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    Endangered species

    Endangered species: Second chances for the species we're about to lose.

    The IUCN Red List counts 49,505 species threatened with extinction. Conservation works more often than people think: in two thirds of cases, it improved the state of nature or slowed its decline.

    Try it in the sliderTalk to Ryan

    Ryan K. Hertel · heyitskenton

    The problem

    What we're up against.

    • Tens of thousands at risk, and more uncounted.

      The Red List counts 49,505 threatened species among the 175,909 it has assessed. Of an estimated 8 million species on Earth, a global assessment puts around 1 million at risk of extinction.

    • Wildlife in steep decline.

      Monitored wildlife populations shrank by an average of 73% over 52 years. That's an average across populations, not a count of animals lost.

    • What drives it.

      The biggest drivers are, in order, changes in how land and sea are used, direct exploitation of wildlife, and climate change.

    • Rhinos, still in trouble.

      Africa had 22,540 rhinos at the end of 2024, and white rhino numbers fell 11.2% over the year.

    • The last two northern white rhinos.

      Only two northern white rhinos are left, both female, so the species can't breed on its own.

    What works

    Proven, and ready to grow.

    • Conservation works.

      In the largest analysis so far, of 186 studies, conservation action improved the state of nature or slowed its decline in two thirds of cases.

    • Extinctions prevented.

      Conservation has prevented the extinction of at least 28 bird and mammal species since 1993, and perhaps as many as 32 birds and 16 mammals.

    • The lynx came back.

      The Iberian lynx grew from 62 mature animals in 2001 to 648 in 2022, and more than 2,000 in all today.

    • Back from the brink in America.

      Only 23 California condors survived in 1982. By the end of 2025 there were 607, with 392 in the wild. Black-footed ferrets, rebuilt from 18 animals, now number around 400 in the wild.

    • The white rhino's comeback.

      Southern white rhinos came back from fewer than 100 in the early 1900s to more than 21,000 by the end of 2012.

    What a family could fund

    Where the money goes furthest.

    • Parks with lions run short.

      Africa's protected areas with lions need $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion a year but get about $381 million, and 88% to 94% of them are underfunded. Worldwide, meeting conservation targets would take at least ten times today's funding.

    • More rangers.

      The world has about 286,000 rangers, and meeting global goals for protected areas would take more than 1.5 million.

    • A ready-made model.

      The Legacy Landscapes Fund gives each protected area it supports $1 million a year for at least 15 years, and private partners cover at least a third of the costs.

    • Rewilding rhinos.

      African Parks has moved 745 rhinos into 19 protected areas across four countries, where 89 calves have been born, by its own count. Each move costs about $1,500 within South Africa and about $50,000 to central Africa.

    • A long shot for the northern white rhino.

      Scientists have produced 39 pure northern white rhino embryos so far. The methods could help other species on the brink.

    Honest limits

    What money can't promise.

    • Conservation can't do it alone.

      The declines can't be reversed by conservation efforts alone.

    • Some efforts backfire.

      In 21% of the cases studied, nature did worse under conservation than with no action.

    • Money isn't results.

      In South Africa's Greater Kruger, about $74 million went to anti-poaching while 1,985 rhinos were poached, with no statistical evidence the spending cut poaching. Dehorning cut it by about 78% for 1.2% of the budget, though some dehorned rhinos were still poached.

    • Breeding has limits.

      Six embryo transfers for the northern white rhino haven't yet led to a lasting pregnancy, and lead poisoning is still the main cause of death for condors in the wild.

    • Saved isn't safe.

      Many species saved from extinction remain highly threatened, and the Iberian lynx could still suffer if disease strikes the rabbits it eats.

    Hard questions

    Asked and answered.

    1. You might ask

      Why spend on animals when people are suffering?

      Ryan

      A family can do both: lowering the risk for every threatened species would cost an estimated $3.41 billion to $4.76 billion a year. And people depend on wildlife: more than 75% of the world's food crop types rely on animal pollination.

    2. You might ask

      Isn't extinction natural?

      Ryan

      Yes, but species are now going extinct tens to hundreds of times faster than the average over the past 10 million years, mostly because of us.

    3. You might ask

      Is one rhino worth all that money?

      Ryan

      Most money for rhinos pays for parks, rangers and smart tools like dehorning, which cut poaching for a sliver of the budget. The northern white rhino is an honest long shot, and its science could help other species on the brink.

    In the slider

    See what your fortune could do here.

    Endangered species

    The slider prices this cause with these numbers:

    • Lowering the extinction risk of every threatened species would cost an estimated $3.41 billion to $4.76 billion a year.
    • The IUCN Red List counts 49,505 species threatened with extinction. Paying the higher estimate in full, each year, is the whole need.
    • Money isn't the same as protection: one study found no evidence that heavy anti-poaching spending cut rhino poaching, while dehorning did.
    Try it in the sliderTalk to Ryan

    More of the Blueprint

    Keep reading.

    23 more chapters on the way

    Back to Keep 100

    Sources

    Every number in this chapter, and where it came from.

    1. Source 1: From desert frog to deep-sea molluscs, remarkable species at risk: IUCN Red List (opens in a new tab)

      IUCN, 9 July 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    2. Source 2: The positive impact of conservation action (Langhammer and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Science, 25 April 2024. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The largest meta-analysis of conservation so far.

    3. Source 3: Nature's Dangerous Decline Unprecedented; Species Extinction Rates Accelerating (opens in a new tab)

      IPBES, 6 May 2019. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The UN-backed global assessment of nature, by hundreds of experts.

    4. Source 4: Living Planet Report: Amid an average 73% decline in wildlife population sizes, scientists reveal grounds for hope (opens in a new tab)

      WWF, 7 October 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The Living Planet Index, from the Zoological Society of London, averages changes across tens of thousands of monitored populations. It isn't a count of animals lost.

    5. Source 5: Poaching of African rhinos down, but drought and other threats drive losses globally (opens in a new tab)

      IUCN, 7 August 2025. Checked 16 October 2026.

    6. Source 6: New embryo boosts survival chances for the Northern White Rhino (opens in a new tab)

      BioRescue, 22 April 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The rescue project's own update.

    7. Source 7: Up to 48 extinctions prevented by conservation action in recent decades (opens in a new tab)

      Colorado State University, 11 September 2020. Checked 16 October 2026.

      On a study in Conservation Letters by Bolam and others, which drew on 137 experts.

    8. Source 8: Iberian lynx rebounding thanks to conservation action: IUCN Red List (opens in a new tab)

      IUCN, 20 June 2024. Checked 16 October 2026.

    9. Source 9: California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) (opens in a new tab)

      U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Checked 16 October 2026.

    10. Source 10: California Condor Recovery Program 2025 Annual Population Status (opens in a new tab)

      U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The official count, as of December 31, 2025.

    11. Source 11: Black-Footed Ferret Kits Born at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (opens in a new tab)

      Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, 18 May 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    12. Source 12: White Rhino (opens in a new tab)

      International Rhino Foundation. Checked 16 October 2026.

    13. Source 13: More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa's protected areas with lions (Lindsey and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 22 October 2018. Checked 16 October 2026.

    14. Source 14: Financial costs of meeting global biodiversity conservation targets: current spending and unmet needs (McCarthy and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Science, 11 October 2012. Checked 16 October 2026.

      The yearly cost of lowering the extinction risk of every globally threatened species, in 2012 dollars. The list of threatened species has grown since.

    15. Source 15: Protected area personnel and ranger numbers are insufficient to deliver global expectations (Appleton and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Nature Sustainability, 20 October 2022. Checked 16 October 2026.

      A census of protected-area staff in 176 countries.

    16. Source 16: Legacy Landscapes Fund (opens in a new tab)

      German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 9 September 2024. Checked 16 October 2026.

    17. Source 17: African Parks: 3 Years In. 745 Rhino Rewilded. 19 Landscapes. More than 550,000 Hectares. And Counting. (opens in a new tab)

      ATC News, 24 September 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

      African Parks' own statement, republished.

    18. Source 18: Translocation of 2,000 rhinos in Africa gets underway (opens in a new tab)

      Discover Wildlife, 16 May 2024. Checked 16 October 2026.

      Reporting African Parks' own cost estimates.

    19. Source 19: New embryo boosts survival chances for the Northern White Rhino (opens in a new tab)

      Safari Park Dvur Kralove, 22 April 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

      A partner in the rescue project.

    20. Source 20: New study says conservation works, providing hope for biodiversity efforts (opens in a new tab)

      Mongabay, 1 May 2024. Checked 16 October 2026.

      Reporting on the Science meta-analysis by Langhammer and others.

    21. Source 21: Dehorning reduces rhino poaching (Kuiper and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Science, 5 June 2025. Checked 16 October 2026.

      Eleven reserves in South Africa's Greater Kruger area.

    22. Source 22: How many bird and mammal extinctions has recent conservation action prevented? (Bolam and others) (opens in a new tab)

      Conservation Letters, 9 September 2020. Checked 16 October 2026.