The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit.
The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation status: not simply the number of individuals remaining, but the overall increase or decrease in the population over time, breeding success rates, and known threats. Various systems of conservation status exist and are in use at international, multi-country, national and local levels as well as for consumer use.
The São Tomé shrew is a white-toothed shrew about 3.0 in (7.6 cm) long found only on São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe. It is listed as a critically endangered species due to habitat loss and a restricted range. It was discovered in 1886. The population continues to decrease, making these animals rare. It is found only on São Tomé Island, a small island that is actually a shield volcano that rises out of the Atlantic Ocean.
The lesser yellow bat is a vesper bat found only on Madagascar and Réunion. On Réunion, it was considered common early in the 19th century, but was last sighted late in the 19th century. Only a single specimen attributed to this species, collected in 1868, is known from Madagascar. It was listed as a critically endangered species in 1996 due to habitat loss, and may be extinct.
The Alabama cavefish is a critically endangered species of amblyopsid cavefish found only in underground pools in Key Cave, located in northwestern Alabama, United States in the Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge. It was discovered underneath a colony of gray bats in 1967 by researchers Robert A. Kuehne and John E. Cooper and scientifically described in 1974.
Montivipera latifii is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Iran. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.
Marinkelle's sword-nosed bat is a bat species from South America. It is found in Colombia. In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation. Its species name marinkellei was chosen to honor the Dutch scientist Cornelis Johannes Marinkelle, who worked in Colombia.
An IUCN Red List Critically Endangered (CR) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of 2021, there are 6,811 species that are considered to be Critically Endangered. This is out of the 120,372 species currently tracked by the IUCN.
Lantzia carinata is a species of amphibious pulmonate gastropod in the family Lymnaeidae, endemic to montane streams on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion.
Zombitse-Vohibasia is a national park in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of south-west Madagascar. It is 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of the town of Toliara, the site of the nearest airport, and the Welcome Office is at Sakaraha 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the park entrance. The park covers a surface of 36,308 hectares on three sites; the forest of Zombitse and the sites of Isoky Vohimena and Vohibasia. The Bara people and Mahafaly people are the main ethnic groups in the area.
The gray-headed lemur, or gray-headed brown lemur, is a medium-sized primate, a cathemeral species of lemur in the family Lemuridae. Until a taxonomic revision in 2008, it was known as the white-collared brown lemur or white-collared lemur. It lives in south-eastern Madagascar. In 2005, satellite imagery estimates showed approximately 700 km2 (270 sq mi) of total remaining habitat within its geographic range. It is highly threatened by hunting and habitat loss, and was considered to be among the 25 most endangered primates in 2006–2008. It is currently listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to a highly restricted range, and has been named one of "The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates."
Justicia flaviflora is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae. It was previously classified as Beloperone flaviflora. The species is endemic to the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago where it is only known from near the peaks of mountains in the Northern Range. It is an erect herb with leaves up to 27 cm (11 in) long. It is suffering from habitat degradation and has become increasingly rare, being now rated as "critically endangered".
A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as likely to become endangered unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve.
Furcifer belalandaensis, also commonly known as the Belalanda Chameleon or the Sangoritan'i Belalanda, is a species of chameleon that is endemic to Madagascar. It was identified and described by Édouard-Raoul Brygoo and Charles Domergue in 1970. The International Union for Conservation of Nature rated this species as Critically Endangered on their Red List of Threatened Species. The World Wide Fund for Nature is trying to save this species from extinction.
Endangered species as classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are species which have been categorized as very likely to become extinct in the near future. On the IUCN Red List, endangered is the second most severe conservation status for wild populations in the IUCN's schema after Critically endangered (CR). In 2012, the IUCN Red List featured 3,079 animal and 2,655 plant species as endangered (EN) worldwide. The figures for 1998 were 1,102 and 1,197 respectively.
