More than 2,000 employees were fired from the Department of Interior which affects several programs, including programs for parks, endangered animals and water resources. This is as endangered species count is still on the rise.
Several people from the programs under the U.S. The Department of Interior has been fired due to the Trump Administration in February leaving these workplaces depleted from resources they need, including endangered animals and other species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes care of endangered species. This department received 370 terminations. According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, many were working for the National Wildlife Refuge System, which serves protected areas in the U.S. This includes these species. These workplaces were already experiencing stress from their workload before the terminations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services works with public and private landowners to develop conservation initiatives and habitats. They also classify species when needed to the deferral list of endangered species. This falls under the Endangered Species Act, which also prohibits killing and harming these listed species. The work of this department is to make these species thrive where they do not need federal protection.
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, America currently has 573 national wildlife refuges.
Each year, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species takes the number of classified species per year since 1996. The charts below display what was classified in different categories for 2025.
Endangered species become this status for various reasons. This includes human activities like deforestation, urbanization, agricultural practices, hunting and poaching practices, pollution and climate change. This also includes natural factors like natural disasters, disease and lack of genetic diversity.
NYU’s Wild Animal Program which conducts research into the impact of human activity on the environment and wild animals. Becca Franks, co-director of the program and an assistant professor of Environmental Studies, describes problems animals may face.
“Ecosystems are notoriously complex. Some of that complexity means that they are more resilient so if you lose one individual or species and another one can sort of balloon out into that space.” said Franks. “How that happens and when it happens is really hard to predict and we also know that, at some point, you reach a tipping point where the system just collapses.”
Franks also describes the complexity of animals and what it means when trying to come up with a plan to treat a species before they become endangered or extinct.
“Even when we know something about a species, like they are aggressive and territorial, we might use that information incorrectly when we are trying to help,” said Franks. “What we are starting to realize as a scientific community, is that there is not just genetic information that is passed from one generation to the next, but also cultural information.”
In deciding how to treat these animals, scientists have to think about things like what habitats are safe for them, what these animals will react to, if they are able to coexist together without aggression, what may be causing their problems and impacts of very small aspects that could have lasting effects on their survival.
Below are some species in North America that are currently experiencing classification as endangered.
Hawaiian White Hibiscus is native to Hawaii and has a variety of uses. It is known for its decoration and symbolism, but also has been used in ailments and in tea for health benefits.
Monarch butterflies are vital in pollination. They pollinate many plants that are food and resources. They are also a food source for animals.
Whooping cranes are ecological indicators for the wetland habitats. They also are a vital role in the food chain system for these habitats.
Red wolves hunt small mammals that include raccoons, rabbits and deer, which help regulate populations to stop overgrazing and overpopulation of their prey.
Humpback whales remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and bring nutrient-rich water to the surface, which helps with other species' growth.
21 species were taken off the endangered status list in the U.S. in 2023. This information is still available on the internet, but is archived from the government after the Trump Administration came into office. It was archived on Jan. 20.
For this article, I used data from scientific articles to understand the numbers of endangered species counts and the differences from 1996 - 2025. The reasons the numbers differ in the original data was for multiple reasons which include: species being affected by natural or human activities or different laws and policies being created around the world. This is something to note as the numbers keep growing, but have made significant jumps in this dataset due to this. This does not affect the specific data that I have used in this article. These datasets are attached to the graphics shown in the piece.
For the data on the ones that were delisted as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I scraped the website to get all the information possible about these species. I also need to note that the species were delisted before Jan. 20 and it was archived after the new administration came into office.