About This Quiz
Some animals are rare because they don’t want to be spotted. Others are rare because humans have rendered them that way through poaching, hunting, habitat destruction and other factors. Some of them, like Bornean orangutans, are trying to catch back up, but can’t because they only reproduce every six to eight years!
The Ili pika is hardly ever seen through a combination of both those factors. First, the itsy-bitsy mammal is only 7 to 8 inches long and lives in high elevations of a mountain range in a remote area of China, which not a lot of people frequent. In fact, 2014 was the first time in 20 years that someone was able to capture one on camera! However, the fluffy little guys are also dwindling in numbers thanks to climate change, with fewer than 1,000 left. The Western lowland gorilla is another creature with facing a population problem, in part due to commercial hunting but also because of the Ebola virus in its native Africa.
Some animals are rarely seen because they are masters of disguise, able to camouflage themselves against their surroundings. So creatures like the western fence lizard and the gray tree frog, who blend in with tree bark, often slip right past people who simply don’t know what to look for! Indeed, some of Earth's animals have been seen by only a few human eyes. How much do you know about the rarest creatures on the planet? Take this quiz now!
All three are held in captivity and protected by security 24 hours per day.
Tiger cats are a type of carnivorous marsupial that's found in Australia and hardly ever spotted.
These little porpoises are critically endangered and found only in the very northern part of the Gulf of California.
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They hadn't even been recorded to science until 1958; now there are only about 60 left alive.
The blue metallic tarantulas live only in one small area of a reserve in India and are subjected to frequent human disturbances.
These little birds have spoon-shaped beaks and are listed as critically endangered.
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These little forest-loving bovines are related to cattle but look more like antelope or deer.
Scientists hadn't documented a large mammal for 50 years before they found the saola, which is rarely seen by humans in Southeast Asia.
They look like large shrews, and they have ultra-flexible, long snouts that they use to find food in Hispaniola and Cuba.
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They are one of the only mammals that injects poison via special teeth.
Found only in Madagascar, these lemurs live to about 12 years of age and spend most of their days eating bamboo.
It is the African wild dog, an endangered species with a population of about 6,500.
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Domestic dogs have five toes but these wild does only have four; they are often called painted dogs because of their unique spotted coats.
Spectacular horns attract the attention of poachers, who sell the horns on the black market and damage the rare animal's population.
The aye-aye, a type of lemur, will tap on trees to detect hollowed-out areas created by grubs, which they then dig out and devour.
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The eight species of pangolin all resemble an anteater covered with armored scales.
Asia and Africa are home to the pangolin; each of the continents has four species.
It is the world's biggest parrot, and it doesn't fly. Instead, it walks and trots all over the place.
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Kakapos are about 2 feet tall, and they have faces reminiscent of owls.
They are the biggest species of sea turtle, and they have leathery shells instead of hard shells.
They lay eggs on sandy beaches, where poachers often grab them, a fact that's hurting turtle populations.
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At one-quarter the female's body size, kiwis lay the largest eggs relative to their size of any bird species.
Mammals introduced by humans are a huge problem; cats and dogs, for example, kill many kiwis.
All 60 live in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia.
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Found in Thailand and Myanmar, these tiny bats may only be 1 inch long as adults.
These tiny rabbits weigh less than a pound and are found on the slopes of only four Mexico volcanoes.
Habitat destruction is fragmenting the few remaing groups of rabbits, making it harder for them to survive.
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They look like mongooses and live in Madagascar; they weren't described as a new species until 2010.
Successful breeding of captive populations give this rare animal hope for the future.
There are a few hundred hirola left in the wild in Africa, but there are none in human captivity.
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