



Sir David names the top 10 endangered species for his ark


Richard Gray London

In danger ... the black lion tamarin from Brazil.

In danger ... the black lion tamarin from Brazil.


Yet Sir David Attenborough has decided to omit the apes, of which there are just 300, from a list of endangered animals he would most like to save from extinction.

He also chose to leave off other well-documented species, including the tiger and panda.

Instead the veteran natural history broadcaster has chosen 10 lesser-known creatures that face extinction unless conservation work is carried out to save them.

Top of his list is a type of monkey found in Brazil known as the black lion tamarin. There are just 1000 left and they were believed to have become extinct until a small population was found in a forest near Sao Paulo in 1970.

Sir David said: ''There are a lot of animals today that face the same fate as the dodo. I've been asked to select 10 species I would take me with me on my own personal ark.

''I could choose those that grab the headlines - the majestic tiger, the spectacular polar bear … But there are many other extraordinary creatures out there not in the limelight. These few give a glimpse of the outstanding diversity of nature.''

Sir David chose the animals for a BBC wildlife special, Attenborough's Ark. Joining the tamarin are:

■The olm salamander, which lives in underground lakes and rivers in caves in central Europe. Sir David called it ''one of the ultimate specialists'' - it has adapted to total darkness, can survive for up to 10 years without food, and lives for up to 100 years. They are threatened by water pollution.

■The Sumatran rhinoceros, the largest of the animals chosen, but the smallest and most endangered of the five species of rhino. There are believed to be just 200 left.

■The brightly coloured Priam's birdwing butterfly, from New Guinea.

■The solenodon, a prehistoric throwback with a venomous bite, directly descended from some of the first mammals to roam the earth.

■The northern quoll, a small, mouse-like marsupial from Australia. In the past 10 years the population has fallen by more than 50 per cent, mainly because of the introduction of cane toads.

■Darwin's frog, discovered by Charles Darwin when he landed in Chile in 1834. Sir David said: ''It is a very remarkable frog because the male gives birth to its young. It does so out of its mouth. He takes the eggs into his vocal sack where they develop into baby frogs.''

■The Sunda pangolin, similar to an anteater, is heavily hunted for use in black market medicine in Vietnam and is highly prized for meat.

■A hummingbird called the marvellous spatuletail, from the foothills of the Andes in Peru, which uses its tail to put on a spectacular, but exhausting, display to win a mate.

■The Venus' flower basket, a sponge that lives at ocean depths of 1000 metres and builds its body out of silica.

Sir David said: ''This complex glass structure is a marvel of design. What is remarkable is that the sponge grows its glass structures and does not need a red hot furnace that human glass makers use.

''For me, these are some of the most beautiful and some of the most remarkable living organisms.'' TELEGRAPH

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