Endangered Species Day Quiz: How much do you know about the world's threatened wildlife?
This Endangered Species Day, we're putting you to the test!
6 years agoIf ever there was a tortoise with a claim to fame, Lonesome George, the world's last known Pinta Island tortoise, was it. Dubbed the rarest creature in the world, George became a global conservation symbol decades before he died in 2012 – a suspected centenarian!
George's remains were sent to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), where staff hope that a post-mortem makeover can help keep George's legacy alive for generations of museum-goers. "It's so important that we preserve him so that people have the opportunity to experience [the species] in the future," says AMNH.
The museum's scientific staff teamed up with an expert taxidermist to ensure that the massive animal's preservation would be both beautiful and scientifically accurate – focusing on everything from the look and feel of the skin to the tortoise's final stance. These finer details are especially important given the rarity of obtaining such a pristine specimen of an extinct species!
1 1 Welcome back, George!This Endangered Species Day, we're putting you to the test!
6 years agoPick a non-endangered bird next time, leopard.
2 years agoOhio’s Toledo Zoo has an adorable new addition: a critically endangered orangutan named Wakil.
9 years agoConservationists are working on a deal to secure protected land for one of South Africa's most endangered frogs: the Pickersgill's reed frog.
10 years agoSouth Africa's most endangered carnivore just took another hit.
8 years ago