Classroom wildlife lessons

Lesson plans

Discussion questions

• What does 'critically endangered' mean, and how is it different from extinct?
• Why might losing one species affect other plants and animals?
• Which threats are caused by people, and which could people stop?
• How do choices in shops (palm oil, seafood, souvenirs) connect to wildlife far away?
• If you could protect one animal from the list, which would you choose and why?

Fact cards

Amur leopard

Panthera pardus orientalis

Habitat: Temperate forests · East Asia

Threats: Poaching, reduced prey and habitat loss or fragmentation.

How to help: Support forest protection, wildlife corridors and anti-poaching programmes.

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus

Habitat: Tropical forest · Indonesia

Threats: Poaching risk and the vulnerability of a species concentrated in a single area.

How to help: Support habitat protection, ranger programmes and wildlife monitoring.

Hawksbill turtle

Eretmochelys imbricata

Habitat: Coral reefs · Tropical oceans

Threats: Tortoiseshell trade, fishing-gear bycatch and damage to nesting and feeding habitats.

How to help: Avoid tortoiseshell products and support protected nesting beaches and safer fishing practices.

Sunda tiger

Panthera tigris sondaica

Habitat: Tropical rainforest · Sumatra, Indonesia

Threats: Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and declining prey.

How to help: Support anti-poaching patrols and projects that protect forest corridors and reduce human–tiger conflict.

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus

Habitat: Gulf of California · Mexico

Threats: Entanglement in illegal gillnets set for totoaba fish, driven by demand for their swim bladders.

How to help: Support the removal of illegal nets and demand for seafood caught with vaquita-safe practices.

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii

Habitat: Tropical rainforest · Sumatra, Indonesia

Threats: Deforestation for palm oil and pulp plantations, and the illegal pet trade.

How to help: Choose certified sustainable palm oil and support forest conservation and orangutan rehabilitation programmes.

Black rhinoceros

Diceros bicornis

Habitat: Savanna and scrub · Southern and East Africa

Threats: Poaching driven by demand for horn, and habitat loss.

How to help: Support ranger teams, dehorning and community conservation programmes that make rhinos worth more alive.

Cross River gorilla

Gorilla gorilla diehli

Habitat: Highland forests · Nigeria and Cameroon

Threats: Hunting, habitat fragmentation and human pressure on small forest patches.

How to help: Support protected-area rangers and community forest programmes that keep their hill forests connected.

Saola

Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Habitat: Annamite mountains · Vietnam and Laos

Threats: Snares set for other animals, habitat loss and a population so small it may already be functionally extinct.

How to help: Support snare-removal patrols and efforts to end the demand for wild-caught bushmeat.

Sumatran elephant

Elephas maximus sumatranus

Habitat: Tropical forest · Sumatra, Indonesia

Threats: Deforestation for plantations, habitat fragmentation and human–elephant conflict.

How to help: Support projects that protect forest corridors and help farmers live alongside elephants.

Bornean orangutan

Pongo pygmaeus

Habitat: Tropical rainforest · Borneo

Threats: Logging and clearing for plantations, plus hunting and the illegal pet trade.

How to help: Choose certified sustainable palm oil and support forest protection and rehabilitation centres.

Sumatran rhinoceros

Dicerorhinus sumatrensis

Habitat: Tropical forest · Sumatra and Borneo

Threats: Poaching for horn and the loss and fragmentation of lowland forest.

How to help: Support protected sanctuaries, snare removal and anti-poaching patrols in its remaining forest.

Philippine eagle

Pithecophaga jefferyi

Habitat: Rainforest · Philippines

Threats: Loss of lowland forest and hunting of both the birds and the monkeys and lemurs they feed on.

How to help: Support protected forest in its remaining range and community patrols that guard nest trees.

Red wolf

Canis rufus

Habitat: Woodlands and coastal plain · southeastern United States

Threats: Hybridisation with coyotes, accidental killing by humans and a very small captive-bred population.

How to help: Support breeding and release programmes and landowner efforts that keep wild wolves alive.

Yangtze finless porpoise

Neophocaena asiaeorientalis

Habitat: Yangtze River · China

Threats: Boat strikes, fishing nets, pollution and the noise and sand extraction that disturb the river.

How to help: Support river protection, fishing closures and efforts to keep the Yangtze shallow and unpolluted.

Kākāpō

Strigops habroptilus

Habitat: Island forests · New Zealand

Threats: Introduced predators, and slow breeding tied to ripening fruit that makes recovery difficult.

How to help: Support predator-free sanctuaries and intensive recovery programmes for every remaining bird.

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Habitat: Canals and channels · Xochimilco, Mexico

Threats: Draining and pollution of the canals, invasive fish and urban expansion around Mexico City.

How to help: Support restoration of the Xochimilco wetlands and clean, predator-free water channels.

Class quiz