Quiz of the Day
Endangered Species
Friday, 15 May 2026
National Endangered Species Day — conservation, extinct animals, wildlife facts
1. How many species are currently listed as endangered or critically endangered worldwide?
- About 44,000
- About 5,000
- About 16,000
- About 100,000
The IUCN Red List currently lists over 44,000 species as threatened with extinction — about 28% of all assessed species. The actual number is likely much higher since most species haven't been assessed yet.
2. Which animal was brought back from the brink of extinction after conservation efforts in Yellowstone?
- Grey wolf
- Bald eagle
- Grizzly bear
- American bison
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995 after being hunted to local extinction. Their return triggered a 'trophic cascade' — wolves controlled elk, allowing vegetation to recover, which stabilised riverbanks and changed the course of rivers.
3. What is the main cause of species extinction today?
- Pollution
- Habitat loss
- Climate change
- Hunting
Habitat destruction accounts for about 80% of biodiversity loss. Forests are disappearing at a rate of about 10 million hectares per year — roughly the size of South Korea annually. Climate change is rapidly becoming the second biggest driver.
4. Which bird, once numbered in billions, went extinct in 1914?
- Dodo
- Passenger pigeon
- Great auk
- Carolina parakeet
Passenger pigeons once darkened North American skies in flocks of billions — the most abundant bird on Earth. Commercial hunting and habitat destruction wiped them out in decades. Martha, the last one, died at Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.
5. What is a 'keystone species'?
- A species that lives in rocky habitats
- A species that other species depend on disproportionately
- The first species to colonise an area
- The largest species in an ecosystem
Sea otters are a classic keystone species — they eat sea urchins, which eat kelp. Without otters, urchins destroy kelp forests, which are nurseries for hundreds of fish species. Removing one species can collapse an entire ecosystem.
6. How many northern white rhinos are left in the world?
- About 500
- About 50
- They're extinct
- 2
Only two northern white rhinos remain — both female, named Najin and Fatu, living under 24/7 armed guard in Kenya. Scientists are attempting IVF using stored sperm from deceased males in a last-ditch effort to save the subspecies.
7. What is 'de-extinction'?
- Using biotechnology to bring back extinct species
- Preventing future extinctions
- Removing a species from the endangered list
- Relocating species to new habitats
Scientists are working to bring back the woolly mammoth, dodo, and thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) using gene editing. The mammoth project aims to create a cold-adapted elephant hybrid by 2028, though ethical debates continue.
8. Which great ape shares about 98.7% of its DNA with humans and is critically endangered?
- Gorilla
- Bonobo
- Chimpanzee
- Orangutan
Borneo and Sumatra's orangutans have lost over 80% of their habitat in 20 years, primarily due to palm oil plantations. The word 'orangutan' means 'person of the forest' in Malay. They're the only great ape found outside Africa.
9. What conservation status means a species faces the highest risk of extinction in the wild?
- Critically Endangered
- Vulnerable
- Extinct in the Wild
- Endangered
The IUCN categories go: Least Concern → Near Threatened → Vulnerable → Endangered → Critically Endangered → Extinct in the Wild → Extinct. Moving a species down this list (improvement) can take decades of conservation work.
10. Which ocean animal is hunted for its fins, driving many species toward extinction?
- Tuna
- Dolphin
- Shark
- Whale
Up to 100 million sharks are killed annually, largely for shark fin soup. Some species have declined by over 70% in 50 years. Sharks predate dinosaurs by 200 million years — they survived five mass extinctions but may not survive humans.
11. What is the purpose of a 'seed bank'?
- To sell rare seeds
- To store seeds as insurance against plant extinction
- To grow seeds for farms
- To study seed genetics
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway holds over 1.1 million seed samples from nearly every country. Built inside a mountain on a remote Arctic island, it's designed to survive any global catastrophe — including nuclear war.
12. Which country is home to the most endangered species?
- Madagascar
- Indonesia
- Ecuador
- Brazil
Ecuador (including the Galápagos Islands) has the highest density of endangered species relative to its size. The Galápagos inspired Darwin's theory of evolution — its unique species are found nowhere else on Earth.
13. What conservation success story saw China's giant panda population increase enough to be downlisted from 'Endangered'?
- Habitat restoration and protection
- Relocating pandas to new areas
- All of the above
- Captive breeding
China's panda population grew from about 1,114 in the 1980s to over 1,860 in 2020, leading to a downgrade from 'Endangered' to 'Vulnerable'. China established 67 panda reserves protecting over 66% of wild pandas.
14. What is 'rewilding'?
- Breeding animals in zoos
- Building wildlife parks
- Restoring ecosystems by reintroducing native species
- Training wild animals
The UK's Knepp Estate in Sussex transformed from unprofitable farmland to a thriving wilderness by letting nature take over. White storks, which hadn't bred in Britain for 600 years, now nest there. It's become a model for rewilding worldwide.
15. What percentage of coral reefs could be lost by 2050 if climate change continues unchecked?
- About 90%
- About 50%
- About 70%
- About 25%
Coral reefs support 25% of all marine species despite covering less than 1% of the ocean floor. A temperature rise of just 1.5°C could destroy 70-90% of reefs. They're sometimes called the 'rainforests of the sea'.