If catching a tan on an exotic beach or traveling to a tourist trap of a city seems like a bland and boring way to spend your summer vacation, a wildlife adventure may sound like a more appealing getaway. But you’ll have to hurry, or you may miss the main attraction.
The World Wildlife Fund highlighted some of the most exciting wildlife adventures in the world. These tours give travelers a backstage pass to some of nature’s wildest adventures, as well as a chance to catch a glimpse at some of earth’s most vulnerable species.
Despite the WWF’s conservation efforts, many of the species they fight desperately to protect are increasingly at risk of disappearing from the planet permanently, earning themselves an unfortunate spot of the world’s endangered species list.
1. Amazon Cruise
Endangered Species: Amazon Macaws
Threat: Illegal pet trade
These beautiful birds are highly sought after in the illegal pet trade, however, the WWF suggests captive breeding as an alternative to illegal capture and a way to increase the population.
IMAGE: FLICKR, STEVE WILSON
2. Galapagos Islands
Endangered Species: Giant Tortoise
Threat: Introduced species
Due to introduced species on the Galapagos Islands, the giant tortoise is in danger of going extinct. Cats and dogs prey on the young and cattle compete for grazing vegetation.
IMAGE: FLICKR, BRIAN GRATWICKE
3. Mexico
Endangered Species: Monarch Butterfly
Threat: Climate change
Even the smallest species are in danger of becoming extinct.
Herbicide use is killing off the butterfly’s primary food source, the milkweed plant, and climate change threatens to disrupt the animal’s breeding grounds.
IMAGE: FLICKR, WILLIAM WARBY
4. Uganda Safari
Endangered Species: Mountain Gorillas
Threat: Habitat loss
Humans have moved into the nearby mountains, clearing land for agriculture and livestock which has threatened the gorilla’s homes.
IMAGE: ERIC ROCK, NATURAL HABITAT ADVENTURES
5. China
Endangered Species: Pandas
Threat: Habitat loss
Forest destruction has decreased the pandas’ access to food, and construction of roads and railways have isolated their population, preventing mating.
IMAGE: WWF/CANON, BERNARD DE WETTER
6. Churchill, Canada: The “Polar Bear Capital of the World”
Endangered Species: Polar Bears
Threat: Climate change
The changing climate has caused the summer sea ice to decrease, which the polar bears use as a platform for hunting, resting and breeding.
IMAGE: FLICKR, VISIT GREENLAND
7. South African Safari
Endangered Species: South African Rhinos
Threat: Poaching and illegal wildlife trade
Recently, there has a been an increase in the number of rhinos being poached due to the false belief that the rhino horn provides the medical benefit of an aphrodisiac. Last year, a record number of 1004 rhinos were killed in South Africa.
IMAGE: MARK CARWARDINE / WWF-CANON
8. The Himalayan Mountains of Mongolia
Endangered Species: Snow Leopard
Threat: Climate change
Due to the rapid melting of the Himalayas, the elusive snow leopard is at risk of losing a large percentage of their habitat.
IMAGE: FLICKR, MARK DUMONT
9. India
Endangered Species: Wild Tiger
Threat: Poaching and illegal wildlife trade
In a little over a century, we have lost nearly 97% of the wild tigers. Nearly every part of the tiger is sought after for traditional medicine and folk remedies. In some Asian cultures, the tiger is considered a power symbol, so the animal also suffers from the illegal pet trade.
IMAGE: FLICKR, CAT LOVERS
10. Coral Reefs off the Maldives
Endangered Species: Coral Reefs
Threat: Destructive fishing methods
Practices such as dynamite fishing is still widely practiced today and can destroy over 200 square feet of coral at a time. The method destroys the reef and all life around it, devastating the small ecosystems.
IMAGE: FLICKR, USFWS – PACIFIC REGION