Endangered Species in Your State

Name: _________________________________       Date: _____________

You may think that all endangered animals are exotic creatures in foreign countries. It may surprise you that there are many endangered and threatened animals in your home state!

In this activity, you'll get a chance to "adopt" one endangered or threatened species in youe state. You'll learn more about it and find out what is being done to protect it.

1. Start at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Species Information page. Scroll to the link for State Endangered Species Lists. Which state has the most endangered and threatened species (plant and animal)? How many species were listed for this state? How many species were listed for your state? Fill in the first two columns in the table below.
   
   

   	State Name	Number of Species
   State with most species
   Your state

   
   
2. Next, click the link for your particular state. You are now looking at lists of threatened and endangered animals and plants in your state.
   
   
   
   
3. Choose one species that you'd like to learn more about. Write its common and scientific names below.
   • Common name:
   • Scientific name:
   
   
4. Click on the scientific name of your species to get its profile. Record the information in the spaces below:
   • Family:
   • Group:
   • Historic Range:
   • Status (Endangered or Threatened):
   • Date First Listed:
   
   
5. Does the profile have a Learn More link? If so, click on it for additional information about your species. You can also click the Search FWS website further down the page. If a photo is available, print it. What interesting facts can you find about your species? Is there a recovery plan in place? Summarize below.
   
   
   
   
6. Share your results with your classmates. Which species has been listed as endangered or threatened the longest? Which species are still declining since the original listing? Which are improving? Which are extinct in the wild?