Mammals
Mammals shape landscapes through grazing, digging, seed spreading, and predation. Many need large, connected range to survive at all, which makes them early casualties of fragmentation.
Common threats
- · Habitat fragmentation and loss of corridors
- · Road mortality
- · Poaching and illegal wildlife trade
- · Human-wildlife conflict and displacement
How people can help
- · Support wildlife corridors and open-space protection
- · Back wildlife crossings on roads through occupied habitat
- · Refuse products tied to trafficking or habitat clearing
Ten Mammals of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Red Wolf, Ocelot, Mexican Gray Wolf, Black-footed Ferret, and 6 more.
Birds
Birds connect distant places. A bird nesting far north may depend entirely on a stopover field or wetland in your county.
Common threats
- · Loss of nesting and stopover habitat
- · Window and structure collisions
- · Insect decline reducing food for nestlings
- · Free-roaming cats and nest predation
How people can help
- · Plant native trees and shrubs that produce insects and berries
- · Treat windows to reduce strikes and keep cats indoors
- · Join surveys and report banded or marked birds
Ten Birds of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Whooping Crane, California Condor, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo, and 6 more.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Amphibians breathe and absorb through their skin, which makes them among the first species to register pollution and habitat change. Reptiles are slow to replace losses once adults are removed.
Common threats
- · Wetland and pond loss
- · Water contamination and pesticide runoff
- · Disease, including chytrid fungus
- · Collection, road mortality, and killing out of fear
How people can help
- · Protect small seasonal ponds and wet areas
- · Avoid pesticide and herbicide runoff
- · Leave snakes and turtles where they are rather than relocating them
Ten Reptiles and Amphibians of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Houston Toad, Gopher Tortoise, and 6 more.
Fish and Aquatic Life
Fish populations reflect the entire watershed above them — every road, lawn, storm drain, and construction site upstream.
Common threats
- · Dams and barriers to migration
- · Sediment, nutrient, and chemical runoff
- · Water withdrawal, drought, and altered flow
- · Overharvest and bycatch
How people can help
- · Support dam removal and fish passage projects
- · Join creek cleanups and report dumping
- · Reduce lawn fertilizer and conserve water in drought
Ten Fish and Aquatic Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Atlantic Sturgeon, Pallid Sturgeon, Devils Hole Pupfish, Rio Grande Silvery Minnow, and 6 more.
Pollinators
Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and some birds and bats carry the reproduction of wild plants and much of our food supply.
Common threats
- · Loss of flowering habitat and larval host plants
- · Pesticide exposure, especially systemic insecticides
- · Mowing during bloom and roadside clearing
- · Disease spillover from managed bees
How people can help
- · Plant regionally native flowering species and host plants
- · Mow less and later; leave stems and bare ground for nesting
- · Skip broad-spectrum pesticides
Ten Pollinators of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Monarch Butterfly, Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, Western Bumble Bee, Franklin's Bumble Bee, and 6 more.
Plants
Plants are the base of nearly every food web. When a native plant community disappears, the animals tied to it follow quietly.
Common threats
- · Land conversion and development
- · Invasive species competition
- · Overgrazing and altered fire cycles
- · Illegal collection of rare specimens
How people can help
- · Use native plants in gardens and landscaping
- · Remove invasive plants responsibly
- · Never collect rare plants from the wild
Ten Plants of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Texas Wild Rice, Texas Snowbells, Navasota Ladies'-tresses, Western Prairie Fringed Orchid, and 6 more.
Marine Life
Coastal and ocean species carry pressures that begin far inland, arriving through rivers, bays, and the debris that travels with them.
Common threats
- · Bycatch in fishing gear
- · Vessel strikes and underwater noise
- · Plastic debris and entanglement
- · Ocean warming, acidification, and coral bleaching
How people can help
- · Reduce single-use plastic and keep litter out of storm drains
- · Choose fisheries certified for low bycatch
- · Support coastal, bay, and reef restoration
Ten Marine Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Vaquita, North Atlantic Right Whale, Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, and 6 more.
Freshwater Species
Freshwater habitats hold a remarkable share of biodiversity in a very small share of the earth's water, and they are easily disrupted.
Common threats
- · Groundwater pumping and spring flow loss
- · Sedimentation and channelization
- · Drought and water withdrawal
- · Contaminants and invasive species
How people can help
- · Conserve water in spring-fed watersheds
- · Protect creek banks and native buffers
- · Report water quality concerns to state agencies
Ten Freshwater Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Eastern Hellbender, Fountain Darter, Barton Springs Salamander, Texas Wild Rice, and 6 more.
Urban Wildlife at Risk
Cities are habitat whether we plan for them that way or not. Urban green space often carries species with nowhere else nearby to go.
Common threats
- · Loss of green corridors and nesting structures
- · Light and noise pollution
- · Rodenticide moving up the food chain
- · Litter, entanglement, and window collisions
How people can help
- · Adopt a park, lot, or creek reach
- · Keep chimneys uncapped where swifts nest and use wildlife-safe pest control
- · Advocate for native landscaping and dark-sky lighting
Ten Urban-Edge Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Chimney Swift, Common Nighthawk, Purple Martin, Little Brown Bat, and 6 more.
Texas and North American Species
Our region carries coastal marsh, prairie, hill country springs, woodlands, and migration flyways — several very different worlds close together.
Common threats
- · Rapid development and ranchland fragmentation
- · Water demand, drought, and spring decline
- · Prairie and thornscrub habitat loss
- · Road mortality and collisions
How people can help
- · Support local land trusts and conservation easements
- · Plant regionally native species and conserve water
- · Learn the listed species specific to your county
Ten Texas and North American Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Whooping Crane, Ocelot, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo, and 6 more.
Global Endangered Species
Species elsewhere face pressures we recognize: habitat loss, exploitation, pollution, and neglect. Learning them builds understanding rather than distance.
Common threats
- · Poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking
- · Deforestation for agriculture and plantation crops
- · Conflict, instability, and weak enforcement
- · Climate pressure and disease
How people can help
- · Learn about a species before donating to anything on its behalf
- · Support reputable field conservation and ranger programs
- · Avoid products tied to habitat destruction or trafficking
Ten Global Species of Exceptional Conservation Concern
Sunda Pangolin, Chinese Pangolin, Temminck's Ground Pangolin, Amur Leopard, and 6 more.
A species may belong to several focus areas — a sea turtle is both a reptile and a marine animal — but it always has a single canonical profile. Browse them all in the profile library.