Seven Animals That Are on Michigan’s Threatened or Endangered List

Michigan has almost 400 species of wildlife at risk, including those that are endangered, threatened, or of special concern.

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Animals become endangered or at risk for a number of reasons. According to USGS, habitat loss is the main cause but there are other factors including habitat changes, over-exploitation of wildlife for commercial purposes, the introduction of harmful non-native species, pollution, and the spread of diseases. It all plays a role in the loss of wildlife across the United States.

We used to frequently hear about the gray wolf, as it spent many years on the endangered list. However, that's no longer the case. Gray wolves were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2021 but are still considered protected.

How Often is the Endangered Species List Updated?

According to epa.gov, listing and delisting species, designating critical habitat, developing recovery plans, and. evaluating the status of the species every 5 years in five-year reviews.

While there are twelve species of threatened mammals in Michigan, we only included those that were considered threatened or endangered. Five others are put under the "special concern" category.

Special Concern Animals:

• Moose
• Gray wolf
• Northern flying squirrel
• Woodland vole
• Eastern pipistrelle

The remaining seven are the ones we really need to concern ourselves with at the moment. Let's have a look.