The following reports identify those native Maryland animals that are among the least understood, the rarest, and the most in need of conservation efforts. It includes species occurring in Maryland that are on the federal list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), species currently on the State’s Threatened and Endangered Species list, and additional species that are considered rare or under assessment by the Wildlife and Heritage Service.
Compiled by Wildlife and Heritage Service staff and conservation partners, this list of rare species is a result of more than 40 years of effort to gather, research, and analyze data from numerous sources, such as museums, scientific literature, unpublished documents, reports from zoologists and amateur naturalists, and extensive field work conducted by scientists from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
While biological information is constantly updated, the regulatory process is more complex; as such, updates to the Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species list are made periodically. The report below contains conservation status rank and State legal status revisions since our last published list in 2023.
Rank And Status Code Definitions
Rare, Threatened and Endangered Animals of Maryland
