Ducks as a species are probably one of the most known birds on the planet. Not only because of famous ducks in history, like Donald Duck and Daffy Duck of Disney fame, but also because you can find them in literally any pond on the planet.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, domestic ducks alone had an estimated population of 1.15 billion (no pun intended), 1 billion of which were registered in a number of countries across Asia.

That’s a lot of ducks. And that’s just domesticated ones. Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization, estimates that there’s roughly 34 million wild ducks currently quacking about in North America alone.

Unfortunately, according to the same report by Ducks Unlimited, wild duck populations have dwindled in the last 3 years, dropping from an estimated 38.9 million to 34.4 million. Heck, it was 41.1 million in 2018.

This is mostly due to changes in their natural habitat. More specifically, it’s the fact that some ponds are drier than others depending on the year and hence breeding numbers fluctuate accordingly. But this is only part of it as hunting seasons are a thing, overall wetland areas continue to shrink, among other factors that impact the ducks’ population numbers.

But while the overall numbers are still looking very good, don’t let your guard down as there are waterfowl species that are very much endangered.

The Brazilian Merganser is estimated to have a population of fewer than 250 specimens of its kind, the Orinoco goose is considered near threatened as a species, and the Madagascar pochard has less than 50 members left on the planet.

And this is besides initiatives like the Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary, which is all about rescuing abused and neglected farmed animals, including ducks. Even though the species they deal with aren’t necessarily going extinct, it’s still important to spread awareness of the need for conservation when it comes to ducks and the fight for duck and just animal rights in general.

Keep scrolling to see more adorable duck photos because we all need a cute duck in our lives, but your cute animal journey doesn’t need to end here because we have other cute animal articles lined up already: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Or, if you want to take the next big step in making sure cute animals stay a thing on our lovely planet, why not consider donating to organizations like the Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary! Or express your solidarity in the comment section below.