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For other uses, see Endangered species (disambiguation).
The Siberian Tiger is a subspecies of tiger that are critically endangered. 3 subspecies of tiger are already extinct.
Conservation status by IUCN Red List category
Extinct
Threatened
Lower Risk
Other categories
Related topics
IUCN Red List category abbreviations (version 3.1, 2001)
Comparison of Red List classes above
and NatureServe status below
NatureServe category abbreviations

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in number, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. An endangered species is usually a taxonomic species, but may be another evolutionary significant unit. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006. (Note: the IUCN groups all threatened species for their summary purposes.) Many nations have laws offering protection to these species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.

Conservation status

Main article: Conservation status

The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that endangered species not living. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species; not simply the number remaining, but the overall increase or decrease in the population over time, breeding success rates, known threats, and so on. The IUCN Red List is the best known conservation status listing.

Internationally, 189 countries have signed an accord agreeing to create Biodiversity Action Plans to protect endangered and other threatened species. In the United States this plan is usually called a species Recovery Plan.

IUCN Red List Endangered species

Endangered species under the IUCN Red List refers to a specific category of threatened species, and may also include critically endangered species.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species uses the term endangered species as a specific category of imperilment, rather than as a general term. Under the IUCN Categories and Criteria, endangered species is between critically endangered and vulnerable. Also critically endangered species may also be counted as endangered species and fill all the criteria

The more general term used by the IUCN for species at risk of extinction is threatened species, which also includes the less-at-risk category of vulnerable species together with endangered and critically endangered.

IUCN categories include:

United States

"Endangered" in relation to "threatened" under the ESA.

Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, "endangered" is the more protected of the two categories. The Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana) is an example of an endangered subspecies protected under the ESA.

Controversy

This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page.

Some endangered species laws are controversial. Typical areas of controversy include: criteria for placing a species on the endangered species list, and criteria for removing a species from the list once its population has recovered; whether restrictions on land development constitute a "taking" of land by the government; the related question of whether private landowners should be compensated for the loss of use of their land; and obtaining reasonable exceptions to protection laws.

Being listed as an endangered species can have negative effect since it could make a species more desirable for collectors and poachers. This effect is potentially reduce-able, such as in China where commercially farmed turtles may be reducing some of the pressure to poach endangered species.

Another problem with listing species is its effect of inciting the use of the "shoot, shovel, and shut-up" method of clearing endangered species from an area of land. Some landowners currently may perceive a diminution in value for their land after finding an endangered animal on it. They have allegedly opted to silently kill and bury the animals or destroy habitat, thus removing the problem from their land, but at the same time further reducing the population of an endangered species. The effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act, which coined the term "endangered species", has been questioned by business advocacy groups and their publications, but is nevertheless widely recognized as an effective recovery tool by wildlife scientists who work with the species. Nineteen species have been delisted and recovered and 93% of listed species have a recovering or stable population.

Captive breeding programs

Main article: Captive breeding

In many cases, captive breeding programs have been successful in restoring endangered species populations.

Gallery

See also

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Notes

  1. Sundarbans tiger project. Tiger extinction information is found in the website's section on tigers.
  2. IUCN Red-list statistics (2006)
  3. Courchamp, Franck. "Rarity Value and Species Extinction: The Anthropogenic Allee Effect". PLoS Biology. Retrieved 2006-12-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. Dharmananda, Subhuti. "Endangered Species issues affecting turtles and tortoises used in Chinese medicine". Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2006-12-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. Bailey, Ronald (2003-12-31). ""Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up"" (html). Reasononline. Reason Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-23. {{cite web}}: Check |authorlink= value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); External link in |authorlink= (help)
  6. "USFWS Threatened and Endangered Species System (TESS)". U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  7. Success Stories for Endangered Species Act
  8. Primack, Richard B. (2006). Essentials of Conservation Biology. Sinauer Associates. ISBN 087893720X.

External links

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