Take a look at this graphic that shows reasons why an African animal may be on the endangered species list.

	Trouble On The Savannah! Many African animals make their home on the savannah. Now the population of Africa is growing so rapidly that people must live and farm on these grasslands. A lot of animals need to live in game reserves and parks.
Troublemakers Poachers are people who shoot animals to get their fur and tusks. Most countries have outlawed poaching, but many still kill animals because of the huge amount of money they will get for the horns and tusks.		The Trouble With Hunting When the Europeans came to Africa, they often hunted the native animals for sport and for their furs and tusks.
	Wars: Trouble For People; Trouble For Animals! Europeans came to Africa and took over territory. Disputes arose about this and there was fighting. Many innocent people died in these wars. Other innocent victims of the fighting were the animals.

Don't Get On This List!

The official list of endangered animals is called The Red List. It is kept by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. This organization looks at the number of animals in the wild and what is happening to the animals' habitat. They look at environmental and predatory dangers that the species might be facing. At a meeting of the IUCN Council in November 1994, this organization set up guidelines to put animals in certain categories. These categories help people all over the world better understand what they must do to protect animals that are in danger of extinction. To find out more about The Red List you can go to www.iucn.org.

Animals that are no longer living can be classified, too. These classifications are:

Extinct - no doubt that the last individual animal has died

Extinct in the Wild - an animal does not exist in its natural habitat. Some animals live in captivity or in a protected area outside of their natural habitat.

The three major ways researchers classify endangered animals are:

Critically Endangered - animals that are facing an extremely high risk of dying out in the wild in the immediate future

Endangered -animals that are in very high risk of dying out in their natural habitats in the near future

Vulnerable - animals that have a high risk of extinction in the wild in the "medium-term future"

Species also may put in the following categories:

Lower Risk - an animal is not in an endangered category. There are three sub categories in Lower Risk. These are:

• Conservation Dependent
• Near-Threatened
• Least Concern

Data Deficient - not enough information to put the animal into a category.

Not Evaluated - the animal has not been studied.

Don't Let Your Multiple Intelligences Become "Endangered!"

Look in Miss Maggie's Field Guidebook. Choose an animal and complete one of the projects below. Each project encourages you to draw on a specific skill that you may possess.

Write a conversation between your animal and something that you think might be causing it to be endangered.

Make a model of the animal out of clay. Stand it on a "habitat" that you make out of cardboard and other materials. Your habitat should illustrate one of the reasons you think this animal might be endangered.

Make up a song to a popular tune about an endangered animal.

Design a simple game to play on the playground that deals with endangered species. Teach your game to a class of younger children.

Lead a small group of classmates in designing an exhibit about endangered species

Imagine that you are an animal that is endangered. Keep a diary for a week telling how you feel and what you do.

Choose 10 African animals and find out what their status is according to the IUCN. Make a graph or chart that shows this information.

Take a walk in a natural area near your home. Imagine what this place might look like in 100 years. Write a letter to future citizens telling them about the area and what they could do to ensure its beauty.