Conservation Status
The IUCN Red List is the global record of which species are in trouble and how badly. Categories run from Least Concern through to Extinct, and a species can move between them in either direction. Recovery happens, and so does the opposite.
Critically Endangered
[CR]The IUCN Red List category immediately before extinction in the wild. Populations are small enough that individual animals matter to the total.
18 speciesEndangered
[EN]Species facing a very high risk of extinction, usually through habitat loss, hunting, or a collapsing food supply.
42 speciesVulnerable
[VU]Species heading the wrong way. Still numerous in places, but the trend is clear enough for the IUCN to act on it.
63 speciesNear Threatened
[NT]Species that do not yet qualify as threatened but are close enough to be watched carefully.
30 speciesLeast Concern
[LC]Widespread and stable, for now. Being common is not the same as being safe, and several of these were assessed decades ago.
266 speciesData Deficient
[DD]Species nobody has been able to count properly. Common in the deep sea, where surveying is expensive and rare.
4 speciesNot Evaluated
[NE]Species the IUCN has not assessed. Most of the described species on Earth sit in this gap.
122 speciesConservation categories are from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. AnimalTracks is independent of IUCN.