Items15The creator’s order
  1. 1Arabian oryxArabian oryxThe rescue started before the crisis ended. Operation Oryx, launched in 1962, caught three wild oryx and joined them with donated zoo animals in a World Herd at Phoenix Zoo, picked for its desert climate. A decade later poachers killed the last wild herd in Oman and the species was declared extinct…0
  2. 2Przewalski's horsePrzewalski's horseThe last wild Przewalski's horse was seen in 1969 in Mongolia's Dzungarian Gobi, and for two decades the only ones left lived in zoos and reserves. Zoo-bred horses went back to China from 1985 and to Mongolia in the early 1990s, and by 2011 the Red List had moved the species from Extinct in the…0
  3. 3Scimitar oryxScimitar oryxThe scimitar-horned oryx disappeared from the Sahel, its last wild animals gone from Chad by the late 1980s, and in 2000 it was declared Extinct in the Wild. It survived in zoos and private collections, and Abu Dhabi's environment agency genetically screened its own large herd to build a diverse…0
  4. 4European bisonEuropean bisonEurope's largest land mammal survived the early 20th century only in captivity. Breeders rebuilt it from that zoo and park stock, and from the 1950s bison were turned loose again, first in Poland's Białowieża Forest. That makes it the earliest return to the wild on this list, and one of the most…0
  5. 5Père David's deerPère David's deerThis marsh-loving deer vanished from China around 1900 and survived only because the Duke of Bedford gathered Europe's last 18 captive animals into one herd at Woburn Abbey in England. Every Père David's deer alive today descends from that private park. Deer went home to China from 1985, first…0
  6. 6Nene (bird)Nene (bird)By 1950 only around 30 nēnē were left, making Hawaii's state bird the most endangered waterfowl on the planet. Peter Scott and his colleagues had three birds sent to Slimbridge in England to breed, and in 1979 Scott released 200 nēnē on Maui. Between 1967 and 1990 more than 2,000 captive-bred…0
  7. 7California condorCalifornia condorWith only 22 California condors left in 1982, biologists made a drastic call: by 1987 every remaining wild bird had been taken into captivity, leaving none flying free. Releases of captive-bred condors began in 1992. At the end of 2025 the world population stood at 607, with 392 flying wild. That…0
  8. 8Black-footed ferretBlack-footed ferretThis is the clearest case of a genetic bottleneck on the list. Conservationists caught the last 18 wild black-footed ferrets between 1985 and 1987 before disease could finish them, and only seven of those became founders. Every ferret alive today is, in effect, a sibling or first cousin of every…0
  9. 9Red wolfRed wolfThe most fragile entry here, and an honest reminder that captive breeding buys time rather than guarantees. Predator control and habitat loss had all but wiped out the red wolf by the 1970s; biologists trapped the survivors, and 14 pure red wolves founded a captive breeding program. Captive-born…0
  10. 10Golden lion tamarinGolden lion tamarinZoos bred these small orange monkeys with one aim: to send them home to Brazil's Atlantic Forest. On May 31, 1984, a family of eight zoo-born tamarins was released in Rio de Janeiro state, and over the next 16 years a total of 146 captive-born tamarins followed. It worked. A 2024 census counted…0