International biodiversity day: Asia's most threatened species

The IUCN has classified the Sumatran orangutan, originally from Indonesia, as a critically endangered species. The Sumatran orangutan population is threatened by hunting and habitat loss. "Of the nine existing populations of Sumatran orangutans, only seven have prospects of long-term viability, each with an estimated 250 or more individuals," according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

According to the WWF, this Asian tiger species is almost extinct. Originally, this species could be found in parts of China. Around 60 of these tigers are now living in Chinese zoos.

Sunda pangolin is one of the eight existing species of pangolins and is found throughout Southeast Asia. This species is facing moderate to severe threats of extinction. Sunda and Chinese pangolin are among the most threatened of all pangolins.

The Javan rhinoceros, also known as the Sunda rhinoceros or one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae. Their horn is usually shorter than 25 centimeters and smaller than those of the other rhinoceros species. Only one population of Javan rhinoceros exists in the world now – in the Ujung Kulon National Park in western Java, Indonesia.

This tiger species lives in the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It has been on the IUCN red list of endangered species since 2008. They are threatened by the habitat loss due to the expansion of palm oil plantations on the island.

Unlike the single-humped Arabian camel, Bactrian camels have two humps on their backs. This species is found in parts of northern China and southern Mongolia. It is facing threats from residential development, livestock farming and ranching.

Saiga's natural habitat is grassland and desert. Today, the sub-species saiga tatarica is only found in some parts of Kazakhstan and Russia. Apart from livestock farming and ranching, droughts and extreme temperatures caused by climate change have also threatened its survival.

The white-bellied heron, also known as the imperial heron, is a species of large heron that can be found from the eastern Himalayas in India and Bhutan to the northeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar. The natural habitat of white-bellied heron is forest, wetlands and grassland. The species' survival is at risk due to residential development as well as hunting and trapping.

This species can still be found in Iran, Kazakhstan and some Eastern European countries. Fishing, harvesting of aquatic resources and water pollution are dubbed the most imminent threats to Russian sturgeon.

Also known as Cao-vit gibbon, this is a kind of gibbon present in Southeast China and northern Vietnam. Until 2000, this gibbon species was thought to have been extinct, but in 2002, its small population was rediscovered in Northeast Vietnam.