OffbeatGorillas pose for selfie with anti-poaching officers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Made famous by the 2011 animated musical-comedy “Rio,” the Spix’s macaw has teetered on the edge of extinction for over two decades; it has been listed as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN since 1994. Hunted for the illegal live bird trade, this macaw has also been hit by loss of its woodland habitat and the introduction of aggressive African bees in what remains of its range. The species has been declared extinct in the wild. There are between 60 and 80 individuals alive in captivity.

Native to China, this giant salamander can grow to nearly six feet (two meters) in length and is regarded as the world’s largest amphibian. Current population trends indicate decreasing numbers for a species that was quite common even as recent as 30 years ago. The major threats facing the species are commercial exploitation for human consumption and habitat destruction due to mining.

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An Arran, Sask., man was fined $3,300 for hunting violations and handed a three-year hunting suspension. An Arran, Sask., man has been convicted for a third time for hunting violations in the province. Gerald Freese, 58, recently pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of wildlife, using another person’s licence, and failing to attach a seal to a big game. READ MORE: Yorkton, Sask. men fined, suspended for hunting under the influence The charges were laid after a routine inspection of a butcher shop in October 2018 when conservation officers said they found a discrepancy in an elk brought in for butchering.

Congo says Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda carried out attack. Rwandan rebels have slaughtered 12 rangers protecting gorillas who went viral in a selfie with their human 'parents' Congolese Major General Maurice Aguru Mamba said the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of

An incredible photo of two gorillas posing with two anti - poaching workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo has received more than 25,000 likes on Facebook. A second post by The Elite AntiPoaching Units And Combat Trackers says the animals are orphaned mountain gorillas .

Also called the Northern square-lipped rhino, they used to be found in several east and central African countries before going extinct in the wild. The world's last three, a male called Sudan (pictured), his daughter Najin and his granddaughter Fatu, were kept at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. On March 19, 2018, 45-year-old Sudan died from multiple age-related issues, leaving only two females to save the species.

These rhinos are dusky gray in color and have a single horn of up to about 10 inches (25.4 centimeters). Their skin has a number of loose folds, giving the appearance of armor plating. Habitat loss and poaching over the years have drastically reduced their numbers. The estimated population size is 40-60, found at the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia.

One of the oldest mammals on Earth, black rhinos were once found extensively along the eastern coast of the African continent. Rampant hunting and poaching have led to a sharp decline in their numbers over the last few decades. Data from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) indicates there are approximately 5,000 individuals left today.

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The most common gorilla subspecies in the Congo Basin, their population has decreased rapidly due to poaching and disease, and according to WWF, currently about 100,000 of them remain.

Found in the Russian Far East, Amur leopards are solitary hunters. Nimble-footed and strong, they carry and hide unfinished kills so as to not attract other predators. Loss of habitat due to rampant human activities is threatening their existence. As per WWF, only around 70 leopards remain today.

Feeding on a variety of plants and depositing seeds, Sumatran elephants contribute to a healthy forest ecosystem. Civil conflicts, hunting and poaching for tusks have reduced their population to just 2,400-2,800, as per WWF.

With a population of 400-500, according to WWF, Sumatran tigers are on the watch list of animals that need protection. Found in patches of forest on the Sumatra island, these tigers are threatened due to rampant deforestation and poaching.

Saola was discovered in Vietnam in 1992, after the recovery of a skull with unusually long horns, at a hunter's home. It was one of the most spectacular zoological discoveries of the 20th century and is one of the world's rarest large animals. Hunting, poaching, habitat fragmentation and snares threaten their existence, and their population is estimated to be less than 750, according to IUCN data.

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Found throughout the world’s tropical oceans, hawksbill turtles have inhabited the planet for over 100 million years. A vital link in marine ecosystem, they help maintain the health of coral reefs and seagrass beds. They are extensively poached for their colored and patterned shells, which are sold in the market at high prices as "tortoiseshells." According to IUCN, their population has declined by over 80 percent in the last century.

These tigers were hunted in thousands before a ban was imposed by the Chinese government in 1979. According to WWF, about 30-80 tigers were estimated to be existing in 1996, but no sighting in the wild has prompted scientists to consider them as "functionally extinct."

Very similar in appearance to the western lowland gorilla, these gorillas live in the Congo Basin and face poaching and habitat loss due to human encroachment. WWF data suggest that not more than 200 to 300 of this species exist in the wild.

Also called Sunda or Javan pangolin, they are found widely in Southeast Asia, from southern China to Borneo, and are known for their protective, scaly body armor. They are killed increasingly for their flesh and scales, resulting in the elimination of more than 80 percent of the population over the past 21 years, as per IUCN 2014 data.

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Found in forests high in the mountains of the Congo basin, mountain gorillas have thicker fur as compared to other great apes. Civil conflict, loss of habitat and poaching pose threat to their population, which currently stands at 880, as per WWF.

Found in the Yangtze River and known for their mischievous smile and an intelligence level comparable to that of gorillas, this aquatic creature is threatened by human activities and pollution. According to WWF, only 1,000-1,800 of these dolphins survive today.

These orangutans are fruit eaters and play a vital role in the dispersal of seeds over a huge area. Once found across the Sumatran island, they have now been reduced to pockets of the island's northern part due to poaching and illegal pet trade. A 2016 survey by Hjalmar Kühl, a researcher at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, revealed their population to be around 14,600.

In the last 15 years, only two captive female Sumatran rhinos have given birth. There are three known subspecies: while two of them are found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the third is believed to be extinct. Poaching poses the greatest threat to these animals. IUCN reports show their estimated population to be 275.

These flightless birds once inhabited Guam in large numbers before the island was invaded by brown tree snakes, which led to their predation and plummeting in number. Today, they are confined to a captive-breeding facility in Guam and across 14 zoos in the U.S. In the last couple of decades, efforts have been made to release small batches of rails in a controlled environment to help promote their breeding. According to IUCN, they are extinct in the wild.

Cute or creepy: why humans love some species, loathe others

The Chinese giant salamander, the largest amphibian in the world, is not cute. "Compare that to the Chinese giant salamander," he said. "Google it. It looks like a six-foot-long, 150-pound bag of brown slime with beady little eyes." The salamanders are a vital part of their ecosystem, just as worms are essential to soil health around the steams and lakes they live in -- which is just about everywhere. Yet, like maggots, rats and snakes, the main instinct they inspire in humans is revulsion.

According to a 2015 IUCN report, only 580 of these birds are left, confined to parts of Morocco and Syria. Though the birds have been marked critically endangered, there has been an increase in their number in the last few years.

These mammals, found in alpine and subalpine boulder fields and rocky scree in south-eastern Australia, were believed to be extinct until 1896. However, the rediscovery of a single living specimen in a ski club lodge on Mount Hotham, Victoria, in 1966 revived hope for their survival. There were around 2,250 of them as per a 2008 report. Destruction of their habitat is the major reason for their dwindling numbers.

Indigenously Australian, these shy animals had completely disappeared in the early 20th century after the loss of their only two known habitats in southern Queensland and New South Wales. In the 1930s, a small population was spotted in Epping Forest National Park in Queensland. According to a 2013 census in the park, 196 of these wombats were estimated to be alive.

They are known to be one of the slowest animals in the world – so slow that algae grow on their back, giving them a natural cover from predators. Found only in Isla Escudo de Veraguas, an isolated Panamanian island in the Caribbean, their population has suffered due to destruction of habitat.

Also known as white antelope or screwhorn antelope, these animals thrived in the extreme climate of the Sahara Desert for thousands of years. However, destruction of habitat and frenzied hunting have forced them to the verge of extinction. As per a 2016 IUCN report, there are less than 100 of them left in the Termit Massif Reserve in Niger.

This freshwater species is on the verge of extinction due to habitat destruction, hunting and dynamite fishing. As per the 2016 IUCN report, less than 200 adults survive in the wild, and aggressive conservation efforts are on to protect them from going extinct.

They are commonly found in northern European waters: in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Intensive fishing in those waters has led to them being declared locally extinct in large swathes of the Mediterranean Sea.

Commonly referred to as "land lobster," these nocturnal insects were primarily found in Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. However, in 1918, the introduction of black rats by a ship that had run aground near the island led to their massive predation. They were believed to be extinct until they were rediscovered on a nearby island in 2001.

In 2011, a park ranger in Israel found one specimen of the Hula painted frog, considered extinct since the 1950s due to the draining of the 15,000-acre Lake Hula — their natural habitat. The discovery of a second specimen a few days later revived the hopes of their survival.

The common skate has become uncommon across northwestern Europe and the Mediterranean and Black Seas. They are often caught accidentally in fishing nets, and their repopulation is difficult because they are long-lived and slow to mature.

Locally called mitu mitu, the Alagoas curassow was found in the forests of northeastern Brazil. Last seen in its natural habitat in the late 1980s, there are only 130 of them in two aviaries, according to a 2008 IUCN data. They were lost due to deforestation and hunting.

Since the early 1980s, an almost 90 percent decrease in the population of the European eel has prompted a ban on their export throughout the European Union. Water pollution, changes in climate, dams, overfishing and parasites are probable causes of its decline.

Found only in Hawaii, U.S., the last known crow disappeared from the wild in 2002 — making them extinct in the wild. According to 2011 IUCN data, there were only 94 Hawaiian crows in captivity, since they are especially susceptible to environmental fluctuations and avian malaria.

Once commonly found across North Africa, scimitar oryx have been extinct in the wild since 2000. They are kept in protected areas because they are prized by game hunters for their horns and the local population used their flesh and hide. According to 2014 IUCN data, only a few hundred survive in captivity and they are extinct in the wild.

Found only in the southern tip of Thailand and the Malay peninsula, only about 250-340 of these tigers still survive, as per 2013 IUCN figures. Illegal hunting for parts used in folk medicine and loss of forests have caused their population to decline by more than 25 percent in the last generation.

There are no self-sustaining Wyoming toads in the wild and they are only found in the Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. According to 2002 IUCN data, only 128 remain, with their number slowly declining due to diseases and droughts in parts of the Laramie River basin.

These birds were last sighted in their natural habitat — Socorro Island, Mexico — in 1972, making them extinct in the wild. There are around 150 of them in captivity, as per 2016 IUCN data.

Destruction of forests in the island nation and hunting have led to a decrease of 50 percent in their population over the last 60 years, making them critically endangered. According to IUCN, about 104,700 of them remain.

Overfishing for caviar and loss of spawning sites due to construction of dams have led to a 90 percent decline in their population. These fish are found in the Black Sea basin and the Caspian Sea but are estimated to go extinct soon due to illegal fishing.

A branching, stony coral, it is found throughout the warmer Atlantic waters, the Great Barrier Reef, the western coast of South America and Southeast Asia. Over the last 30 years, 80 percent of their population has been lost due to climate change and diseases.

These fish were initially found in the Colorado River delta and in the Gulf of California around Mexico, but river degradation has left them endemic to Mexican waters.

They have been extensively fished since the 1940s, as their swim bladder is a delicacy, further reducing their number. Commercial fishing of the species was banned in 1975 and the Mexican government has started a program to rescue and conserve them.