Threatened species: IUCN and the Red List

Detail

1. IUCN: what it is

• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): a world body that studies nature and advises on how to protect it.
• Founded: 1948, at Fontainebleau (France).
• Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland.
• Members: states, government agencies and NGOs (non-government organisations), all in one union. This mix is unusual. It is not a UN body.

• India has been a state member since 1969.

• Name trap: NCERT Class 11 calls it the "International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources". This is its older name. The current short name is still IUCN.

• Main jobs:
• It runs the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (started 1964).
• It advises on protected areas (national parks, sanctuaries and similar areas).
• It advises UNESCO on natural World Heritage Sites.
• It holds the World Conservation Congress, its top meeting.

2. World Conservation Congress 2025 (Abu Dhabi)

• Venue and dates: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 9–15 October 2025. This was the first Congress held in the UAE [3][4].
• Size: more than 10,000 attendees, on site and online [3][4].
• Firsts: the first World Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nature was held there [4]. IUCN also adopted its first policy on synthetic biology (making or changing living things in a lab) in relation to nature conservation [4].
• Decisions: Members adopted 148 Resolutions. The Abu Dhabi Action Plan sets five areas for action. These are: nature as the base of well-being, stronger multilateralism (countries working together), justice and inclusion, knowledge and innovation, and more money for nature and climate [3][4].
• Leadership: Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak was re-elected IUCN President for a second term [3].
• New state members (2025): Armenia, Tajikistan, Marshall Islands, Gabon, Tuvalu and Zimbabwe [3].
• Findings shared there: climate change threatens 43% of natural World Heritage sites [3].
• Next event: Panama will host the World Protected and Conserved Areas Congress in September 2027 [3].

3. The IUCN Red List: size and latest update

• Red List: a world list that gives each species a conservation status, meaning how close it is to dying out (extinction: when the last member of a species dies).
• Latest numbers (update of 10 October 2025): 172,620 species assessed, of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction [2]. (NCERT-era figure: over 170,000 assessed, over 47,000 threatened.)
• Main changes in the October 2025 update [2]:

Species / group	Change	Main cause
Hooded seal (Arctic)	Vulnerable → Endangered	Loss of sea ice from global warming
Bearded seal, harp seal (Arctic)	Least Concern → Near Threatened	Loss of sea ice. The seals need ice to breed, raise pups, moult and rest
Green sea turtle (global)	Endangered → Least Concern	Conservation. Numbers up about 28% since the 1970s
Birds (11,185 species assessed)	1,256 threatened (11.5%). 61% of species are declining (44% in 2016)	Habitat loss from farming and logging

4. NCERT's three categories (the old, pre-1994 scheme)

NCERT Class 11 uses the scheme IUCN followed before 1994.

• Endangered species: species in danger of extinction.

• Examples: red panda (NCERT Figure 14.2), Bengal tiger, Asian elephant.

• Vulnerable species: species whose numbers have fallen sharply. They will likely become endangered soon if the threats continue.

• Examples: snow leopard, one-horned rhinoceros.

• Rare species: species with very small populations. They live in a small area, or are thinly scattered over a wide area.

• "Rare" is no longer an IUCN category. A rare species may or may not be threatened. For example, it may be naturally small in number but stable.

5. Current categories (IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, version 3.1)

• Version 3.1 was approved by the 51st meeting of the IUCN Council, Gland, on 9 February 2000. A second edition came out in 2012 [5].
• Order of the categories, from highest risk to lowest:

Category	Code	Meaning in simple words
Extinct	EX	No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died [5]
Extinct in the Wild	EW	Survives only in captivity, in cultivation, or as a population living far outside its old range [5]
Critically Endangered	CR	Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild [5]
Endangered	EN	Very high risk of extinction in the wild [5]
Vulnerable	VU	High risk of extinction in the wild [5]
Near Threatened	NT	Not threatened now, but close to qualifying soon [5]
Least Concern	LC	Widespread and common [5]
Data Deficient	DD	Not enough data to judge. Not a threat category [5]
Not Evaluated	NE	Not yet checked against the criteria [5]

• Threatened species = CR + EN + VU together. NT, LC, DD and NE are not "threatened".

6. How status is decided: the five criteria (A–E)

• A species goes into CR, EN or VU if it meets any one of the criteria A to E [5].
• A: the population is falling, measured over 10 years or 3 generations, whichever is longer.
• B: the geographic range is small. It can be measured as extent of occurrence (EOO: the area inside a line drawn around all known sites) or area of occupancy (AOO: the area the species actually uses).
• C: the population is small and still falling.
• D: the population is very small or very restricted.

• E: a mathematical model shows how likely extinction is (extinction probability).

• Threshold values (version 3.1) [5]:

Criterion	Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
A2: population fall (10 yrs / 3 generations)	≥ 80%	≥ 50%	≥ 30%
A1: fall where the cause is understood and has stopped	≥ 90%	≥ 70%	≥ 50%
B1: extent of occurrence	< 100 km²	< 5,000 km²	< 20,000 km²
B2: area of occupancy	< 10 km²	< 500 km²	(higher limit)
C: mature individuals, still declining	< 250	< 2,500	< 10,000
D: mature individuals	< 50	< 250	< 1,000 (or AOO usually < 20 km², or ≤ 5 locations)
E: chance of extinction	≥ 50% in 10 yrs / 3 generations	≥ 20% in 20 yrs / 5 generations	≥ 10% in 100 yrs

• Mature individuals: adults able to breed. Young animals are not counted.

7. Indian examples by current category (verify current)

Category	Species	Where in India
Critically Endangered	Gharial	Chambal river (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh) and other north Indian rivers
	Great Indian Bustard	Grasslands of Rajasthan and Gujarat
	White-rumped vulture, long-billed vulture	Across the plains of India
	Hangul (Kashmir stag; CR in national listings)	Dachigam, Jammu and Kashmir
	Pygmy hog	Tall grasslands of Assam (Manas area)
Endangered	Bengal tiger, Asian elephant	Forests across India
	Red panda	Eastern Himalaya: Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling (West Bengal)
	Gangetic river dolphin	Ganga–Brahmaputra river systems
	Asiatic lion (assessed as a subpopulation)	Gir, Gujarat
	Lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri tahr	Western Ghats (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka)
Vulnerable	Snow leopard	High Himalaya: Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim
	One-horned rhinoceros	Kaziranga (Assam); also West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh
	Dugong	Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Andaman and Nicobar
	Olive ridley turtle	Mass nesting on the Odisha coast

• Change across schemes: the tiger and the elephant were "endangered" in NCERT's old scheme, and they are still Endangered today. The snow leopard and the rhino are still Vulnerable.

8. Red List vs Wildlife (Protection) Act schedules

• Red List: a global science list. It has no legal force in India.
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 schedules: India's legal lists. Schedule I gives the highest protection and the heaviest penalties.
• They are two separate lists. A species can be in Schedule I but only "Vulnerable" or even "Least Concern" on the Red List. A species can also be threatened on the Red List with less legal protection in India.
• Exam trap: "IUCN status = Schedule I status" is false.

Prelims Hooks

• IUCN: founded 1948 at Fontainebleau. Headquarters at Gland, Switzerland. India a state member since 1969. Members include states, government agencies and NGOs.
• Red List started in 1964. Update of 10 October 2025: 172,620 species assessed, 48,646 threatened [2].
• "Threatened" = CR + EN + VU only. Near Threatened and Data Deficient are not threat categories [5].
• Order of risk: EX > EW > CR > EN > VU > NT > LC. DD and NE stand outside this ranking.
• "Rare" was a pre-1994 category. It is not in version 3.1.
• CR limits: fewer than 50 mature individuals (criterion D), or extent of occurrence under 100 km² (criterion B1) [5].
• Green sea turtle moved from Endangered to Least Concern (2025). The hooded seal moved from Vulnerable to Endangered [2].
• World Conservation Congress 2025: Abu Dhabi, 9–15 October. 148 Resolutions adopted. Razan Al Mubarak re-elected President [3][4].
• Matching: Great Indian Bustard – CR – Rajasthan/Gujarat. Pygmy hog – CR – Assam. Red panda – EN – eastern Himalaya. Olive ridley – VU – Odisha coast.
• Trap: Red List status has no legal force in India. Legal protection comes from the Wildlife (Protection) Act schedules.

Mains Points

• Why Indian species become threatened (GS-III):
• Grasslands are seen as "wasteland" and turned into farms, solar parks and power lines. This hits the Great Indian Bustard (bird deaths from hitting power lines) and the pygmy hog.
• River dams and pollution affect the gharial and the Gangetic dolphin.

• Diclofenac (a cattle painkiller) in dead cattle poisoned the vultures that ate them.

• Science list vs legal list: the Red List uses numbers (population fall, range, size, extinction chance). The Wildlife Act schedules use legal priorities. Linking the two would help India focus money and action on species that are truly in danger.

• Conservation works: the green turtle's move to Least Concern (2025) shows that long-term protection brings species back [2]. In India, rhinos in Kaziranga and lions in Gir have also recovered. Each started from a very small number and lived in one place.
• Climate as a new threat: loss of Arctic sea ice is pushing seals towards extinction. 43% of natural World Heritage sites are threatened by climate change [2][3]. Himalayan species such as the snow leopard and the red panda face similar pressure as their habitats shift uphill.