The Amazon is home to more than 40,000 plants and over iv,000 creature species including 3,000 freshwater fish, thousands of birds and collywobbles, and mammals – these are merely the ones that humans have discovered. Bated from supporting such a rich biodiversity, the Amazon is also the world'southward largest rainforest, playing a crucial role in helping absorb and shop carbon dioxide amid increases in global carbon emissions. However, rampant deforestation and increasing wildfire events exacerbated by climate alter are destroying more natural habitats every day, threatening the survival of many of import and rare species. The situation is only condign worse under the administration of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who famously encourages logging and mining activities, causing deforestation rates to accomplish a 15-twelvemonth high . Countless animals are at the brink of extinction; these are eight Amazon rainforest endangered species.

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8 Amazon Rainforest Endangered Species

i. Golden Lion Tamarin

There are numerous monkey species that are endemic to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, one of which is the Golden Lion Tamarin. Its name, which interestingly was beginning coined by Madame de Pompadour in 1754, derives from its strikingly orange-coloured lion-like mane. The tamarin primarily lives in trees and forage for fruit, insects and even birds by traveling between branches. But deforestation to support the exponential growth of the logging and agriculture industries has destroyed the animal'due south natural habitat. Today, merely ii-3% of its original rainforest habitat remains, threatening the survival of the species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently classifies the Golden Lion Tamarin every bit an endangered species.

amazon rainforest endangered species, jaguartwo. Jaguars

The largest cat in the Americas, jaguars are one of the almost iconic species in the Amazon currently threatened past the devastation of the ecosystem. These big cats are potent swimmers and climbers, and require large areas of tropical rainforest and stretches of river banking company to survive. They also hunt most animals in the Amazon ranging from deers, armadillos, monkeys and lizards, playing an important office in population control of other species. Habitat loss  – jaguar now occupy less than half of its historical range, growing conflict with farmers and ranchers, as well as climate change which has increased risk of wildfire and reduced h2o resources, has driven the animal to be an Amazon rainforest endangered species.

3. Amazon River Dolphin

Also known equally the pink river dolphin, the brute lives merely in freshwater and is found throughout the Amazon river basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Though the dolphin is protected in Brazil, its population continues to halve every decade and is now a IUCN-listed endangered species equally poachers persistently hunt them for their fat blubber to be used as bait to catch a carnivorous catfish. In other parts of the Amazon, the dolphin faces increasing threats of water pollution besides every bit dam installations creating habitat fragmentation. As female river dolphins bear only a single calf every four to five years on boilerplate, population numbers can be tedious and hard to recover.

4. Giant Otters

Equally the name suggests, the giant otter is the largest species within the weasel family and are normally spotted in the Peruvian portion of the Amazon rainforest, where they feed on fish and crustaceans. Much like most threatened species, habitat destruction and illegal hunting has driven its population to worryingly low numbers. The otters also face an additional threat of water contamination from mining and agricultural activities in the Amazon, and overfishing in their habitats. Though the species has been protected under Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) since 1973,  given the big territory that this animal requires, its protection and conservation can be a complicated job.

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amazon rainforest endangered species, Uakari Monkey5. Uakari Monkey

Some other endangered monkey species on this listing is the Uakari Monkey, an animate being that is incredibly identifiable past its brilliant red face and baldheaded caput – non unlike an one-time man with a terrible sunburn. This detail primate was named after the Uakari tribe that once lived in the Amazon merely has now unfortunately go extinct. However, worrying trends show that the monkey is on track to follow its namesake as extensive deforestation has destroyed much of their natural habitat, making information technology difficult for the animal to forage and nest. Some of its populations have as well been vulnerable to illegal hunting. Native to western Amazon rainforest, the Uakari Monkey plays an important role in seed dispersal and is particularly crucial for its ability to send seeds at a greater distance than smaller animals.

6. Hyacinth Macaw

Also known as the Blue Macaw and the protagonist of the film Rio, this strikingly blue parrot (and the largest flying parrot in the world) faces growing threats and force per unit area as its natural habitats and resources continue to shrink from land clearing. They nest almost exclusively in large cavities of onetime Manduvi trees and were historically widely spread across Brazil. Today, they're found mostly in small-scale pockets in the Amazon, nigh notably in central Pará , where human activities have led to 203,460 hectares of tree loss in 2019 alone. Aside from deforestation, the parrot has suffered other threats such equally poaching for its unique feathers and the exotic pet trade . Though the animate being is nonetheless considered just "vulnerable" by the IUCN, many environmentalists believe the species is at the precipice of condign endangered.

7. Due south American Tapir

The South American Tapir is a herbivorous mammal that is like to a pig in shape, feeding primarily on clay licks. This animal is a keystone species for its role as a disperser and predator of tree seeds, supporting the diversity of forests and overall health of the ecosystem. But habitat loss from logging activities and deforestation have been the biggest threat to this species, along with illegal hunting and poaching, driving its population numbers to collapse. The tapir is currently facing extinction in Republic of peru, while in the Argentine republic portion of the Amazon, tapir populations take declined by an estimated lx% within the last 2 centuries. Conservation efforts accept struggled to help recover the species equally they require e xtensive habitats, and many of its protected areas are surrounded by unprotected private lands.

8. Poison Dart Frogs

There are more 100 species of poison dart frogs, most of which alive in the Amazon. Posison dart frogs are brightly coloured  – they tin be yellow, copper, gilt, red, blue, light-green, black or a combination of those colours – and notoriously poisonous where its hitting hue helps warn off predators. They are also unique every bit they are active during the day, as opposed to existence nocturnal like about frog species. The amphibian is terrestrial with a few arboreals, and loss of its habitats increasing food competition and risks of being preyed upon, causing these frogs to get move closer to extinction. Scientists as well found chytridiomycosis, a bacterial affliction found in amphibians, to have killed thousands of animals each twelvemonth, which resulted in the extinction of some species.