documented and alarming. The world loses 10 million hectares of forest every year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. That is an area roughly the size of Iceland disappearing from the map annually. Globally, an estimated 75% of the land surface has been significantly altered by human activity. The IUCN lists habitat loss as the leading threat for the majority of Critically Endangered species on its Red List. The five main causes Agricultural expansion — the single dominant cause globally. Cattle ranching in the Amazon, oil palm in Borneo, soybean cultivation in the Cerrado, charcoal agriculture in East Africa. Food systems are the primary engine of habitat loss. Commercial logging — both legal and illegal timber extraction removes individual old trees, fragments forest structure and opens roads that become corridors for further encroachment. Infrastructure development — roads, dams, mines and urban growth directly destroy habitat and create linear barriers that fragment populations. Urban and suburban growth — expanding cities consume habitat at the edges and generate secondary impacts through pollution and increased human-wildlife interface. Climate-driven habitat shifts — as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns change, some habitats become climatically unsuitable for the species they supported. Coral bleaching is the most dramatic example; glacier retreat is destroying the freshwater habitats of mountain species. How habitat loss drives wildlife into rescue centres Across WARN's partner network and planned expansion regions, habitat loss is the underlying driver of animal welfare crises. In Indonesia and Malaysia — both in WARN's network — Bornean orangutans displaced by plantation expansion arrive at rescue centres underweight, injured or orphaned. In Colombia, parrots and Andean bears displaced from deforested Amazon forest are captured by traffickers. In wider regions such as Kenya, Tanzania and Peru, savannah fragmentation and forest clearance drive the same crisis. The link between habitat loss and rescue demand is direct and measurable. Can the damage be reversed? Yes — but not quickly, cheaply or without sustained effort. Reforestation using native species, active habitat management, community-based protection and long-term monitoring can restore ecosystem function and enable wildlife population recovery. Animals do return to restored corridors. Camera-trap data from reforestation projects consistently records increasing wildlife use within 18–24 months of restoration beginning. But restoration takes decades to complete and requires continuous protection from re-encroachment. WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds exactly this kind of sustained, community-based habitat work in all of our partner-network countries. Help WARN restore the habitats our rescued animals need WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds native tree planting, forest corridor protection and reforestation projects across all of our partner-network countries — giving the animals we rescue somewhere safe to return to after rehabilitation. Read the appeal or donate today to fund your first trees planted and your first corridor protected. Every pound goes directly to on-the-ground habitat work in Borneo, the Amazon, East Africa or Southeast Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/habitat-loss-wildlife-extinction): Habitat Loss and Wildlife Extinction: The Single Biggest Threat to Wild Animals.

## What is habitat loss?
Habitat loss occurs when natural environments that animals depend on — forests, wetlands, grasslands, coral reefs — are destroyed, degraded or fragmented by human activity or environmental change, making them unable to support the species that once lived there.

## What are the main causes of habitat loss?
The five main causes are: agricultural expansion (the dominant cause globally), commercial logging, infrastructure development (roads, dams, mines), urban growth, and climate-driven habitat shifts such as coral bleaching and glacier retreat.

## How does habitat loss lead to extinction?
Habitat loss reduces population size below viable levels, eliminates genetic diversity through inbreeding, cuts animals off from food and mates, and often leaves animals in human-adjacent areas where they face hunting and conflict. The combination is lethal at the species level over decades.

## Which habitats are being lost fastest?
Tropical forests — particularly in Southeast Asia, the Amazon Basin and Central Africa — are being lost at the fastest rates. Freshwater wetlands, temperate grasslands and coastal mangroves are also disappearing rapidly.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/reforestation-benefits-wildlife): Reforestation Benefits for Wildlife: Why Planting Native Trees Saves Endangered Animals.

## Summary
Reforestation benefits wildlife by restoring habitat connectivity, recovering food sources and nesting sites, enabling population recovery through genetic exchange, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and providing the release habitat that rescued and rehabilitated animals need to survive in the wild.

## Excerpt
Reforestation — the deliberate replanting of trees in degraded or cleared land — is one of the most effective interventions available for wildlife recovery. When done with the right species, in the right places, with long-term management, it can restore habitat corridors, recover biodiversity and give rescued animals somewhere safe to return to.

## Takeaway
Reforestation with native species is significantly more effective for wildlife than monoculture tree planting — native trees support far more insect, bird and mammal diversity.

## Takeaway
Habitat corridor restoration — linking isolated forest patches — can produce measurable wildlife recovery in as little as 18–24 months after planting begins.

## Takeaway
Reforestation reduces human-wildlife conflict by providing animals with natural range, food and shelter, reducing the pressure to enter farmland.

## Takeaway
Community-led reforestation — where local people are employed and invested in restoration — is the most durable and cost-effective model.

## Takeaway
WARN's habitat appeal funds reforestation tied directly to release sites — the specific corridors that WARN's rescued and rehabilitated animals need to survive after care.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/reforestation-benefits-wildlife): Reforestation Benefits for Wildlife: Why Planting Native Trees Saves Endangered Animals.

## Briefing
Reforestation — the deliberate replanting of trees in degraded or cleared land — is one of the most effective interventions available for wildlife recovery.

When done with the right species, in the right places, and with sustained management, it can restore habitat corridors, recover biodiversity and give rescued and rehabilitated animals somewhere viable to return to.

Why reforestation matters for wildlife The loss of forest and natural habitat is the single largest driver of wildlife decline globally.

Reforestation directly addresses this by: Restoring habitat connectivity — linking isolated forest patches so that animals can move, find mates, access seasonal food sources and disperse genetically.

Recovering food sources — native fruiting trees, insect-supporting plants and nesting-site trees that animals need and cannot access in degraded land.

Reducing human-wildlife conflict — animals with adequate forest habitat are less likely to enter farmland in search of food, reducing the retaliatory killing that is a leading cause of death for many species WARN works to protect.

Creating viable release environments — rescued and rehabilitated animals can only be successfully released if there is functional habitat to release them into.

Without reforestation, rescue becomes a permanent sanctuary burden rather than genuine recovery.

Native trees vs monoculture plantations: why it matters Not all tree planting is equally valuable for wildlife.

The key distinction is between: Native species reforestation — planting the tree species that historically dominated the ecosystem, which support the specific insect communities, nesting sites and food sources that local wildlife evolved alongside.

In Borneo, this means dipterocarp forest species.

In East Africa, native acacia species.

In the Amazon, dozens of native canopy species.

Monoculture plantation forestry — fast-growing single-species plantations of non-native trees (eucalyptus, pine, oil palm) that produce timber or fibre but support far lower biodiversity and do not function as wildlife habitat.

WARN's habitat programme exclusively funds native species reforestation — planting the trees that the specific animals in each operational country need, not the trees that grow fastest.

How quickly does reforestation benefit wildlife?

The timeline varies by ecosystem and species, but the evidence is consistently encouraging: Camera-trap monitoring of reforestation corridor projects in Southeast Asia and East Africa routinely records initial wildlife use within 18–24 months of tree planting.

Insect diversity — the foundation of forest food webs — begins recovering within the first few years in native-species plantings.

For larger mammals, meaningful population recovery takes a decade or more, but population movement into restored corridors begins earlier.

Released orangutans have been documented using restored forest corridors within months of habitat planting beginning in adjacent areas.

The community-based model The most durable and cost-effective reforestation model is community-based: local people are employed as planters, patrollers and monitors, creating both an economic incentive and a community stake in the success of the restored habitat.

Communities that have participated in planting are far more likely to protect their investment against illegal clearance.

This is the model WARN's habitat appeal funds — working through locally-registered community forestry organisations in each of our partner-network countries.

Reforestation tied to rescue data What distinguishes WARN's approach from general reforestation is that it is data-driven.

The corridors and buffer zones we fund are selected based on where WARN's partner organisations rescue and release animals — matching habitat restoration directly to the animals that need it.

A rehabilitated orangutan released in Kalimantan needs a specific corridor to survive.

A snared lion released in Tanzania needs a specific savannah buffer.

WARN's habitat appeal funds the reforestation that closes those gaps.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/reforestation-benefits-wildlife): Reforestation Benefits for Wildlife: Why Planting Native Trees Saves Endangered Animals.

Help WARN restore the habitats our rescued animals need WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds native tree planting, forest corridor protection and reforestation projects across all of our partner-network countries — giving the animals we rescue somewhere safe to return to after rehabilitation.

Read the appeal or donate today to fund your first trees planted and your first corridor protected.

Every pound goes directly to on-the-ground habitat work in Borneo, the Amazon, East Africa or Southeast Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/reforestation-benefits-wildlife): Reforestation Benefits for Wildlife: Why Planting Native Trees Saves Endangered Animals.

## What is the difference between reforestation and afforestation?
Reforestation is replanting trees in areas that previously had forest cover. Afforestation is establishing forest on land that has not historically been forested. For wildlife, reforestation of degraded former forest is usually more valuable because it restores habitat that local species evolved in.

## Does reforestation actually help wildlife?
Yes, when done with native species and actively managed long-term. Camera-trap data from reforestation projects consistently shows increasing wildlife use within 18–24 months of restoration. The key is using locally-appropriate native species rather than fast-growing monoculture plantations, which support far less biodiversity.

## What kinds of trees should be planted for wildlife?
Native species of the region are always preferred — they support the specific insect, bird and mammal communities that evolved alongside them. In Borneo, dipterocarp species are critical for orangutan food. In East Africa, native acacia species support lion and elephant habitat. Fast-growing non-native species like eucalyptus or pine plantations provide little wildlife benefit.

## How does WARN use reforestation in its animal rescue programmes?
WARN's Restore Natural Habitats appeal funds reforestation specifically tied to rescue and release data — planting native trees in the corridors and buffer zones that WARN's rehabilitated animals need to survive after care. The release data tells us where the habitat gaps are.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/amur-leopard-critically-endangered): The Amur Leopard: The World's Rarest Big Cat and What It Tells Us About Saving Endangered Species.

## Summary
The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a Critically Endangered leopard subspecies native to the temperate forests of the Russian Far East and northeast China; it is the world's rarest big cat, with fewer than 130 estimated to remain in the wild — and although WARN does not operate in its range, the same threats it faces (poaching, snaring, habitat loss) drive the work we fund elsewhere.

## Excerpt
The Amur leopard is the world's rarest big cat, with fewer than 130 estimated to remain in the wild. It lives in the Russian Far East and northeast China — outside the countries WARN operates in — but its story is a global benchmark for what is possible when rescue, anti-poaching and protected-area work come together.

## Takeaway
The Amur leopard is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List — the highest category before Extinct in the Wild.

## Takeaway
Fewer than 130 individuals are estimated to remain in the wild, mostly within the Land of the Leopard National Park in Primorsky Krai, Russia.

## Takeaway
It is the only leopard subspecies adapted to deep snow, with thicker fur, longer legs and more widely-spaced rosettes than other leopards.

## Takeaway
Wild populations have actually grown — from around 30 in the 1990s to roughly 130 today — thanks to anti-poaching patrols, snare removal and protected-area expansion.

## Takeaway
The Amur leopard lives in Russia and China, which are outside WARN's partner-network countries. We highlight it here as a global benchmark for endangered-species recovery work.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/amur-leopard-critically-endangered): The Amur Leopard: The World's Rarest Big Cat and What It Tells Us About Saving Endangered Species.

## Briefing
The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is the rarest big cat in the world.

Fewer than 130 are estimated to remain in the wild, almost all of them in a single protected area in the Russian Far East and a small adjacent population in northeast China.

It is one of the most striking and most quietly hopeful stories in modern wildlife conservation.

WARN is preparing to operate across Asia, Africa and South America.

Russia and China are not among our partner-network countries, and we do not currently fund work on Amur leopards.

We are writing this briefing for two honest reasons: because the species is one of the most-searched endangered animals on the internet and we want our supporters to find accurate information when they look it up, and because the same threats that almost wiped the Amur leopard out — poaching, snaring, habitat loss — are exactly the threats WARN's partner-network and planned programmes are designed to fight.

What the Amur leopard actually is The Amur leopard is one of nine recognised subspecies of leopard (Panthera pardus).

It evolved in the temperate broadleaf-and-conifer forests of the Russian Far East and is the only leopard subspecies adapted to live in deep winter snow.

Compared with African and Indian leopards, it has: A pale cream-gold coat that turns thicker and almost silvery in winter.

Widely-spaced, large dark rosettes — distinctive enough that individual cats can be identified from camera-trap photos.

Longer legs for moving through snow.

A heavier coat and a layer of body fat that lets it survive temperatures below -30°C.

Adults typically weigh 30-50 kg, with males larger than females.

They are solitary, mostly nocturnal, and territorial — a male's range can cover 250-500 km² of forest.

Where it lives Today the entire global wild population is concentrated in a single region: the Land of the Leopard National Park and surrounding protected areas in Primorsky Krai, Russia, with a small population spilling across the border into Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in northeast China.

This is a tiny range for a big cat — less than 5,000 km² of effective habitat.

The Korean peninsula population, which historically connected the Russian and Chinese populations, is functionally gone.

Why the Amur leopard is Critically Endangered The IUCN lists the Amur leopard as Critically Endangered.

The drivers are well documented: Poaching.

Amur leopards are killed for their spotted coats — one of the most desirable furs in the illegal trade — and for body parts used in some traditional medicine markets.

Snaring.

Wire snares set for deer (the leopard's main prey) and wild boar regularly catch leopards as bycatch.

This is the same snaring threat WARN's partner network tackles in Indonesia and Malaysia, with regions such as Cambodia and Kenya as wider context.

Prey depletion.

Subsistence and commercial hunting of sika deer, roe deer and wild boar reduces the leopard's food base.

Habitat loss.

Logging, road construction and fires fragment the leopard's remaining range.

Inbreeding.

A wild population of around 130 animals is genetically tiny.

Inbreeding depression — reduced cub survival, immune-system problems — is a real and measurable risk.

The hopeful part: the Amur leopard population is recovering This is the part of the story that gets less coverage than it deserves.

In the 1990s, formal surveys put the entire wild Amur leopard population at roughly 30 individuals.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/amur-leopard-critically-endangered): The Amur Leopard: The World's Rarest Big Cat and What It Tells Us About Saving Endangered Species.

By the early 2010s, the number had climbed past 50.

The most recent multi-year camera-trap surveys put the figure at around 100-130 wild individuals.

The population has more than tripled in roughly two decades.

What changed: The Land of the Leopard National Park was established in 2012, consolidating several smaller protected areas.

Anti-poaching ranger patrols were significantly expanded.

Snare removal across the core range became a routine, year-round operation.

Prey populations rebounded as deer and boar hunting was restricted inside the park.

Cross-border cooperation with China protected key corridors.

None of this means the species is safe.

A population of around 130 animals is still one disease outbreak, one major fire or one bad winter away from a serious setback.

But the trajectory is a real, measurable success — and it is the strongest evidence we have that endangered big cat populations can recover when the right work is funded for long enough.

How this connects to WARN's work WARN does not fund Amur leopard work.

We do, however, fund frontline work against the same threats in our partner-network countries: Snare removal — our planned work in Kenya and Tanzania supports ranger patrols that remove wire snares from protected areas, the same intervention that helped save the Amur leopard.

Big cat rescue — our planned tiger work supports rescue and rehabilitation for Sumatran, Malayan and Indochinese tigers and rescued circus tigers in Southeast Asia.

Sanctuary care — partner sanctuaries that take in confiscated big cats need long-term funding for veterinary care, enrichment and species-appropriate enclosures.

How you can help If you want to support Amur leopard work specifically, there are well-established organisations operating in Russia and northeast China that do exactly that — and we encourage you to back them.

If you want to support the same kind of work for the big cats in WARN's partner-network countries, a donation to WARN goes directly towards getting frontline animal rescue and animal sanctuary capacity on the ground.

Sources IUCN Red List — Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) assessment.

CITES — Appendix I listing for Panthera pardus.

Land of the Leopard National Park — published camera-trap survey results.

UNODC — World Wildlife Crime Report, big cat trafficking chapters.

We need your support to make this happen World Animal Rescue Network is at the launch stage of this work.

We do not yet have rescue numbers to share — and that is exactly why your support matters now.

Every donation helps us put trained teams on the ground, secure veterinary supplies and equipment, and reach the first animals before they are lost.

Donate today to fund our first deployments, or sponsor an animal to back a specific species through rehabilitation.

You can also join the network as a volunteer, fundraiser, or monthly supporter.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/giant-panda-conservation-status): The Giant Panda: Why Conservation Status Matters and What the Panda's Story Tells Us About Saving Species.

## Summary
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a bamboo-eating bear native to a small area of mountain forest in central China; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List — downlisted from Endangered in 2016 thanks to decades of sustained habitat protection — and although WARN does not operate in China, the panda's recovery is a global benchmark for what is possible when endangered-species work is funded for long enough.

## Excerpt
The giant panda is one of the world's most recognisable endangered animals — and one of its quiet conservation success stories. It lives only in China, outside the countries WARN operates in, but its journey from Endangered to Vulnerable is the clearest evidence we have that the right work, sustained for decades, can save a species.

## Takeaway
The giant panda lives only in the temperate mountain forests of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces in central China.

## Takeaway
Adults eat 12-38 kg of bamboo every day — roughly 99% of their diet — despite still having the digestive system of a carnivore.

## Takeaway
Wild population estimates rose from roughly 1,100 in the late 1970s to around 1,800 by 2014, leading IUCN to downlist the species from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016.

## Takeaway
Giant pandas are listed on CITES Appendix I, prohibiting commercial international trade.

## Takeaway
Giant pandas live exclusively in China, outside WARN's partner-network countries. We feature them here because their story is the strongest available example of long-term endangered-species recovery.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/giant-panda-conservation-status): The Giant Panda: Why Conservation Status Matters and What the Panda's Story Tells Us About Saving Species.

## Briefing
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the most recognisable animals on Earth and one of the clearest examples of what long-term endangered-species work can achieve.

It is also one of the most-searched wildlife topics on the internet — and one of the most misunderstood.

This briefing summarises what the giant panda is, what its conservation status actually means, and what its recovery story tells us about the kind of work WARN funds elsewhere in the world.

WARN is preparing to operate across Asia, Africa and South America.

China is not among our partner-network countries and we do not currently fund any work on giant pandas.

We are publishing this briefing for two honest reasons: because pandas are one of the most-searched endangered species globally and we want our supporters to find accurate information when they look the species up, and because the panda's recovery is the strongest available evidence that the kind of long-term, sustained rescue and habitat protection work we are building WARN to fund actually works.

What the giant panda actually is The giant panda is a bear — a member of the family Ursidae — and one of only eight bear species in the world.

It is most closely related to the spectacled bear of South America (the species WARN's Andean Bear appeal is being built to support).

Adults typically weigh 70-125 kg, with males larger than females.

The black-and-white coat is unique among bears.

Physiologically, the giant panda is one of the strangest animals on Earth.

It still has the short, simple digestive tract of a carnivore — its evolutionary ancestors ate meat.

But its diet is roughly 99% bamboo.

It compensates for this poor match between gut and diet by eating enormous quantities of bamboo every day (12-38 kg) and spending 10-16 hours a day feeding.

To handle the bamboo stalks, pandas have evolved an enlarged wrist bone that functions as a "false thumb", letting them grip stems while they strip the leaves.

Where pandas live Wild giant pandas are found only in a relatively small area of the temperate broadleaf-and-bamboo forests of central China — primarily in Sichuan province, with smaller populations in Shaanxi and Gansu.

The total area of suitable habitat is estimated at roughly 25,000 km².

Within that, pandas are concentrated in the higher-elevation bamboo forests between roughly 1,500 and 3,000 metres above sea level.

What "Vulnerable" really means Giant pandas were formally downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2016.

This is a downgrading of extinction risk, not a removal of it.

Vulnerable still means the species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild — it is just one category lower than Endangered.

The downlisting happened because successive national surveys in China showed a real, measurable population increase: from roughly 1,100 wild pandas in the late 1970s, to around 1,600 by 2004, to roughly 1,800 by 2014 (the most recent comprehensive national survey).

The downlisting was controversial.

Chinese authorities at the time noted that climate change projections for the panda's bamboo habitat were a major concern, and the species' very narrow habitat band makes it vulnerable to any shift in mountain ecology.

Most independent biologists agree the recovery is real but fragile.

What made the recovery possible This is the part of the story that matters most for everyone who works on endangered species elsewhere in the world.

The giant panda's recovery was not a single intervention — it was the result of decades of sustained effort across several different fronts: Habitat protection.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/giant-panda-conservation-status): The Giant Panda: Why Conservation Status Matters and What the Panda's Story Tells Us About Saving Species.

By the time of the 2014 survey, China had established more than 60 panda reserves covering most of the species' remaining range, with a national park unifying many of them in 2021.

Logging restrictions.

A 1998 ban on commercial logging in much of the panda's range removed one of the biggest threats to its bamboo forests.

Anti-poaching.

Pandas have been protected from hunting in China since the 1960s; enforcement has tightened steadily.

Captive breeding and reintroduction.

Captive breeding programmes in China produce cubs that, in some cases, are now successfully reintroduced to the wild — a milestone that took decades to achieve.

Bamboo corridor restoration.

Replanting bamboo to reconnect fragmented panda habitats was one of the slowest-paying but most consequential investments.

What this tells us about saving other endangered species The single most important takeaway from the giant panda's story is that endangered species recovery takes decades and requires sustained, multi-track work.

There is no single intervention that saves a species.

The panda recovery worked because habitat protection, anti-poaching, reintroduction and bamboo restoration all happened together, and all were funded for long enough to compound.

The animals WARN is being built to support — orangutans, tigers, pangolins, spectacled bears, elephants, parrots — face the same structural problem.

Each of them needs sustained multi-track work for decades, not single-issue campaigns.

Our appeals are designed to fund that long arc of work, not headline-driven moments.

How you can help If you want to support giant panda work specifically, there are well-established Chinese and international organisations that fund it directly, and we encourage you to back them.

If you want to support the same kind of long-term, multi-track endangered-species work in the countries WARN is preparing to operate in, a donation to WARN goes directly towards funding it.

Sources IUCN Red List — giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) 2016 reassessment.

CITES — Appendix I listing.

Published Chinese national panda surveys (1977, 1985, 2004, 2014).

UN Environment Programme — habitat-corridor reporting for the giant panda range.

We need your support to make this happen World Animal Rescue Network is at the launch stage of this work.

We do not yet have rescue numbers to share — and that is exactly why your support matters now.

Every donation helps us put trained teams on the ground, secure veterinary supplies and equipment, and reach the first animals before they are lost.

Donate today to fund our first deployments, or sponsor an animal to back a specific species through rehabilitation.

You can also join the network as a volunteer, fundraiser, or monthly supporter.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/white-tiger-truth-captive-breeding): The White Tiger: The Truth About the World's Most Misunderstood Big Cat.

## Summary
The white tiger is not a separate species or subspecies — it is a colour morph of the Bengal tiger caused by a recessive gene, and every white tiger alive today is the product of generations of deliberate inbreeding by the entertainment industry; there are no wild white tigers anywhere on Earth, and the welfare problems associated with their breeding are now widely recognised by wildlife biologists and the IUCN cat specialist group.

## Excerpt
There are no wild white tigers anywhere on Earth — and there have not been for decades. Every white tiger alive today is the product of generations of deliberate inbreeding for entertainment. This briefing explains what white tigers actually are, the welfare crisis behind them, and how WARN's tiger appeal in Southeast Asia fits into the global response.

## Takeaway
White tigers are colour-morph Bengal tigers, not a distinct species or subspecies on the IUCN Red List.

## Takeaway
The last verified wild white tiger sighting was in central India in the 1950s; the captive lineage descends from a single male cub taken from the wild in 1951.

## Takeaway
Every white tiger alive today is the product of generations of inbreeding, which produces extremely high rates of stillbirth, cleft palate, scoliosis, immune problems, neurological disorders and cross-eyes.

## Takeaway
The IUCN Cat Specialist Group and major zoo associations have explicitly stated that white tigers have no conservation value and that their breeding should not be supported.

## Takeaway
White tigers have no conservation value, so WARN does not fund white tiger breeding or display anywhere; our planned tiger work supports rescue and sanctuary for the surviving wild tiger subspecies in Southeast Asia and South Asia.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/white-tiger-truth-captive-breeding): The White Tiger: The Truth About the World's Most Misunderstood Big Cat.

## Briefing
White tigers are some of the most photographed animals on the planet — and some of the most misunderstood.

They are not a separate species.

They are not a subspecies.

They are not "magic", "spiritual" or "rare in the wild" in any meaningful sense.

They are colour-morph Bengal tigers, produced today almost exclusively by deliberate inbreeding for the entertainment industry.

This briefing summarises what the science actually says, and where the global response — including WARN's tiger work in Southeast Asia — fits in.

What the white tiger actually is White tigers are Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) carrying two copies of a recessive gene that disrupts the production of orange pigment (pheomelanin).

The result is a pale cream-to-white coat with dark brown or black stripes, pink nose pads and pale ice-blue eyes.

The genetic mutation involved has been identified — it is a single point mutation in the SLC45A2 gene.

It is the same kind of recessive colour variation that produces white morphs in many other species.

The white-tiger gene has always existed in low frequency in wild Bengal tiger populations in India.

But because two copies of the gene are needed to produce a white cub, and because tiger populations are spread thinly across forest, wild white tigers were always rare — and they are now functionally absent.

The last verified wild white tiger sighting was in central India in the 1950s.

The entire global captive white tiger population today descends from a single male cub, "Mohan", captured by the Maharaja of Rewa in 1951 and subsequently bred to his own offspring.

Why white tigers are a welfare problem, not a conservation success This is the part of the story that often gets lost.

White tigers are sometimes marketed as "endangered" or "needing to be saved".

They are not.

The IUCN Cat Specialist Group and the major zoo accreditation bodies — including the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums — have explicitly stated that: White tigers have no conservation value — they are not a distinct conservation unit and saving them does not help save wild tigers.

Their breeding is only achievable through inbreeding , because the small founding population means almost all white tigers alive today are closely related.

The inbreeding causes serious, documented welfare problems.

Documented welfare problems in white tigers include Stillbirth and infant mortality.

Survival rates for white tiger cubs are significantly lower than for normal-coloured Bengal tigers, with some independent reviews citing stillbirth and early-death rates approaching 80% in heavily-inbred lines.

Cleft palate — a serious craniofacial deformity that often requires hand-rearing and lifelong veterinary support.

Scoliosis and other skeletal deformities.

Crossed eyes (strabismus) — present in a very high proportion of white tigers because the white-coat gene is linked to optic-nerve development abnormalities.

Immune system problems and reduced disease resistance.

Behavioural and neurological disorders — including cases of mental retardation and movement disorders documented in multiple captive populations.

The "normal-coloured" siblings of white tigers — born to the same inbred parents — typically suffer the same problems.

The visible "white" cubs are simply the ones that have value in the entertainment industry and are kept alive.

Where white tigers live today There are several hundred white tigers alive today, almost entirely in captivity.

They are concentrated in roadside attractions, private collections, breeding facilities, "cub-petting" tourism operations and a small number of accredited zoos that hold older animals from historical breeding programmes.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/white-tiger-truth-captive-breeding): The White Tiger: The Truth About the World's Most Misunderstood Big Cat.

Sanctuaries that take in confiscated and abandoned white tigers are an important part of the global big cat rescue network — these are animals that cannot be released, cannot safely be bred again, and need decades of lifetime sanctuary care.

How WARN's tiger work fits in WARN does not fund white tiger work anywhere.

White tigers are a captive inbred colour morph of the Bengal tiger, not a wild conservation target — there are no white tigers left in the wild — so funding their breeding or display does nothing for tiger conservation.

Our in-network tiger focus is Indonesia and Malaysia, home to the Critically Endangered Sumatran and Malayan tigers; the wider wild tiger range — the Indochinese tiger across Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia and the Bengal tiger in India and Nepal — remains important educational context as all face acute threats from poaching, snaring and the illegal trade in tiger parts.

The connection between white tigers and our work is the global big cat captive welfare problem.

Tigers used in entertainment — including white tigers, cub-petting tigers and circus tigers — eventually need somewhere to go.

Sanctuary capacity for confiscated and surrendered big cats is one of the most consistently underfunded parts of the global tiger response, and our partner-network work in Southeast Asia is being built to support exactly this kind of placement.

How you can help If you want to help tigers in general, the most useful things you can do are: Do not pay for tiger experiences.

Cub-petting, tiger selfies and "swim with tigers" attractions exist because of paying customers.

The supply chain for those experiences is the same one that produces white tigers.

Support frontline anti-poaching and sanctuary work.

Wild tiger recovery in Southeast Asia depends on snare removal, ranger patrols and sanctuary capacity for confiscated animals.

Support WARN's planned tiger work with an unrestricted donation — to help us fund this work in our partner-network countries.

Sources IUCN Red List — Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) assessment.

IUCN Cat Specialist Group — published statements on the white tiger and the conservation value of colour morphs.

CITES — Appendix I listing for Panthera tigris.

Published veterinary literature on inbreeding-related disorders in captive tigers.

UNODC — World Wildlife Crime Report, tiger trafficking chapters.

We need your support to make this happen World Animal Rescue Network is at the launch stage of this work.

We do not yet have rescue numbers to share — and that is exactly why your support matters now.

Every donation helps us put trained teams on the ground, secure veterinary supplies and equipment, and reach the first animals before they are lost.

Donate today to fund our first deployments, or sponsor an animal to back a specific species through rehabilitation.

You can also join the network as a volunteer, fundraiser, or monthly supporter.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/endangered-species-warn-countries): Endangered Species: The Animals Closest to Extinction Across the Countries WARN Works In.

## Summary
Endangered species are animals at high risk of extinction in the wild, as defined by the IUCN Red List — and the countries WARN is preparing to operate in are home to some of the most iconic endangered animals on Earth, including orangutans, tigers, pangolins, sun bears, spectacled bears, river dolphins, macaws, jaguars and African elephants.

## Excerpt
From orangutans in Indonesia and Malaysia to spectacled bears in Colombia and Peru, this is a country-by-country guide to the endangered species that frontline rescue, sanctuary and shelter work can still help — backed by the IUCN Red List and CITES.

## Takeaway
The IUCN Red List uses seven categories of extinction risk; 'Endangered' (EN) and 'Critically Endangered' (CR) are the two highest before 'Extinct in the Wild'.

## Takeaway
More than 47,000 species are currently assessed as threatened on the IUCN Red List globally, and that number rises every year.

## Takeaway
Every WARN country holds globally significant endangered species — from Sumatran orangutans and Malayan tigers in Southeast Asia to African elephants and Grevy's zebra in East Africa.

## Takeaway
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) regulates the international trade of more than 40,000 species and is one of the few enforceable global tools for protecting endangered animals.

## Takeaway
Frontline animal rescue, partner shelter and sanctuary work is one of the most direct, evidence-based ways supporters can help endangered species today.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/endangered-species-warn-countries): Endangered Species: The Animals Closest to Extinction Across the Countries WARN Works In.

## Briefing
Endangered species are animals at high risk of extinction in the wild.

The authoritative global definition comes from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Red List uses seven categories of extinction risk, from Least Concern through to Extinct.

The two categories most people mean when they say "endangered" are Endangered (EN) and Critically Endangered (CR) — the two highest categories before Extinct in the Wild.

This briefing summarises the endangered species that live in the countries World Animal Rescue Network (WARN) is preparing to operate in across Southeast Asia, South Asia, South America and Africa.

Almost every one of them holds globally significant endangered animals, and almost every one is reachable by the kind of frontline animal rescue, animal shelter and animal sanctuary work that supporter donations can directly fund.

What "endangered" actually means The IUCN Red List categories, in order of increasing extinction risk, are: Least Concern (LC) — widespread and abundant.

Near Threatened (NT) — close to qualifying as threatened.

Vulnerable (VU) — high risk of extinction in the wild.

Endangered (EN) — very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Critically Endangered (CR) — extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Extinct in the Wild (EW) — only surviving in captivity.

Extinct (EX) — no surviving individuals.

The other global tool worth knowing about is CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

CITES is a treaty signed by 184 countries that regulates the international trade in more than 40,000 species.

Appendix I lists species threatened with extinction whose commercial trade is prohibited; Appendix II lists species whose trade is regulated to prevent over-exploitation.

Endangered species in WARN's Southeast Asian countries Indonesia and Malaysia Indonesia and Malaysia together hold a stunning concentration of endangered species: Sumatran orangutan — Critically Endangered (IUCN).

Fewer than 14,000 estimated to remain in the wild.

Bornean orangutan — Critically Endangered.

Tapanuli orangutan — Critically Endangered; only formally described as a species in 2017, the rarest great ape on Earth.

Sumatran tiger — Critically Endangered.

Malayan tiger — Critically Endangered.

Sumatran rhino — Critically Endangered; fewer than 80 estimated to remain.

Sunda pangolin — Critically Endangered; the most trafficked mammal on the planet.

Sun bear — Vulnerable; targeted for the bile and pet trades.

Helmeted hornbill — Critically Endangered, killed for its solid casque ("red ivory").

Hawksbill turtle — Critically Endangered.

Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia Asian elephant — Endangered.

Wild populations in all three countries.

Indochinese tiger — Endangered; possibly already extinct in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Saola — Critically Endangered; one of the rarest large mammals on Earth, found only in the Annamite mountains between Vietnam and Laos.

Pygmy slow loris — Endangered.

Asiatic black bear (moon bear) — Vulnerable; targeted for bile farming.

Siamese crocodile — Critically Endangered; tiny wild population in Cambodia.

Irrawaddy dolphin (Mekong population) — Critically Endangered.

Endangered species in Pakistan Pakistan is less often mentioned in endangered-species lists but holds globally important populations: Snow leopard — Vulnerable; wild population in the northern mountains.

Indus river dolphin — Endangered; one of the world's few freshwater dolphin species.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/endangered-species-warn-countries): Endangered Species: The Animals Closest to Extinction Across the Countries WARN Works In.

Markhor — Near Threatened; Pakistan's national animal.

Marine turtles — green turtle (Endangered), olive ridley (Vulnerable), and others nest on Sindh and Balochistan beaches.

Houbara bustard — Vulnerable; under pressure from falconry trade.

Endangered species in Colombia and Peru Colombia and Peru sit across the Amazon basin and the tropical Andes — two of the most species-rich regions on Earth: Spectacled (Andean) bear — Vulnerable; South America's only bear.

Jaguar — Near Threatened globally, with declining Amazon populations.

Pink river dolphin (boto) — Endangered.

Tucuxi — Endangered.

Giant otter — Endangered.

Yellow-eared parrot — Vulnerable.

Military macaw — Vulnerable.

Brown-headed spider monkey — Critically Endangered.

Cotton-top tamarin — Critically Endangered; one of the world's most threatened primates.

Andean condor — Vulnerable.

Endangered species in Kenya and Tanzania East Africa is the global poster region for endangered megafauna, but the list is far longer than most supporters realise: African elephant (savanna) — Endangered (the African forest elephant is Critically Endangered).

Black rhino — Critically Endangered.

Eastern white rhino — functionally extinct in the wild.

Grevy's zebra — Endangered; mostly restricted to northern Kenya.

Hirola — Critically Endangered; possibly the most threatened antelope on Earth.

African wild dog — Endangered.

Cheetah — Vulnerable, with declining sub-populations.

Mountain bongo — Critically Endangered.

African pangolins — multiple species, all Vulnerable to Critically Endangered.

Marine turtles — green turtle, hawksbill, olive ridley nest on the coast.

What is driving extinctions in WARN countries The IUCN's analysis of extinction drivers is remarkably consistent across our partner-network countries.

The same five threats appear again and again: Habitat loss — deforestation in the Amazon and the Indonesian/Malaysian rainforests, dryland conversion in East Africa, coastal development across Southeast Asia.

Illegal wildlife trade — pangolins and tigers in Asia; parrots and primates in South America; ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales in East Africa.

UNODC's World Wildlife Crime Report is the authoritative global summary.

Climate change — coral bleaching, glacier loss, drought-driven mortality (see our separate climate briefing).

Snaring and bycatch — wire snares in Cambodia and Kenya, ghost nets and longlines for marine species.

Conflict with humans — retaliatory killing of predators like jaguars, lions, leopards and elephants.

What animal rescue work does for endangered species Animal rescue, animal shelter and animal sanctuary work is not a substitute for habitat protection or law enforcement — but it is an indispensable part of the response.

Every confiscated pangolin needs triage.

Every orphaned orangutan needs years of rehabilitation.

Every snared elephant needs a veterinary team.

Every trafficked macaw needs a flight-conditioning aviary.

This is where supporter donations actually land: Mobile veterinary care for injured and confiscated endangered animals.

Partner animal shelters in cities and partner sanctuaries in forest and savanna for animals that cannot return to the wild.

Soft-release programmes for rehabilitated animals where habitat still exists.

Snare-removal patrols that remove tens of thousands of wire snares from protected areas every year.

Forensic and seizure support for CITES and UNODC enforcement work.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/endangered-species-warn-countries): Endangered Species: The Animals Closest to Extinction Across the Countries WARN Works In.

Where WARN fits in World Animal Rescue Network is a launch-stage global not-for-profit animal welfare organisation preparing to fund frontline rescue, shelter and sanctuary work across all of the countries listed above.

Our appeals are organised by species and region — orangutans, parrots, Andean bears, working horses, Karachi dogs and more — and an unrestricted donation lets our directors direct funding wherever endangered animals need it most urgently.

Sources IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — category definitions and assessments for all species listed above.

CITES — Appendix I and II listings.

UNODC — World Wildlife Crime Report.

WOAH — animal disease surveillance affecting endangered species.

We need your support to make this happen World Animal Rescue Network is at the launch stage of this work.

We do not yet have rescue numbers to share — and that is exactly why your support matters now.

Every donation helps us put trained teams on the ground, secure veterinary supplies and equipment, and reach the first animals before they are lost.

Donate today to fund our first deployments, or sponsor an animal to back a specific species through rehabilitation.

You can also join the network as a volunteer, fundraiser, or monthly supporter.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/pink-river-dolphin-colombia-peru): The Pink River Dolphin: Why the Amazon's Most Unusual Mammal Is Endangered.

## Summary
The pink river dolphin (boto, Inia geoffrensis) is a freshwater dolphin native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of South America — including the rivers of Colombia and Peru — and is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because of bycatch, deliberate killing for fish bait, mercury contamination from gold mining and drought-driven mass mortality.

## Excerpt
The pink river dolphin — the boto — is one of only a handful of freshwater dolphin species left on Earth. It lives in the rivers of Colombia and Peru, and it is now formally listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. A briefing on what it is, why it is in trouble, and what frontline rescue work can still do.

## Takeaway
The pink river dolphin is one of only six recognised freshwater dolphin species in the world.

## Takeaway
Adult botos can reach 2.5 metres long and weigh up to 185 kg, making them the largest river dolphin on Earth.

## Takeaway
Their distinctive pink colour develops with age — calves are grey, and adults turn pink as scar tissue and blood vessels show through their thin skin.

## Takeaway
The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and protected under CITES Appendix II.

## Takeaway
The 2023 Amazon drought caused mass dolphin die-offs across the basin as river levels collapsed and water temperatures rose to lethal levels.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/pink-river-dolphin-colombia-peru): The Pink River Dolphin: Why the Amazon's Most Unusual Mammal Is Endangered.

## Briefing
The pink river dolphin — known locally as the boto or bufeo — is one of the most unusual mammals on Earth and one of the most threatened.

It lives in the freshwater rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, including the rivers of Colombia and Peru where WARN's South American programme is being built.

This briefing explains what the species is, why the IUCN now lists it as Endangered, and where frontline rescue and partner sanctuary work fits into the response.

What the pink river dolphin actually is The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) is one of only six freshwater dolphin species recognised in the world today.

Adults can reach 2.5 metres long and weigh up to 185 kg, making it the largest river dolphin on Earth.

Calves are born grey; the famous pink colour develops gradually with age, and scientists believe it comes from scar tissue and exposed blood vessels showing through their unusually thin skin.

Males are often pinker than females, and the brightest pink individuals tend to be the most scarred — usually older males who have spent decades sparring with each other.

Pink river dolphins have features that set them apart from their ocean cousins.

They have unfused neck vertebrae, which means they can turn their heads sideways — useful for navigating flooded forest.

Their long beaks and bristle-like sensory hairs help them locate fish in dark, sediment-heavy water.

And during the high-water season, they swim straight into the flooded várzea forest, hunting fish among submerged trees in a way no other dolphin on Earth does.

Where they live Pink river dolphins range across roughly 7 million km² of South American freshwater — the entire Amazon basin (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia) and parts of the Orinoco basin (Venezuela, Colombia).

Within Colombia and Peru, they are concentrated in the main Amazon channel, its major tributaries — the Caquetá, Putumayo, Napo, Marañón, Ucayali — and the seasonally flooded lakes and oxbows along these rivers.

Why the pink river dolphin is endangered The IUCN lists the Amazon river dolphin as Endangered , a sharp uplisting from its previous "Data Deficient" status as long-term population monitoring caught up with the reality on the ground.

The threats are well documented: Bycatch and deliberate killing Pink river dolphins are entangled in fishing nets across the Amazon.

Worse, in some parts of the basin they are deliberately killed for use as bait in the piracatinga (a scavenger catfish) fishery — a practice that has been banned in Brazil but is difficult to enforce in remote river reaches.

Bycatch and deliberate killing together are the largest known driver of decline.

Mercury contamination from gold mining Illegal and informal gold mining — particularly in the Peruvian Madre de Dios region and parts of Colombian Amazonia — uses mercury to extract gold from river sediment.

The mercury enters the food chain, accumulates in fish, and concentrates in the apex predators that eat them.

Pink river dolphins have been found with mercury levels that are among the highest ever recorded in any freshwater mammal.

Climate-driven drought The 2023 Amazon drought caused catastrophic die-offs.

River levels collapsed to record lows, water temperatures in some lakes exceeded 39°C, and dolphins were stranded in shrinking, overheating pools.

Hundreds of pink river dolphin carcasses were documented in a single event in Brazil's Lake Tefé, with the cause linked to thermal stress and oxygen collapse.

The 2023 drought was not an isolated event — the Amazon has experienced multiple severe droughts over the past two decades.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/pink-river-dolphin-colombia-peru): The Pink River Dolphin: Why the Amazon's Most Unusual Mammal Is Endangered.

Dams and habitat fragmentation Hydropower dams across the Amazon basin fragment the river system and block the movements that pink river dolphins depend on for seasonal feeding and breeding.

What animal rescue work can do Pink river dolphin rescue is one of the harder forms of animal rescue — these are wide-ranging wild animals in remote terrain.

But the work is real and it matters: Stranding response.

During drought events, mobile teams can move stranded dolphins from drying lakes back to the main river channels.

This work happens at the limits of logistics and budget.

Bycatch reduction.

Working with local fishing communities on gear changes and net-tending practices that reduce dolphin bycatch.

Mercury monitoring.

Independent monitoring of fish and dolphin tissue is what makes the case for tighter enforcement of illegal mining.

Habitat protection.

Supporting the legal protection of key oxbow lakes and seasonally flooded forest where dolphins concentrate.

Where WARN fits in World Animal Rescue Network is preparing to support partner organisations in Colombia and Peru that work on freshwater wildlife — including pink river dolphin response during drought emergencies and the broader rescue and rehabilitation network for Amazon animals.

We are a launch-stage not-for-profit, so this work depends on supporter funding to begin.

If this briefing has changed how you think about the pink river dolphin, the most useful thing you can do is back our launch with a donation.

Every gift goes towards getting animal rescue capacity on the ground in the countries where endangered animals like the pink dolphin need it most.

Sources IUCN Red List — Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) assessment.

CITES — Appendix II listing for Inia geoffrensis.

UN Environment Programme — Amazon drought and mercury contamination reporting.

WOAH — climate-linked freshwater mammal mortality.

We need your support to make this happen World Animal Rescue Network is at the launch stage of this work.

We do not yet have rescue numbers to share — and that is exactly why your support matters now.

Every donation helps us put trained teams on the ground, secure veterinary supplies and equipment, and reach the first animals before they are lost.

Donate today to fund our first deployments, or sponsor an animal to back a specific species through rehabilitation.

You can also join the network as a volunteer, fundraiser, or monthly supporter.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/kinkajou-rainforest-mammal): The Kinkajou: The Rainforest Mammal Most People Have Never Heard Of.

## Summary
The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a small, nocturnal rainforest mammal in the raccoon family that lives in the canopies of Colombia, Peru and the wider Amazon basin — and despite its IUCN Least Concern status, local populations are increasingly under pressure from deforestation and the international exotic pet trade.

## Excerpt
The kinkajou is a small, golden-brown rainforest mammal with a prehensile tail and enormous dark eyes. It lives in the forests of Colombia and Peru. Its biggest threats are habitat loss and the exotic pet trade — and that is exactly where rescue and sanctuary work can help.

## Takeaway
Kinkajous are not monkeys, sloths or red pandas — they are members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae).

## Takeaway
They are almost entirely arboreal and nocturnal, with a fully prehensile tail that they use like a fifth limb.

## Takeaway
They feed on fruit, nectar and the occasional insect, and they are important pollinators of rainforest trees.

## Takeaway
The IUCN currently lists the kinkajou as Least Concern globally, but flags habitat loss and the pet trade as growing threats with significant regional declines.

## Takeaway
Kinkajous are listed on CITES Appendix III for Honduras, and the international exotic pet trade is a documented driver of capture across their range — including in Colombia and Peru.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/kinkajou-rainforest-mammal): The Kinkajou: The Rainforest Mammal Most People Have Never Heard Of.

## Briefing
The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is one of the most charming and least-known mammals of the South American rainforest.

It is sometimes called the "honey bear" because of its love of nectar and its golden-brown fur, but it is not a bear and it is not closely related to monkeys, sloths or red pandas — it is a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), and it has been quietly going about its business in the rainforest canopy for millions of years.

WARN is preparing to operate in Colombia and Peru, the two South American countries that hold significant kinkajou populations.

This briefing explains what the species is, why it is increasingly turning up in rescue cases, and how supporters can help.

What the kinkajou actually is Adult kinkajous are about 40-60 cm long in the body, with a tail of similar length and a typical weight of 1.5-4.5 kg.

Their fur is short, dense and golden-brown to honey-coloured.

They have rounded faces with large, dark eyes adapted for night vision, small rounded ears, and a long pink tongue that can extend up to 13 cm to drink nectar from flowers.

The most important feature, biologically, is the tail.

Kinkajous have a fully prehensile tail — the only member of the raccoon family with this trait, and one of only a small number of mammals worldwide that can hang from its tail like a fifth limb.

They also have rotating hind feet that let them run head-first down a tree trunk, the same trick that squirrels and certain monkeys can do.

How kinkajous live Kinkajous are almost entirely arboreal (canopy-dwelling) and nocturnal (active at night).

They sleep in tree hollows during the day, usually alone or in small family groups, and emerge at dusk to forage.

Their diet is roughly 90% fruit, with the remainder made up of nectar, flowers and the occasional insect or small vertebrate.

Because they move from flower to flower drinking nectar, they are documented pollinators of several rainforest tree species — making them part of the basic engineering of the forest itself.

They are found from southern Mexico down through Central America and across the Amazon basin to Bolivia and southern Brazil.

The Colombian and Peruvian populations are part of one of the largest contiguous strongholds for the species.

Why kinkajous turn up in rescue work The IUCN currently lists the kinkajou as Least Concern globally, which means the species is not at immediate risk of extinction.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that the same assessment flags two growing threats: Habitat loss Kinkajous are canopy specialists.

They do not survive in fragmented or cleared forest.

The Amazon basin has already lost roughly 17% of its original forest, and the pace of clearance in the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon — driven by cattle ranching, illegal gold mining and small-scale agriculture — continues.

Every patch of cleared canopy removes a kinkajou territory.

The exotic pet trade Kinkajous are appealing to look at and slow-moving in the day, which makes them targets for the wildlife trade.

Across South America, the United States and parts of Europe, kinkajous are kept as exotic pets despite being highly unsuitable for it: they are nocturnal, long-lived (up to 25 years in captivity), territorial, and inflict serious injuries when stressed.