Threatened / Endangered Species

Wildlife extinction threatens human life.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species report shows that “of the 63,837 species assessed, 19,817 are threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 33% of reef building corals, 25% of mammals, 13% of birds, and 30% of conifers.”

The IUCN Red List is a well-respected marker of the health of the world’s biodiversity.

“Sustainability is a matter of life and death for people on the planet,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). “A sustainable future cannot be achieved without conserving biological diversity — animal and plant species, their habitats and their genes — not only for nature itself, but also for all 7 billion people who depend on it.

The Red list of threatened species, has listed 132 species of plants and animals as Critically Endangered, the most threatened category from India.  Plants seemed to be the most threatened life form with 60 species being listed as critically endangered and 141 as endangered.

The critically endangered list included 18 species of amphibians, 14 fishes, and 10 mammals.  There are also 15 bird species in the category.

The IUCN Red List is a clarion call to world leaders to secure the web of life on this planet.