Most people don’t know which animals are going extinct: poll

Nearly seven in 10 adults in the US are under-informed about endangered animals, a new survey reveals.

A poll of 2,000 Americans found that 68% of them are not “very informed” about which species are thriving or which ones are on the brink of extinction, reported South West News Service on Monday.

In fact, nearly one-third of adults (30%) admitted that the issue of animal extinction isn’t even “on their radar.”

More than eight in 10 respondents were not aware that sea turtles (81%) and the Sumatran rhino (81%) are critically endangered. And — despite primatologist Jane Goodall‘s widely publicized work with the late Koko, a Western lowland gorilla, putting a spotlight on these highly intelligent endangered apes — most (83%) had no idea that Koko’s kind is near extinction.

In fact, participants weren’t aware that all kinds of apes — including orangutans, bonobos and chimpanzees — are endangered. It goes to show that even the most highly regarded in the animal kingdom — and humans’ closest evolutionary cousins, no less — are being ignored by the general population when it comes to conservation.

Of the many species — more than 8,000 — threatened with extinction, respondents were most concerned about losing sea turtles, blue whales and the red panda.

A majority of respondents — 68% — said they’d like to see more done to protect species from dying out. However, only 41% wanted more education on the subject, while 38% urged for increased media focus on endangered animals.

Though most agreed that habitat destruction, hunting and climate change were the main causes of animal endangerment, 37% of participants said they wouldn’t know how to help these species even if they wanted to.

The findings were commissioned by smartphone brand OPPO, in partnership with the National Geographic Society as support for the nonprofit’s wildlife conservation efforts, and conducted by OnePoll.

Said OPPO’s president of global marketing, William Liu, in a statement, “There are huge changes in the animal kingdom adults simply aren’t aware of as the research has shown.”

Alongside more well-known animals, the poll found that “many are curious” about how also to help less popular endangered species not to lose some of those that don’t necessarily immediately spring to mind — suggesting an “understanding [that] all have a unique contribution to make to the world,” said William.

It should come as no surprise that respondents were well-aware that species such as the saber-toothed tiger, the woolly mammoth and the dodo are, indeed, extinct.

Here’s a list of the top 20 endangered animals, ranked by the percentage of adults who were previously aware they are near extinction:

• Black rhino: 22%
• Asian elephant: 22%
• Red panda: 21%
• Blue whale: 20%
• Mountain gorilla: 20%
• African forest elephant: 20%
• Sumatran rhino: 20%
• Cross river gorilla: 20%
• Sunda tiger: 19%
• Sea turtle: 19%
• Javan rhino: 19%
• Sumatran elephant: 19%
• Galapagos penguin: 19%
• Fin whale: 19%
• Hawksbill turtle: 18%
• Sea lions: 18%
• African wild gog: 18%
• Ganges river dolphin: 18%
• Black-footed ferret: 18%
• Bluefin tuna: 18%