- International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on July 17, 2019 added almost 9,000 new species to its endangered “Red List”. With new addition, the IUCN has now assessed more than 1,05,000 species worldwide, around 28,000 of which risk extinction.
- Seven primate species pushed closer to extinction, six are in west Africa where deforestation and bushmeat hunting is rife.
- There are now just 2,000 Roloway monkeys left in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, meaning their population is precariously small.
- Wedgefishes and giant guitarfishes, known collectively as Rhino Rays due to their elongated snouts, are now the most imperilled marine families on Earth.
- The False Shark Ray is on the brink of extinction after overfishing in the waters off of Mauritania saw its population collapse by 80% in the last 45 years.
- As per the IUCN, Human behaviour, including overfishing and deforestation, was the biggest driver of plummeting populations.
IUCN Red list
- Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.
- Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity.
- The IUCN red list has more than 28,000 species threatened with extinction, including 40% of amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 25% of mammals and 14% of birds.
