The Hawaiian Monk seal ('ilio holo i ka uaua) is found only in Hawai?i, with most of the population frequenting the remote, nearly uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Monk Seals are critically endangered, and are the second rarest seal species on earth (their Mediterranean cousins own that distinction).

Hawaii is home to several unique species, but the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is perhaps the most iconic endemic mammal. It is one of only two mammals native to the islands (the other being the Hawaiian Hoary Bat) and is found nowhere else on Earth. Another truly unique animal is the Nene (Hawaiian Goose), the world's rarest goose, which evolved to have less webbing on its feet to better navigate the jagged, hardened lava flows of its volcanic home. Hawaii also features a spectacular array of Honeycreeper birds, which evolved into dozens of different species from a single ancestor, similar to Darwin's finches. Because the islands are so isolated, over 90% of Hawaii's native flora and fauna are endemic, meaning they are unique biological treasures that exist in this Pacific archipelago and nowhere else in the natural world.