Bengal Tiger (01 of09)
Open Image ModalWild tigers are in drastic decline, with perhaps 3,000 left. Eventually they’ll need scuba gear to live in the mangrove-dominated Sundarbans of Bangladesh. A World Wildlife Fund–led study reports that a predicted 11-inch rise above sea levels from the year 2000 would destroy most tiger habitat in that region. Better news in Bhutan: As forests move upslope, tigers will likely shift with them, heading deep into northern parklands along major river valleys. Sadly, they would displace or prey on already struggling snow leopards.ALABAMA GULF COAST ZOO (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
White-Fronted Lemur (02 of09)
Open Image ModalOver the next 70 years, lemur species on the island of Madagascar could lose about 60 percent of their habitat due to climate change. If climate were the animals’ only foe, perhaps the white-fronted lemur could survive; climate change won’t shrink its lowland and montane habitat. But other factors may—chief among them, slash-and-burn agriculture and a growing human population.NAPLES ZOO, FLORIDA (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
Arctic Fox (03 of09)
Open Image ModalAs tundra habitat melts, this snow-loving fox will find fewer seal carcasses left on ice by polar bears and fewer lemmings—food for fox pups—whose numbers peak in the coldest winters. It may also face competition as the more adaptable red fox expands north.GREAT BEND BRIT SPAUGH ZOO, KANSAS (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
Chinstrap Penguin (04 of09)
Open Image ModalWinners turned losers: Chinstraps prefer open to ice-choked waters, so in the past 50 years of fast-melting Antarctic ice, their population boomed. But now increasing ultraviolet light exposure is killing off the algae eaten by krill (the penguins’ food source), and that means less krill for penguins to share with rebounding whale populations. Soon environmental change may beat tourism as the biggest threat to chinstraps.NEWPORT AQUARIUM, KENTUCKY (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
Woodland Caribou (05 of09)
Open Image ModalWoodland Caribou Already pressured by habitat loss, woodland caribou could face a food shortage. More snow and freezing rain (a result of warmer temperatures adding moisture to dry, Arctic air) crust over lichen, caribou’s winter diet, making it hard to access. In summer, increasing droughts bring fires that kill the slow-growing lichen.NY STATE ZOO AT THOMPSON PARK (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
American Bullfrog(06 of09)
Open Image ModalThis native of North America—a voracious predator and tough competitor that spreads amphibian disease—has made its way onto other continents and spread like an army, especially in South America. It is by leaps and bounds one of the worst (most successful) invasive species on the planet. Climate change will slow its advance in some areas, but other highly biodiverse habitats will become more bullfrog friendly, meaning further raids against native species.BENNET, NEBRASKA (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
Spectacled Eider(07 of09)
Open Image ModalSpecialised needs put these northern ducks at risk. In winter the birds gather in a small, cold, nutrient-rich area of the Bering Sea to dive for clams and other marine life. But as ice retreats, spectacled eiders’ habitats and access to food resources in their wintering grounds are changing. Meanwhile coastal changes are altering the ducks’ breeding habitat on tundra wetlands.ALASKA SEALIFE CENTER, SEWARD (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
Peninsular Pronghorn (08 of09)
Open Image ModalSome wild pronghorn have shown marked recovery with protection, but this subspecies remains at the edge. Existing only on the Baja California Sur peninsula, fewer than a hundred wild peninsular pronghorn survive, along with a herd of captive animals used to help bolster the wild population. The ungulates are adapted to desert conditions, but further warming and reduced rainfall will affect both their winter and summer forage.LOS ANGELES ZOO, CALIFORNIA (credit:© Joel Sartore/National Geographic)
(09 of09)
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