According to the latest report released by IUCN, World’s most giant living lizard- Komodo Dragon and nearly two in five sharks are on the verge of extinction.
On 4th September, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the World Conservation Congress held at Marseille in France announces the new Red List update, which shows a record of 902 officially extinct species.
As per the Red List, in 138,374 species assessed, 38,543 (28%) of species are seemed to be at the threat of extinction.
Around 80 species within the wild are extinct, 8,404 species are critically endangered, 14,647 endangered species, 15,492 are vulnerable, and 8,127 are near-threatened. And 71,148 species are of least concern, while 19,404 are data deficient.
IUCN that amasses the list is also stepping up observing marine species such as coral and deep-sea snails to study how climate change and threats such as deep-sea mining affect them.
Tuna Species
IUCN said that four of the seven most commercially fished tuna species show signs of recovery in the press statement. And this shows the result of the effort made by certain countries imposing sustainable fishing quotas and effectively resisting illegal fishing.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna jumped three steps backwards from endangered to least concern species, and meanwhile, Southern bluefin tuna recovered from critically endangered to the endangered list.
The albacore and yellowfin tuna moved to least concern from near threatened. The Pacific bluefin tuna moved to near threatened from the vulnerable list.
Shark and Ray
The recently updated Red List showed that 37 per cent of species of the world’s shark and ray were on the brink of extinction due to overfishing, loss and degradation of habitat and climate change. In the world, people caught around 800,000 sharks every year, leading to an end.
Komodo Dragon
The world’s most giant living lizard- the Komodo dragon, moved into the endangered category. Indonesia’s Komodo Island protects this species, but the climate change that leads to rising sea levels shrink its habitat.
World Heritage-listed Komodo National Park and neighbouring Flores are where we can find the Komodo dragons.
Increasing global temperature and subsequent sea levels are probable to decrease the suitable habitat of the Komodo dragon by at least 30 per cent in the next 45 years.
Also, Komodo dragons living outside protected areas in Flores are susceptible to significant habitat loss due to human activities.
Causes of Wildlife threat
- Habitat loss
- Illegal trade
- Overexploitation
- Overfishing
- Climate change
- Global warming
These were the major causes listed by IUCN for the extinction of species.
What is IUCN?
IUCN is a worldwide network of around 1400 organization that tracks fauna and flora. The IUCN Red List is the world’s most inclusive inventory of the global conservation standing of biological species, founded in 1964.
They categorize species into seven different categories based on the risk of extinction. Seven types are data deficient, least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild and extinct.
The IUCN update the Red list twice a year. Presently, IUCN Red List includes around 1,38,300 species with more than 38,500 species with extinction threat, including 41 % of amphibians, 37 % of sharks and rays, 34 % of conifers, 33 % of coral reefs, 26 % of mammals and 14% of birds.
Green status
On Saturday, IUCN officially launched its “green status” – the first global standard for evaluating species recovery and measuring conservation influences.
Molly Grace,the professor at the University of Oxford and Green Status, said, “It makes the invisible work of conservation visible” at the press conference on Saturday.
