WHEN IS A SPECIES CLASSED AS ENDANGERED?
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains a ‘Red List’ of the world’s endangered species. There are seven categories that range from Least Concern, through to Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild and finally Extinct. Endangered species face a ‘very high risk of extinction in the near future’. This takes into account the number of animals left, as well as their rate of decline and geographical distribution. Just under 170,000 of over 2 million known species are assessed each year. There are at least 38,500 species currently under threat, with over 16,300 considered endangered.