Endangered Species of North Carolina
North Carolina is home to 69 federally endangered and threatened species. View the slideshows below to see each one!
(Click on the images to learn more about each species)
Header image: Roan Mountain bluet (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Amphibians
Neuse River Waterdog (FWS)
Arachnids
Spruce-fir Moss Spider (ATC)
Birds
Roseate Tern (FWS)
Red Knot (TNC)
Wood Stork (FWS)
Red Cockaded Woodpecker (FWS)
Eastern Black Rail (FWS)
Piping Plover (FWS)
Clams
Appalachian Elktoe (FWS)
Atlantic Pigtoe (FWS)
Carolina Heelsplitter (FWS)
Cracking Pearlymussel (Wikipedia)
Cumberlandian Combshell (FWS)
Dwarf Wedgemussel (USGS)
Finerayed Pigtoe (iNaturalist)
James Spinymussel (FWS)
Littlewing Pearlymussel (NCWRC)
Orangefoot Pimpleback (FWS)
Tar River Spinymussel (FWS)
Yellow lance (FWS)
Fish
Cape Fear Shiner (NCWRC)
Carolina Madtom (FWS)
Pygmy Madtom (Conservation Fisheries)
Roanoke Logperch (FWS)
Spotfin Chub (NPS)
Waccamaw Silverside (NCWRC)
Flowering Plants
American Chaffseed (FWS)
Blue Ridge Goldenrod (iNaturalist)
Bunched Arrowhead (Western Carolina Botanical Club)
Canby's Dropwort (USFS)
Cooley's Meadowrue (Wikipedia)
Dwarf-flowered Heartleaf (FWS)
Golden Sedge (FWS)
Green Pitcher-plant (USFS)
Harperella (USFS)
Heller's Blazingstar (USFS)
Michaux's Sumac (Carolina Nature)
Mountain Golden Heather (FWS)
Mountain Sweet Pitcher-plant (FWS)
Pondberry (USFS)
Roan Mountain Bluet (FWS)
Rough-leaved Loosestrife (USFS)
Schweinitz's Sunflower (USFS)
Seabeach Amaranth (NPS)
Sensitive Joint-vetch (TNC)
Small Whorled Pogonia (Maryland Biodiversity Project)
Small-anthered Bittercress (Wikipedia)
Smooth Coneflower (FWS)
Spreading Avens (FWS)
Swamp Pink (USFS)
Virginia Spiraea (USFS)
White Irisette (FWS)
Insects
Saint Francis' Satyr Butterfly (Butterflies and Moths of North America)
Lichens
Rock Gnome Lichen (USFS)
Mammals
Carolina Northern Flying Squirrel (NCWRC)
Gray Bat (NPS)
Indiana Bat (USFS)
Northern Long-Eared Bat (NPR)
Red Wolf (FWS)
Virginia Big-eared Bat
West Indian Manatee (FWS)
Reptiles
American Alligator (FWS)
Bog Turtle (NCWRC)
Green Sea Turtle (NOAA Fisheries)
Hawksbill Sea Turtle (NOAA Fisheries)
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (NPCA)
Leatherback Sea Turtle (NOAA Fisheries)
Loggerhead Sea Turtle (WWF)
Snails
Noonday Snail (FWS)
You can help protect threatened and endangered species on public lands by always staying on trail and practicing Leave No Trace principles.
If you see one of these species, let it be and do not attempt to touch or harm it in any way. Through the Endangered Species Act, it is a federal offense to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” any federally protected species.