From Turtles, to Salamanders, to Seals

The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the world's largest turtle and has the biggest range of any species, swimming all over the globe from the tropics to the sub-polar regions. When it's time for these turtles to dig a nest and lay it's eggs, it crawls out onto sandy sub-tropical beaches. This particular specie of turtle is endangered. In 1982 there were around 115,000 adult female Leatherback Turtles in the world, according to the IUCN. Just 14 years later, there were only 20,000-30,000 and the population has continued to plummet. The reasons for these turtles population to be plummeting is because humans steal their eggs, illegal hunting, nesting-habitat loss due to beach development, and the erosion of beaches due to global climate change. These turtles also often die after ingesting plastic debris they find floating in the ocean, mistaking it for jellyfish or other food.

The Chinese Giant Salamander is the world's largest amphibian, growing to lengths of up to 6 feet. This salamander used to be common throughout central, southwestern, and southern China. In these areas, it lives in streams in the forested hills. They lay up to 500 eggs at a time in underwater burrows which are guarded by the males. These Chinese Giant Salamander's have almost completely disappeared due to their over-exploitation as a food source.

These Hawaiian Monk Seals tend to live on remote beaches throughout the Hawaiian Island chain. Although they live far from human reach, fewer than 1,000 of them remain and their numbers continue to dwindle. Scientists are not sure of the cause, but they suspect that changes in the ocean conditions and competition from commercial fisherman may be reducing the numbers of fish these seals depend on for food. These Hawaiian Monk Seals also face threats from entanglements in fishing nets and discarded fishing gear and they can also catch diseases from dogs and other domestic animals.  

I think it is important to post about endangered animals to try to get people to help them.
http://www.allaboutwildlife.com/ten-most-endangered-animals/