This article will discuss the 14 most endangered animals in Minnesota. We will review each species, discussing their current status and what we can do to help save them.
The Dakota skipper is a small, dusty yellow-colored butterfly about an inch long. It mostly inhabits rocky prairie hillsides and meadows where its host plant, the wild prairie roses, grows.
The Rusty Patched bumble bee was once common in Minnesota and across much of the United States. It is a medium-sized bee, with rusty brown patches on its wings and black abdomen.
The whooping crane is a tall, long-legged bird native to the central and eastern United States, including Minnesota.
It is listed as endangered by the USFWS and is a federally protected species.
Piping plovers are small shorebirds whose populations have declined throughout much of their historic range in the United States. Plovers are critical to the health of coastal ecosystems by serving as a food source for many aquatic animals.
The gray wolf is a large, grayscale mammal with long black legs and bushy tail. It weighs about 50 pounds, measures two to three feet in length and has been classified as an endangered species by the state of Minnesota.