IUCN updates Red List of Threatened Species for 2012

June 23, 2012

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its updated Red List of Threatened Species.

According to the IUCN report:

63837 species assessed
19817 species threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 33 % of reef building corals, 25 % of mammals, 13 % of birds, and 30%of conifers
132 species of plants and animals from India are Critically Endangered
Critically endangered is the most threatened category
60 different species are Critically Endangered and 141 species Endangered,
Plants were found to be the most threatened life form.
18 species of amphibians, 14 fishes, 10 mammals and 15 species of birds were assessed as critically endangered
310 species appeared in the list of Endangered species
Endangered species include 69 fishes, 38 mammals and 32 amphibians.
2 plant species Euphorbia mayuranthanii of Kerala listed in the ‘Extinct in the wild’ category, while a leaf frog species and 6 plants were reported to be extinct
Worldwide, the IUCN classified 3947 as Critically Endangered, 81 as Extinct, 63 as Extinct in the Wild.
In the low risk category, it reported 5766 species in Endangered, 10104 in Vulnerable and 4467 in Near Threatened list.
Scientific data with respect to 10497 species was classified as Data Deficient due to lack of sufficient data

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Founded in 1948, IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest environmental organization. It is the largest professional global conservation network of the world. It has more than 1200 member organizations including more than 200 government and over 90 non-government organizations. It has its Headquarters at Rue Mauverney in Gland near Geneva in Switzerland.

IUCN vision – "A just world that values and conserves nature."

What is IUCN Red List?

IUCN Red List is the most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It was founded in 1963. The aim of the IUCN Red List is to provide information to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are applicable to all species and all regions of the world. The goal is to put across the exigency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction.