Region
Endangered animals of Africa
Threatened species across the African continent and Madagascar. Each record shows the species' global IUCN Red List category and links to authoritative sources. National legal status is separate — see the note below.
70 records · last reviewed
Data limitations
- These are educational summaries, not the official assessment. Conservation status can change as new science and threats emerge.
- We show the global IUCN Red List category. A species' national or local legal status can differ from its global category — national Red Books and protected-species laws vary by country.
- Each record shows a last-verified date and a data-confidence flag so you can see how current and how checked it is.
- Always verify the current status on the official IUCN Red List and the relevant national wildlife authority. FaunaHub does not replace conservation authorities.
Dataset last reviewed: Full data methodology →
Threatened species of Africa
Addax
Addax nasomaculatus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAfrican Forest Elephant
Loxodonta cyclotis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Recognised as a separate species from the African bush elephant in the 2021 IUCN assessment.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAfrican Penguin
Spheniscus demersus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Reported as up-listed to Critically Endangered in 2024 amid steep colony declines; confirm the current category on the live IUCN entry.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAfrican Wild Ass
Equus africanus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBlack Rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBlack-and-white Ruffed Lemur
Varecia variegata
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewCross River Gorilla
Gorilla gorilla diehli
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewDama Gazelle
Nanger dama
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewEastern Gorilla
Gorilla beringei
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Includes the mountain gorilla, whose closely monitored sub-population has shown localised recovery.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewEgyptian Tortoise
Testudo kleinmanni
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, reptile-database.reptarium.cz
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGeometric Tortoise
Psammobates geometricus
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGreater Bamboo Lemur
Prolemur simus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewHirola
Beatragus hunteri
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewHooded Vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewIndri
Indri indri
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewLake Oku Clawed Frog
Xenopus longipes
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewMadagascar Fish Eagle
Haliaeetus vociferoides
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewPloughshare Tortoise
Astrochelys yniphora
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewRadiated Tortoise
Astrochelys radiata
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewSpider Tortoise
Pyxis arachnoides
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, reptile-database.reptarium.cz
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewTable Mountain Ghost Frog
Heleophryne rosei
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewVerreaux's Sifaka
Propithecus verreauxi
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWest African Slender-snouted Crocodile
Mecistops cataphractus
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, reptile-database.reptarium.cz
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWest Indian Ocean Coelacanth
Latimeria chalumnae
- Group
- Fish
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
A deep-water 'living fossil' lineage once thought extinct until rediscovery in 1938.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWestern Gorilla
Gorilla gorilla
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web, Smithsonian's National Zoo
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingWhite-backed Vulture
Gyps africanus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAfrican Bush Elephant
Loxodonta africana
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Assessed separately from the African forest elephant since 2021. FaunaHub's general elephant profile is linked.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingAfrican Wild Dog
Lycaon pictus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAye-aye
Daubentonia madagascariensis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBarbary Macaque
Macaca sylvanus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBonobo
Pan paniscus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewChimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingDrill
Mandrillus leucophaeus
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewEgyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewEthiopian Wolf
Canis simensis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Africa's most threatened carnivore and rarest canid.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGiant Ground Pangolin
Smutsia gigantea
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGolden Mantella
Mantella aurantiaca
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGrévy's Zebra
Equus grevyi
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Stable
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGrey Crowned Crane
Balearica regulorum
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGrey Parrot
Psittacus erithacus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Heavily affected by the cage-bird trade.
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewKnysna Seahorse
Hippocampus capensis
- Group
- Fish
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, FishBase
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewMartial Eagle
Polemaetus bellicosus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewMountain Gorilla
Gorilla beringei beringei
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewNorthern Bald Ibis
Geronticus eremita
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewOkapi
Okapia johnstoni
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewPygmy Hippopotamus
Choeropsis liberiensis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewRing-tailed Lemur
Lemur catta
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingRound Island Keel-scaled Boa
Casarea dussumieri
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, reptile-database.reptarium.cz
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewScimitar-horned Oryx
Oryx dammah
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Formerly Extinct in the Wild; reassessed Endangered in 2023 following reintroduction in Chad.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewSecretarybird
Sagittarius serpentarius
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWhite-bellied Pangolin
Phataginus tricuspis
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewAldabra Giant Tortoise
Aldabrachelys gigantea
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Stable
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBlack-footed Cat
Felis nigripes
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewBlue Crane
Grus paradisea
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewCape Vulture
Gyps coprotheres
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Stable
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewCheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web, Smithsonian's National Zoo
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingCommon Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Stable
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewFossa
Cryptoprocta ferox
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Madagascar's largest carnivore.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewGiraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Giraffe taxonomy is under active revision; some authorities now recognise multiple species and subspecies with differing risk levels.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingLeopard
Panthera pardus
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Several leopard subspecies (e.g. the Amur and Arabian leopard) are assessed at higher risk than the species as a whole.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingLion
Panthera leo
- Group
- Mammals
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web, Smithsonian's National Zoo
See FaunaHub animal profile →Source review pendingMandrill
Mandrillus sphinx
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewMountain Zebra
Equus zebra
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewShoebill
Balaeniceps rex
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewTemminck's Pangolin
Smutsia temminckii
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWattled Crane
Bugeranus carunculatus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewKihansi Spray Toad
Nectophrynoides asperginis
- Group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Listed Extinct in the Wild; subject of a captive-breeding and reintroduction programme in Tanzania.
Sources: IUCN Red List, AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewDodo
Raphus cucullatus
- Group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewQuagga
Equus quagga quagga
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial reviewWestern Black Rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis longipes
- Group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Record reviewed
Sources: IUCN Red List, Animal Diversity Web
Detailed FaunaHub profile →Partial review
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this list show legally protected species in Africa?
How were these species chosen for Africa?
Is this a complete list of threatened species in the region?
Last updated:

