Here Are Connecticut's Most Endangered Animals

NEW CANAAN, CT — When you think of the planet’s most endangered species, some common examples that might come to mind include rhinos, elephants, tigers, gorillas and leopards. But a new report has identified the two most endangered species in every state — and in Connecticut, the answer might not be what you think.

In the Constitution State, the two most threatened animals are the Northern Long-Eared Bat and the Red Knot, according to the report released Wednesday by 24/7 Wall St.

• Northern Long-Eared Bat
• Scientific name: Myotis septentrionalis
• IUCN Red List classification: Least concern
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classification: Threatened
• Description: The northern long-eared bat is a medium-sized bat about 3 to 3.7 inches in length and a wingspan of 9 to 10 inches. The bat has long ears, particularly compared to other closely related bats, which are noted for their small ears.
• Geographic range: The northern long-eared bat is found across much of the eastern and north central United States and all Canadian provinces from the Atlantic coast west to the southern Northwest Territories and eastern British Columbia. The species’ range includes 37 states.
• Habitat: Northern bats are associated with boreal forests. In areas of North America and Canada the bats choose maternity roosts in buildings, under loose bark, and in the cavities of trees. Caves and underground mines are their choice sites for hibernating.

• Red Knot
• Scientific name: Calidris canutus rufa
• IUCN Red List classification: Near threatened
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classification: Threatened
• Description: Hearty shorebird between 25-28 centimeters in length. In the spring: Above finely mottled with grays, black and light ochre, running into stripes on crown; throat, breast and sides of head cinnamon-brown; dark gray line through eye; abdomen and undertail coverts white; uppertail coverts white, barred with black. Adults in winter: Pale ashy gray above, from crown to rump, with feathers on back narrowly edged with white; underparts white, the breast lightly streaked and speckled, and the flanks narrowly barred with gray. Adults in autumn: Underparts of some individuals show traces of the "red" of spring.
• Geographic range: The species has an extremely large range, breeding from Alaska across the Arctic to Greenland and northern Russia. It winters on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North and South America, north-western Europe, along the west coast of Africa from Tunisia and Morocco down to South Africa, across southern Asia and around Australasia.
• Habitat: The species breeds in the high Arctic on dry upland tundra including weathered sandstone ridges, upland areas with scattered willows. Outside of the breeding season the species is strictly coastal, frequenting tidal mudflats or sandflats, sandy beaches of sheltered coasts, rocky shelves, bays, lagoons and harbours, occasionally also oceanic beaches and saltmarshes.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are 11 threatened or endangered species in Connecticut, including the leatherback sea turtle, puritan tiger beetle and Dwarf wedgemussel.

Hawaii has by far the most number of animals on the federal registry at more than 500. While accounting for just 0.2 percent of America’s land mass, it is home to a quarter of the federally endangered species, according to the Mother Nature Network.

Other animals on the 24/7 Wall St. list include various species of sea turtles, rabbits and cranes. More broadly, it features mammals, marine animals, fish, insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles, to name just a few.Various species of mollusks — a key sustenance source for fish — make the list, including the spectaclecase, a freshwater mussel. This is often because of the construction of dams, which disrupt the flow of water and can even change its temperature, leading to massive mollusk losses.

The financial news and opinion site reviewed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s listing of endangered animals to identify the most threatened animals in every state. The site says many of the animals appear in multiple states.

“Only 31 states have animals endangered only there,” the authors said.

To identify which of the threatened animals in those states were in the most dire circumstances, the site used the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s inventory of threatened species. Many of the most threatened animals on on the IUCN’s “Red List of Threatened Species” were labeled “critically endangered.”

We used this same approach to evaluate the threat level of endangered animals in the remaining 19 states, but in these cases animals may be listed as endangered in other states as well.

Photo credit: Darren J. Bradley/Shutterstock