5 Endangered Middle Eastern Animals You'll Probably Never See

Here are five of the most beautiful or interesting creatures in the Middle East – all in danger of extinction:

This charcoal gray salamander, which is speckled with bright yellow dots, is only found in streams in the Avraman Mountains along the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border. With a total range for the species of less than 10 square kilometers, you’re not likely to see this little creature. But with recent success at captive breeding, hopefully the Kurdistan Newt won’t disappear entirely any time soon.

Once common across the Sahara, the slender-horned gazelle is now estimated to number no more than 1,000 - with less than 250 mature individuals thought to exist in the wild.

While the Egyptian vulture, also known as the pharoah's chicken, has a wide range - from the Canary Islands all the way to India's eastern border - its numbers have fallen drastically over the last three decades, as much as 90 percent in India.

With a natural range that stretched across most of North Africa and the Middle East, the striped hyaena is still very possible to see – or, more likely, hear – for many in the region. But its numbers are falling quickly, especially in areas with growing human populations, as the species is much maligned: as a grave robber, carrion, predator and pest.

Already extinct or declining in a third of its natural range, the total population of Dugong is unknown. However, it's estimated that there are just 9,000 left in the Gulf, the second largest habitat for the species. There is also a smaller population in the Red Sea, with additional habitats stretching all the way to the outer edges of Australia.