Conservation status
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the overall increase or decrease in the population over time, breeding success rates, known threats, and so on.
The best-known worldwide conservation status listing is the IUCN Red List, but many more specialised lists exist.
The following conservation status categories are recommended for use in Wikipedia entries. They are loosely based on the IUCN categories.
- Secure or lower risk: no immediate threat to the survival of the species. Examples: Bottlenose Dolphin
- Vulnerable: faces a high risk of extinction in the medium-term. Examples: Ring-tailed Lemur, Great White Shark
- Endangered: faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future. Examples: Blue Whale, Desert Bighorn Sheep
- Critical or critically endangered: faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Example: Slender-billed Curlew.
- Extinct in the wild: captive individuals survive, but there is no free-living, natural population. Examples: Dromedary, Przewalski's Horse.
- Extinct: the last remaining member of the species had died, or is presumed to have died beyond reasonable doubt. Examples: Thylacine, Dodo.
See also