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Animals
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Protecting Endangered Species: Second Edition
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Protecting Endangered Species: Second Edition

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2025) | Viewed by 3180

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Chunwang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: ecological adaptation, endocrine regulation and genetic evolution of animal behavior, and relate animal behavior to conservation biology of endangered species; monitor the biodiversity in many different regions and study the hotspots of biodiversity science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Endangered animals need more attention due to their vulnerability and sensitivity to environmental deterioration and human disturbance. This Special Issue aims to provide knowledge on the conservation of endangered species and threatened animals through original articles, reviews, case reports, short communications, etc. This Special Issue will allow researchers, students, and wildlife managers worldwide to share their best animal protection studies and experiences. This Special Issue covers all endangered and threatened animals in the world, which is a species listed as Near Threatened (NT), Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), Critically Endangered (CR), and Extinct in the Wild (EW) in The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2022) or listed as an endangered species of a country or region. The scope of this Special Issue focuses on the endangered species themselves, the habitats they depend on, the influencing factors faced by endangered animals, the genetics issue of the protected animals, the theory and method of conservation, and the conservation policy. The disciplines related to this Special Issue may include conservation biology, behavior, genetics, physiology, endocrinology, evolutionary conservation biology, etc.

Dr. Chunwang Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • endangered animals
  • threatened animals
  • recovered species
  • animal conservation
  • in situ conservation
  • ex situ conservation
  • habitat conservation
  • human disturbance
  • wildlife management
  • conservation policy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1696 KB  
Article
Comparison of the Life History and Morphological Differences in Eight Korean Tiger Beetles Reared in the Laboratory to Develop an Ex Situ Conservation Method for the Endangered Tiger Beetle
by Deokjea Cha, Jong-Kook Jung and C. Barry Knisley
Animals 2025, 15(20), 3032; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15203032 - 19 Oct 2025
Viewed by 314
Abstract
Tiger beetles serve as bioindicators of ecosystem health but are under increasing threat from habitat loss and population decline. Ex situ conservation via captive breeding offers promise for species lacking viable wild populations. We evaluated laboratory rearing from egg to adult for eight [...] Read more.
Tiger beetles serve as bioindicators of ecosystem health but are under increasing threat from habitat loss and population decline. Ex situ conservation via captive breeding offers promise for species lacking viable wild populations. We evaluated laboratory rearing from egg to adult for eight Korean tiger beetle species to determine the developmental period per developmental stage, mortality rates, larval burrow entrance size, and head–pronotum morphological characteristics under controlled laboratory conditions. High mortality (37.5–80%) occurred during the transition from the pre-pupa to pupa stage, suggesting that mass larval production is needed to offset losses. Reared-type adults of most tiger beetle species tended to be smaller in body length than wild-type adults. Species-specific behaviors (e.g., feeding habits in Cephalota chiloleuca) and the overwintering times of spring–fall and summer species are different, indicating that uniform rearing protocols are suboptimal. Our findings suggest the importance of species-specific adjustment of rearing methods (feeding frequency, overwintering timing) to increase the success of ex situ conservation methods for tiger beetles. In addition, the larval burrow entrance size offered limited utility for species identification in mixed-species habitats, whereas the color of the head and pronotum was considered helpful in identifying some tiger beetle species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protecting Endangered Species: Second Edition)
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18 pages, 4937 KB  
Article
Impacts of Captive Domestication and Geographical Divergence on the Gut Microbiome of Endangered Forest Musk Deer
by Huilin Liu, Lu Xiao, Zhiqiang Liu, You Deng, Jinpeng Zhu, Chengzhong Yang, Qing Liu, Di Tian, Xiaojuan Cui and Jianjun Peng
Animals 2025, 15(13), 1954; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131954 - 2 Jul 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 487
Abstract
Forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii Flerov), a critically endangered ruminant species, faces extinction risks, with captive populations further threatened by prevalent digestive and immune disorders. This study utilized comparative metagenomic sequencing to assess intestinal microbiota structure and functional profiles between wild populations [...] Read more.
Forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii Flerov), a critically endangered ruminant species, faces extinction risks, with captive populations further threatened by prevalent digestive and immune disorders. This study utilized comparative metagenomic sequencing to assess intestinal microbiota structure and functional profiles between wild populations in Chongqing and Hunan and captive individuals. Wild populations exhibited a Pseudomonadota-dominated gut microbiota (significantly more abundant than in captive counterparts), enriched with lignin-degrading genera Novosphingobium and Acinetobacter. In contrast, the captive group demonstrated increased abundances of Bacillota/Bacteroidota, alongside abnormal proliferation of Escherichia and Clostridium. Both alpha and beta diversity analyses confirmed significant compositional divergences among the three groups, with wild populations maintaining higher diversity than captive populations. Notably, while substantial disparities in microbial abundance existed between wild populations (attributed to habitat vegetation differences), core microbial diversity and carbohydrate metabolic functions exhibited convergence. Functional analyses marked divergences in metabolic pathways: Captive microbiota showed enrichment in translation and glycan metabolism pathways, whereas wild populations displayed pronounced enrichment in immune regulation and environmental sensing pathways. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for optimizing wild population conservation strategies and developing science-based captive management protocols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protecting Endangered Species: Second Edition)
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18 pages, 3846 KB  
Article
Comparative Metagenomic Analysis of the Gut Microbiota of Captive Pangolins: A Case Study of Two Species
by Zhengyu Dai, Bowen Xie, Chungang Xie, Jinsuo Xiang, Xinmei Wang, Jing Li, Rongquan Zheng and Yanni Wang
Animals 2025, 15(1), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15010057 - 30 Dec 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1619
Abstract
Pangolins, one of the most trafficked mammals, face significant health challenges in captivity, including digestive disorders and immune dysfunctions. These issues are closely linked to alterations in their gut microbiota, which play vital roles in the host metabolism, immunity, and overall health. This [...] Read more.
Pangolins, one of the most trafficked mammals, face significant health challenges in captivity, including digestive disorders and immune dysfunctions. These issues are closely linked to alterations in their gut microbiota, which play vital roles in the host metabolism, immunity, and overall health. This study investigated the differences in the gut microbiota composition and function between two pangolin species, Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla) and Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica), under identical captive conditions to better understand their ecological adaptability and health implications. Using metagenomic sequencing, fecal samples from eight adult captive pangolins were analyzed, including four male Malayan pangolins and three male and one female Chinese pangolins. Comparative analyses of the alpha and beta diversities, microbial community structure, and functional profiles were performed. Both species harbored gut microbiota dominated by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. However, the Chinese pangolins exhibited higher microbial diversity (Shannon index, p = 0.042; Simpson index, p = 0.037) and lower relative abundance of Proteobacteria compared with the Malayan pangolins. A functional analysis revealed significant differences in the metabolic pathways, where the Chinese pangolins demonstrated a higher potential for fiber degradation, whereas the Malayan pangolins exhibited elevated levels of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic taxa, such as Escherichia coli. These findings suggest that captivity duration and environmental stress likely contribute to the observed differences, with the Malayan pangolins experiencing greater dysbiosis due to longer captivity periods. This study provides valuable insights into the role of gut microbiota in pangolin health and offers a foundation for improving conservation strategies and captive care protocols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protecting Endangered Species: Second Edition)
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