Snorkelers interact with a Florida Manatee inside of the Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Florida January 15, 2015. On winter days, Florida manatees flock by the hundreds to the balmy waters of Three Sisters Springs, drawing crowds of snorkelers and kayakers to the U.S. sanctuary, where people may swim with the endangered species. But as tolerant as the gentle, whiskered sea giants can be of the accidental kicks and splashes of delighted tourists, wild life regulators want to ban most canoes and paddle boards and create people-free zones to protect the wintering “sea cow”. Proposed limitations for this winter are awaiting approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Photo by Scott Audette/Reuters)

A “jungle nymph” is measured during the annual weight-in ZSL London Zoo on August 21, 2014 in London, England. The height and mass of every animal in the zoo, of which there are over 16,000, is recorded and submitted to the Zoological Information Management System. This is combined with animal measurement data collected from over 800 zoos and aquariums in almost 80 countries, from which zoologists can compare information on thousands of endangered species. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A Thai Buddhist monk performs a religious rite blessing elephants and mahouts to mark the National Elephant Day at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, 13 March 2025. The National Elephant Day has been observed annually on 13 March since 1998 when it was established by the Thai government, in an effort to protect and conserve Thai elephants, who are part of the Asian elephant family classified as an endangered species. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

A golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopitheque de Roxelane) looks through its enclosure after quarantine during its presentation at the Beauval Zoopark in Saint-Aignan Central France, on May 7, 2025. ZooParc de Beauval (Loir-et-Cher) welcomed three golden snub-nosed monkeys on April 3, 2025, an endangered species from China, as part of a conservation program, becoming the first zoo outside Asia to house these long-haired, red-furred primates with bluish faces. (Photo by Guillaume Souvant/AFP Photo)

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia syn. Uncia uncia) is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because as of 2003, the size of the global population was estimated at 4,080-6,590 adults, of which fewer than 2,500 individuals may reproduce in the wild.

Baby clouded leopards, born early in March 2015, are presented by zoo keepers at the Olmense Zoo in Olmen, Belgium, April 16, 2015. The clouded leopard is an endangered species with only some 10,000 specimen remaining on earth, said Robby Van der Velden, a biologist at the Olmense Zoo. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

Meerkats are weighed and measured during the ZSL London Zoo 's annual weigh-in on August 22, 2012 in London, England. The height and mass of every animal in the zoo, of which there are over 16,000, needs to be recorded. The measurements are collated in the Zoological Information Management System, from which zoologists can use the data to compare information on thousands of endangered species. (Photo by Oli Scarff)

Bristol Zoo's baby gorilla Kukena holds onto his mother's arm as he ventures out of his enclosure at Bristol Zoo's Gorilla Island on May 4, 2012 in Bristol, England. The seven-month-old western lowland gorilla is starting to find his feet as he learns to walk having been born at the zoo in September. Kukena joins a family of gorillas at the zoo that are part of an international conservation breeding programme for the western lowland gorilla, which is a critically endangered species. (Photo by Matt Cardy)