Clossification of Threatened and Extinct Species

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is a group of organisations and scientific experts that work for the protection of sustainable (able to be maintained) living resources. It is considered to be the best authority about the status of living things on the planet.

The IUCN:

maintains a watch on species* and ecosystems** thoughout the world;

*species means a group of one kind of animal

** an ecosystem is a group of living things in the one environment, all interacting together and depending on each other. For example, if a forest disappears then all the plants, mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and perhaps even fish are affected in some way because their shelter, food, protection, nests etc have gone.

The IUCN has developed categories to describe threatened species. 'Threatened' is the term used for species that are in the Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable categories below.

The IUCN publishes a Red List of Threatened Species every four years. You can see the Red List: http://www.redlist.org/

Extinct 'Extinct in the Wild'	The species has definitely not been seen in the wild in the past 50 years The species only exists in captivity, and no longer in the wild	Example: Thylacine Example: Kakapo	Find out more about extinction
Critically Endangered	The species is facing an extremely high risk of becoming extinct very soon	Example: Mountain Gorilla	Find out about the Critically endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat
Endangered	The species is in danger of becoming extinct. This includes species that *may* be extinct but have been seen in the wild less than 50 years ago.	Example: Peregrine Falcon	Some Australian endangered species
Vulnerable	The species is likely to move into the Endangered category soon if conditions do not change.	Examples: Hippopotamus Galapagos marine iguana	Find out about the Humpback Whale
Near Threatened	Species whose numbers are dropping and is close to becoming vulnerable or endangered.	Example: European Otter	Find out about the Near Threatened Buzzing Frog
Least Concern	A species that is not vulnerable or endangered, but is common
Data Deficient	There is not enough information at this time to know which category a species is in.
Commercially threatened	A species with good numbers at the moment, but which are being killed in large numbers for commercial reasons. The species will become endangered unless the killing can be controlled.	Example: Pearl oysters

According to the 2007 Red List:
•The number of species known to be threatened is now 16,306 (in 2006 it was 16,119).
•There are now 65 species classified as Extinct in the Wild, found only in captivity.
•The total number of extinct species is now 785.
•One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one in three amphibians, and 70% of plants are in danger.
•Corals have for the first time entered the List, 3 are Critically Endangered.
•74 seaweeds have been added, 6 of them listed as Possibly Extinct.

One species, the Mauritius Echo Parrakeet, has improved and has moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. Fifteen years ago this parrot was one of the rarest in the world, and conservation efforts have increased its numbers.

Some species that have moved up or down in classification since last year: http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/redlist2007/going_updown_2007.htm