The Endangered Species of the Grasslands

North America

• Grasslands once ran through North America from southern Canada to Texas and northern Mexico. West of the Rockies grasslands ran to edge of the Mississippi River. These regions support various species of pronghorn deer, including the Peninsular pronghorn, the Sonoran pronghorn and the Chihuahuan pronghorn, which are now endangered. Smaller mammals such as the Utah prairie dog, the Mexican prairie dog and the black-tailed prairie dog are also listed as endangered. Birds have suffered as well, including the California condor, the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle.

Africa

• In Africa, grasslands are often called savannahs and occupy areas in the northern and southern regions of the continent. Grasslands once stretched from Ethiopia and Somalia to nations north and east of the Serengeti. Native species including the African elephant, the black rhinoceros, the white rhinoceros, the scimitar-horned oryx, a large antelope called the addax, red hartebeests and white-bearded wildebeest are endangered. Native Rhim gazelle, Dama gazelle and Syrian racehorses are also dwindling. Predators such as the Simien wolf suffer too as the availability of game has decreased.

Eurasia

• Grasslands once ran across Eurasia from the Black Sea to western China along the steppes of the Himalayas. Saiga antelope, the Asiatic ass, Yarkand deer, Shou elk, wild yak and small equines call kiang are endangered. Meanwhile predators such as Himalayan brown bear, the Himalayan red bear, the Gobi bear, the gray wolf, the lion and the cheetah have low populations as well. Endangered birds include the Houbara bustard.

South America

• Limited areas of grassland are native to Venezuela and south-central Brazil. The coast of Argentina and Chile have Patagonian grasslands as well, which once supported various ungulates including Guanacos and Vicuña, wild relatives of the domestic Llama. These species were hunted for their fur, greatly reducing populations. Birds such as the blue-fronted Amazons and great horned owls are also endangered.

Australia

• In Australia much of the nation's central grasslands were transformed into cattle ranches, greatly reducing the continent's population of Eastern barred bandicoot, lesser Bilby bandicoots and rabbit-eared bandicoots. Bandicoots are small burrowing animals with large ears and long noses, and are found exclusively in Australia. Common wombats, northern hairy-nosed wombats and southern hairy-nosed wombats are also endangered, as are glassland birds like the night parrot.