A plant or animal that occurs naturally only in one place or region.
The place is often a discrete geographical unit, such as an island or island group, but sometimes a country, habitat type, or other defined area or zone. The term ‘endemic’ may sometimes be applied to species that breed only within a specified locality/region and are unique to that area, such as species that breed only in New Zealand, but disperse to other countries at certain stages of their life cycle. For example, the longfin eel and the kiwi are endemic to New Zealand, as they are not found anywhere else in the world.