Today, more than 16,000 of Earth’s nearly two million documented species are currently classified as endangered — an all-time high.

“The Wild Ones,” a 6-episode documentary series streaming Friday on AppleTV+, follows three experts on a mission to save six species from extinction: The Malayan tiger, Gobi bear, Caucasian leopard, Javan rhino, North Atlantic right whale and Western lowland gorilla.

The expedition leader Aldo Kane is a former Royal Marines Commando. Declan “Dec” Burley ingeniously installs hundreds of wildlife camera traps and Vianet Djenguet is the wildlife cinematographer.

“This was a dream project,” Dec said in a joint Zoom interview. “It started by doing a conservation film about these endangered animals. Then the journey, just like the series, expanded with a massive team behind us.”

It’s many explorers and a documentary crew. That’s why it takes two years for an episode, beginning by hiking and boating through swamps, mountains and jungle. Next, installing hundreds of motion capture cameras. Over a year, they silently and unobtrusively document and reveal who’s here on camera and what happens to them. Finally, the trio hike back to return, see and interpret the footage.

A favorite among these six?

“I love all of them,” Vianet said. “But I have a very specific thing about primates who are our closest cousins: We share 99% of our genetic codes. If they were to get wiped out of our planet, we should start worrying about ourselves.”

“It’s hard to have favorites,” Dec declared. “I’m an animal lover. I’ll stare at pigeons and find it fascinating. So for me, animals are just always fascinating, as were the people we met there, the locations.

“If we look at the tigers, they’re the rare species” — who live in a protected area but poachers remain their greatest threat. Declan can’t hold back tears when his film reveals a tiger missing his front paw which he’d bitten off to escape the trap.

“I’m emotional. I don’t shy away from sharing. If you protect the tiger, you protect the forest but,” Dec added, “everyone jokes that I am a bear. You know, I sleep like a bear. I move like a bear. So I’ve definitely got that connection.”

How to maintain optimism when we learn there only 75 Javan rhinos left? When we live in a world that doesn’t seem to care much about preserving wildlife?

“These animals and many others are,” Aldo said, “running out of time. So yes, it’s difficult to maintain hope. But we have to, because ultimately, people can make a difference. There is still time.

“If people listen, pay attention to what’s going on around them, then it’s not too late. We are,” he emphasized, “the only ones who have the power to change it.”

“The Wild Ones” streams July 11 on AppleTV+