WATCH THIS! — 12-Year Old Isamu Yamamoto Freestyle Skateboarder
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an endangered species is a species which has been categorized as likely to become extinct. Some criteria for becoming an Endangered Species is A) reduction in population size, B) Population estimated to number fewer than 2,500 mature individuals, C) Quantitative analysis showing the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20% within 20 years or five generations, whichever is longer. In the 90s, the United Association for Skateboarding Styles (U-ASS) motioned to give vert skateboarding ESA (Endangered Species Act) protections as it had dropped dangerously low to less than two dozen individuals who were prominently on display in captivity at Six Flags parking lots and Extreme Games broadcasts for ESPN. They were removed from the list only a few years ago in 2014 after Tom Schaar sparked a whole generation of young males to pad up after doing his first 1080. Unfortunately, the other three skateboarding styles—slalom, downhill, and freestyle—have remained on the Endangered Species list since the rise of World Industries in 1990 and the dominance of street skating. However, there does seem to be some hope that the freestyler is coming back. Although he does not meet the criteria of being a fully mature individual, Isamu Yamamoto is injecting hope into the freestyle world that maybe someday their numbers will climb back to 1985 levels and they can be delisted as an endangered species just as the golden-cheek warbler has recently. Watch his part now. It’s pretty damn impressive.
