IUCN Red List

Tag: IUCN Red List

Plant Extinction Happening Faster Than We Thought

Emerging research suggests that plant species are going extinct at a rate nearly 500 times faster than previous estimates. Disheartening new research has revealed roughly 571 seed-bearing plant species have gone extinct in the last 250 years. A number nearly four times higher than previous estimates. Not surprisingly, the majority of these extinctions have occurred on islands.   […]

Written by on June 21, 2019

Australia’s Reptiles are at Risk of Extinction

Australian snake and lizard populations are declining according to a recent update to the IUCN Red List. Australia has lost more animals to extinction than any other country in the world. They are going through an extinction crisis that keeps worsening; researchers recently announced that seven percent of Australia’s reptiles are on the verge of […]

Written by on July 13, 2018

7 Island Species and the Race Against Extinction

Islands are biodiversity hotspots, yet the decline of island species is more rapid than anywhere else in the world. Island species have evolved over thousands of years in isolation, leading to a high proportion of island-endemic (found nowhere else in the world) species. These animals have often evolved without predators and therefore without defensive mechanisms […]

Written by on May 17, 2018

Heightened Aspirations: IUCN Green List Strives for Flourishing Species

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s proposed “Green List” would shift conversation to encourage the focus on the full recovery of a species–beyond preventing extinctions. A critical intervention was needed in 2012 on Pinzón Island in the Galápagos to save the endemic (found nowhere else on Earth) Pinzón Giant Tortoise from extinction. Captive […]

Written by on April 20, 2018

Where is Wellington’s Short-tailed Bat?

Scientists are unsure whether Wellington’s Lesser Short-tailed Bat, New Zealand’s only endemic land mammal, has been extirpated or not. Kevin Hackwell, Forest and Bird Advocacy manager, claims that no recordings of Short-tailed Bats have been captured on their monitoring equipment for several months. However, Briggs Pilkington, acting operations manager for Wairarapa branch of the Department of […]

Written by on May 26, 2017

Straw-headed Bulbul Finds New Home, Future Remains Uncertain

The Endangered Straw-headed Bulbul has found a safe new habitat on an island free of invasive species, but researchers think more needs to be done. On Pulau Ubin, an island Northeast of Singapore, a population of Endangered songbirds have found a safe home. The Straw-headed Bulbul is native to Southeast Asia, but due to habitat loss, pet trade, and […]

Written by on March 10, 2017

Smart Conservation: Early Intervention Will Protect Spotted Quoll

In recent years the Spotted Quoll population in Otway National Park has been declining rapidly where invasive feral cats and foxes are present. The Spotted Quoll is a species that goes by many names—tiger quoll, tiger cat, spotted-tailed dasyure—but one thing is known for sure: they face serious threats. The species is currently listed as Near […]

Written by on February 28, 2017

Fascinating Facts About Five Island Lizards

Learn something new every day! Are you familiar with these five fascinating island lizards? The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a Vulnerable species. It lives among the rocks of the Galápagos islands. The Marine Iguana is well known for a behavior that is strange even among […]

Written by on February 6, 2017

The Unlucky Thirteen: Birds Go Extinct Before Being Recognized as Unique Species

In 2016, the IUCN Red List recognized 740 new bird species, but 13 of them were declared already Extinct. The 2016 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species recognized more than 740 new bird species, many of which were originally thought to be subspecies. The distinction between species and subspecies […]

Written by on January 11, 2017

These Island Endemic Birds are Thriving Thanks to Ecosystem Restoration

Restoration projects aid recovery of island-endemic birds. Birds that are only found on islands are particularly vulnerable to threats posed by invasive species–they cannot simply migrate to a new home, as they are specifically adapted to their insular environment. Birds confined to just a single island or archipelago are some of the most at-risk species in […]

Written by on December 15, 2016