Least Concern

What does it mean?

Least concern species are a category containing species that are common and abundant after careful assessment.

Least Concern

Animals

Least concern species are abundant in nature and have over 10,000 individuals with no significant declines to their population.

Pallas cats, also known as the manul, their flat forehead and low ears allow them to peek over bushes and rocks without exposing themselves to their prey. Instead of closing to a slit like other small cats, Pallas cat pupils close to form a small circle. A thick coat of shaggy fur and a long, bushy tail help combat extreme temperatures that reach lows nearing -60ºF.

Indian crested porcupines are one of the world's largest rodents. Being a rodent, their teeth never stop growing, so they oftentimes are chewing on wood or hard vegetables to keep their teeth from being overgrown. Their bodies are covered in dark brown quills, modified hairs with barbs at the ends, which makes them sharp and an excellent defense against predators. The Indian Crested Porcupine gets its name from long quills around their head and neck that stand up when they are frightened.

Eurasian Lynx are medium size cats that come in variety of colors and patterns. The three main coat patterns are mostly spotted, mostly striped, and unpatterned. Coat color can vary with the season and locality. They have long legs and large, snowshoe-like paws. Both their short tail and ear tufts are tipped with black fur. They are the largest of the four species of lynx species.

Adult Bald Eagles have dark brown feathers covering their body. The feathers on the head and tail are white. They have a distinctive yellow beak and feet. Immature bald eagles are mostly brown and with some mottled white, they develop their adult coloring at around the age of 5 years old.

Red foxes have a distinctive reddish-brown fur, although the exact coloration can vary. They often have a white underbelly, throat, and chin. Some individuals have dark or silver fur. One of their most notable features is their bushy, white-tipped tail. The tail is often long and serves multiple purposes, including balance, communication, and warmth.

Raccoons have black fur around their eyes, a dense gray coat, and their tails are ringed with black and gray stripes. The five toes on a raccoon’s front paws are extremely dexterous like fingers and allow them to grasp and manipulate food and other objects, including doorknobs, jars, and latches. Their long, bushy tail helps with balance and serves various functions, such as aiding in swimming and climbing.

They are a medium-sized perching duck. The males are more elaborate with multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. Females are less colorful with a white eye-ring and a whitish throat.  Both adults have crested heads.

Bright red bills, a blue body, heads are black with a speckled crown and orange skin surrounding the eyes. The bright blue tails are one of the longest in the corvid (crow) family and have a diamond shape when extended in flight.

Small, short-tailed starlings with a long and narrow beak, round bodies, and a distinctive feather pattern.  Adults have black heads and iridescent blue-to-green back, chest, wings, and tail. The belly is red orange, separated from the blue chest by a white bar. The under-tail feathers and the wing linings are white.  

They are small birds with relatively large heads. They have downward curved beaks with short legs. This bird has a cream-colored head and chest, with pale-blue bellies and dark green wings. Their tail has 2 streamers that follow behind the rollers in flight.

They have a green body and yellowish bill and iris. Males have a pale grey head with black nape (at the back of the head), yellow throat, and golden yellow and pink under-tail feathers.  The female and the young have entirely green plumage.  

Cattle Egrets are different from other species of egrets in that they have much shorter and thicker necks. This stocky white heron has yellow feathers on its head and neck during breeding season.

Black bears, despite their name, can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, blonde, or even (very rarely) white. They have dense, shaggy fur that helps protect them from cold winters. Black bears use their strong, curved claws to climb trees and dig for food. They are a smaller bear species compared to grizzly and brown bears.

The red-eared slider is native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become invasive in many areas where it outcompetes native species.

Bumblebee dart frogs are yellow, gold or orange with black or brown patches. They have adhesive pads on their toes which help them to climb and they have a sticky tongue which they use to catch prey.

The Black and White Argentine Tegu is the largest species of tegus. These tegus are known for their distinctive black and white coloration, with a pattern of black bands or stripes across their bodies.  Male tegus have bigger jowls ("chubby cheeks") than females which can be used to attract mates. Tegus also have a forked tongue that helps them pick up scent particles in multiple directions in order to better identify their surroundings and the directionality of what they are smelling. They are terrestrial reptiles, spending a lot of their time on the ground and are known to be proficient diggers.

The Blue Poison Dart Frog, also known as the Azureus Dart Frog or Dyeing Dart Frog, can be a variety of different blues with varying amounts of black spots over their body. The blue can range from a very dark, deep blue to a light, sky blue in some individuals. People often believed that these brightly colored frogs were used to create dye for fabrics of natives, giving them the name of Dyeing Dart Frogs.

Barn owls have a heart-shaped face that is light in color, their body is generally a mixture of pale, tawny, and dark brown feathers. They often have spots and speckles on their wings and back, contributing to their mottled appearance, providing excellent camouflage in their natural habitats. Their ears are asymmetrical, meaning one is above the other on either side of the head, which helps them pinpoint exactly where a noise comes from.  They're hearing is so precise they can even hunt in total darkness.

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