The IUCN Red List assesses the conservation status of species at a global level, drawing on expert knowledge from around the world. Read more about the science behind the categories This is not a new IUCN Red List Category, but is a flag developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already extinct but for which confirmation is required for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and failing to find any individuals. On top of these official categories, Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) is sometimes used as well. Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data.Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction.Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened without ongoing conservation measures.Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction.In descending order of threat, the IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows: What does IUCN mean by "threatened" ?Ĭritically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with global extinction.
Nine categories extend from NE ( Not Evaluated) to EX ( Extinct). The IUCN Red List Categories define the extinction risk of species assessed. Photo: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ The IUCN Red List in a nutshell The IUCN Red List Categories 160,000 species to assess – the current target