Take a good look, they might not be around for long: List of top 10 endangered species

• Scottish wildcat

Among the top ten species most at risk of disappearing from our countryside for good are four creatures found only or largely in Scotland.

The Scottish wildcat, the red squirrel and two birds, the capercaillie and red-necked phalarope, are all considered likely to disappear.

Dr Toni Bunnell, a conservationist from the University of Hull who carrried out the study, warned these animals could be extinct within 40 years if action is not taken to improve their chances of survival.

She said: "Wild Britain is under threat. Our natural wildlife is suffering from habitat loss, intensive farming, flooding, climate change, exotic species, hunting, fishing, pollution, not to mention a domestic cat invasion.

"The human footprint on our nation's wildlife is still large and, despite measures to reduce its impact, hundreds of species are declining in their range or numbers as a direct result of our activities."

Top of the list is a wading bird, the red-necked phalarope, which clings onto survival in Fetlar, Shetland. Only 36 pairs are thought to remain.

The Scottish wildcat is the third most likely to end up extinct according to the report, which estimates only 400 genetically pure animals remain. The study warns they could be extinct by 2050, due to cross-breeding with domestic cats.

Capercaillie numbers have declined by 80 per cent in the past four decades. And the red squirrel now largely only remains in Scotland, after being driven out of most of England by the larger North Amnerican grey squirrel.

Dr Bunnell acknowledged that the most surprising species on the list is the hedgehog, which people still often perceive as being common. "People probably will be surprised to see it on the list," she said. "But if you actually ask people when they last saw a hedgehog, they will probably say not recently. Similarly, if you ask people when they last heard a cuckoo it probably won't have been for a long time."

The report highlights that the hedgehog has declined by a quarter in the last ten years and warns it may be extinct by 2025. About 50,000 a year are killed by road traffic alone.

And the cuckoo population is rapidly declining, especially in England, with a 65 per cent drop in numbers in the last 25 years.

However, Dr Bunnell added that there was hope for the stricken species because it was possible to bring back animals from the brink of extinction, as has been shown by the successful boosting of otter numbers in the UK. The Eden Species Report, commissioned by the natural history television channel Eden, was drawn up taking into account numbers of each species, rates of decline, whether the UK contains a high proportion of the total world population, and the vulnerability of the species to extinction.

Tony King, head of policy for the Scottish Wildlife Trust said action needed to be taken to avert disaster for the species.

"The double-whammy of climate change and habitat loss is a major threat to Scotland's wildlife," he said. "An impoverished and fragmented landscape is bad for wildlife and bad for people.

"We need action now if we want to ensure that that this list of endangered species does not become a list of extinct species."

Red-necked phalarope

Just 36 breeding pairs remain, on Fetlar, Shetland. It has suffered a 25 per cent decline in numbers over the past decade. Habitat loss is the biggest threat.

A wader, it breeds in coastal moorland, mires and tussocky vegetation close to water.

Red squirrel

About 140,000 are thought to remain, with the vast majority in Scotland. Competition from the North American grey squirrel is a key causes of its demise.

Black-tailed godwit

50 breeding pairs remain, mainly in Shetland and East Anglia. Numbers have declined by a third in 15 years. Intensifive farming and increased spring floods are thought to be the main causes of the fall in the population.

Hedgehog

About 1 million remain and it is thought the hedgehog could be extinct by 2025.

Deaths on the roads are a major problem for the species, as well as habitat loss.Scottish wildcat

Only 400 of these iconic Scottish predators are thought to remain, meaning that they are at risk of extinction by the middle of the century.

The main cause of their decline is cross-breeding with the domestic cat. Habitat loss is also linked to falling numbers.

Natterjack toad

There are thought to be about 2,500 females left in the UK, mainly in Cumbria. This represents a 75 per cent decline in the last 100 years. Habitat loss, climate change and disease are blamed.

Brown hare

About 750,000 of the animals remain in the UK. They have declined by 80 per cent in the past 100 years.

Habitat loss is thought to be the main cause of the decline. Found throughout most of the UK apart from the northwest and western highlands of Scotland Scotland, where the mountain hare dominates.

Cuckoo

About 12,000 breeding pairs remain in the UK.

England has suffered a particularly sharp decline in numbers - about 65 per cent over the past quarter of a century.

Capercaillie

Numbers have dropped by about 80 per cent in the last 40 years, putting this iconic bird at risk of extinction. Climate change thought to be a key factor.

Turtle dove

About 45,000 breeding sites remain for the turtle dove, linked in the UK to the arrival of spring.

The species has seen a 90 per cent decline in numbers in the past four decades.