Chittenango Ovate Amber Snail (Novisuccinea chittenangoensis)

The Chittenango Ovate Amber snail is at the risk of extinction in New York.  The maximum size of this snail is .9 inch. This particular species of snail can only be found in one spot in the entire world. This spot is a 100 foot tall waterfall in central New York that lies within Chittenango State Park. It is around a 4 hour drive from NYC. The whole population of Chittinango Ovate Amber snails was estimated to be less than 500 in 1982 but in 1990 the whole population was estimated to be fewer than 25 snails. Chittiango snails are endangered because of pollution. Tons of trash and other kinds of poultion is in the waterfall where they live. On the map below is where Chittinango State Park is and the waterfall.

                   

How can you help them?

You can help Chittenango Ovate Amber Snails by not littering. Especially if you go to Chittenango or Chittenango state park. If you litter it could get in to a body of water then it could somehow get into the body of water that runs through Chittenango State Park where the snails live. Also by not littering you can help a lot of other animals, endangered or not. 

Eastern Hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)

The Hellbender Salamander is often called "the mud devil". The Hellbender is the largest aquatic salamander in the United States. The average size of the Hellbender is 12 - 15 inches long. But it can grow up to 29 inches long. Hellbenders are nocturnal. Hellbenders get oxygen from the water through their skin. Young hellbenders have gills but they lose them after there first 18 months. There is another kind of Hellbender that lives in Mississippi and Arkansas called the ozark Hellbender. Below is a map of where hellbenders live.

  

                                   

 

                                                    How can you help them?

You can help Eastern Hellbender Salamanders buy not littering. Epically do not throw your trash into a river, stream, channel, or any other body of water. Even if you throw trash on to the land it could be next to a minor stream that you don't know about. If you throw your trash on the ground when it rains it could wash the trash into a body of water and then you will end up killing some animal or a Hellbender. 

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Monarchs are often considered the kings of butterflies. The word monarch means king or a ruler of some kind. Monarch butterflies travel between 1,200 and 1,800 miles from the United States or Canada to the forests in central Mexico. An adult butterfly will only live for about 4 to 5 weeks. Monarch butterflies are very close to being endangered. They are going endangered because of climate change. Cold, wet winters are bad for them and so are hot and dry summers.

   How can you help them?
You can help monarch butterflies by if you have a garden then you can plant milkweed because monarchs caterpillars need it to grow. If you need to chop down trees or plants leave the milkweed for the caterpillars.

Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Giant pandas are one of the top ten endangered animals in the world. Giant pandas can weigh from around 220 to 330 pounds. Pandas are a part of the bear family. There are only around 1,830 left in the wild. The adults can grow more than 4 feet tall. Pandas have a diet of only bamboo. They will eat from 26 to 84 pounds of it everyday. A new born panda is about the size of a stick of butter. The new born is about 1/900 size of its own mother. Pandas are the rarest member of the bear family. The live in the high mountains in western China.

How you can help them?

You can help giant pandas by choosing the brand of soy milk with a panda on the front called Zensoy They donate 5% of their profits to help pandas. If you really want to do something major to help them you can go to this website:World wildlife fund

Lli pika (Ochotona iliensis)

Lli pikas are sometimes nicknamed as the 'magic rabbit'. They are a cuddly looking mammal. They are about 8 inches long. They were first found and documented in China in 1983. They were found again in 2014. They have gone from around 2,900 in 1983 to around 1,000 in 2014. The lli pika species has dropped 71% in about 30 years. They are believed to be endangered because of global warming. They live in a cold flat raised area called a plateau. They eat herbs and other plants. They are more endangered than the panda. 

                                                                    How can we help?
We help lli pikas by helping to stop global warming. The most important thing to do is recycle, reuse and reduce. Use less hot water. Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth or flossing. Turn off the light when ever you leave a room. Don't leave your light on in the middle of the day if you can see enough just using sunlight. Drive the least you can. If you have to go like two blocks don't drive, if you can just walk or take public transportation. 

Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Leatherback sea turtles are one of the most endangered animals in the world. They are also the largest sea turtle and one of the largest reptiles in the world. An adult leatherback sea turtle can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. They are 6 to 7.2 feet long. Leatherback sea turtles are endangered because of many reasons. Mainly because people harvest the eggs and the turtles get caught in many different types of fishing nets and fishing materials. Leather back sea turtles have been on earth for the last 100,000,000 years. They eat a very large amount of jellyfish which helps keep the jellyfish population in check. 

                                                  


                                                            How you can help:
You can help buy not littering. Especially do not litter plastic bags. If you drop a bag it probably will somehow get in to a river or stream. If it gets in to a river or stream it will eventually get to the ocean. Once it is in the ocean a leatherback sea turtle might mistake it for a jellyfish, eat it and then die. Also if you let go of a balloon outside it will end up in the ocean and a sea turtle or any other sea creature might eat it and then die.