Almost 17,000 Species are Threatened with Extinction
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008According to the latest IUCN red list, almost 17,000 of the world’s plant and animal species are facing extinction.
Of the 44,838 plant and animal species evaluated by IUCN, 38% have been catalogued as threatened with extinction.
The IUCN red list, which is the international benchmark for the threat level of animals and plants, has recently been updated to produce the 2008 version. And things don’t look too good.
Things look particularly grim for the world’s mammals. Of the 5,487 known mammal species, 1,139 are facing extinction. Marine mammals are at most risk, with more than one in three facing extinction.
Furthermore, IUCN has been unable to classify a threat level for 836 mammals due to lack of data. This means that the number of threatened mammals is probably higher than the reported 21 percent, and could be as high as 36 percent, according to IUCN scientist Jan Schipper.
Statistics
Here are some statistics which outline the number of species evaluated, and the percentage of those that are under threat from extinction:
| Vertebrates | Number of species evaluated |
Number threatened, as % of species evaluated |
| Mammals | 5,488 | 21% |
| Birds | 9,990 | 12% |
| Reptiles | 1,385 | 31% |
| Amphibians | 6,260 | 30% |
| Fishes | 3,481 | 37% |
| Subtotal | 26,604 | 22% |
| Invertebrates | Number of species evaluated |
Number threatened, as % of species evaluated |
| Insects | 1,259 | 50% |
| Molluscs | 2,212 | 44% |
| Crustaceans | 1,735 | 35% |
| Corals | 856 | 27% |
| Arachnids | 32 | 56% |
| Velvet Worms |
11 | 82% |
| Horseshoe Crabs |
4 | 0% |
| Others | 52 | 46% |
| Subtotal | 6,161 | 41% |
| Plants | Number of species evaluated |
Number threatened, as % of species evaluated |
| Mosses | 95 | 86% |
| Ferns and allies |
211 | 66% |
| Gymnosperms | 910 | 35% |
| Dicotyledons | 9,624 | 74% |
| Monocotyledons | 1,155 | 68% |
| Green Algae |
2 | 0% |
| Red Algae |
58 | 16% |
| Subtotal | 12,055 | 70% |
| Others | Number of species evaluated |
Number threatened, as % of species evaluated |
| Lichens | 2 | 100% |
| Mushrooms | 1 | 100% |
| Brown Algae |
15 | 40% |
| Subtotal | 18 | 50% |
| TOTAL | 44,838 | 38% |
It’s important to note that this table may make things appear to be even worse than they are. This is because, not all species were evaluated. Generally, the table is biased towards species that are thought to be threatened, species for which data are readily available, and under-reporting of Least Concern species.
Having said that, it’s still concerning to see so many species (16,928 to be exact) under threat from extinction.
What Is the IUCN Red List?
Here’s IUCN’s description of the Red List:
The IUCN Red List is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity.
The Full IUCN Red List
The full IUCN red list is available via a searchable database at http://www.iucnredlist.org. You can also download this Excel spreadsheet containing statistics of the 2008 list.
