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[Target Audience : Upper elementary students]
Quiz game!
Q1 : What is the Red List?
Q2 : The following sentences describe amphibians which are threatened with extinction. Choose the one that is not correct.
Answers :
Q1 : What is the Red List?
Answer : 3. It's a list of wildlife that is threatened with extinction.
The Red List is a list of species that are threatened with extinction. Besides the IUCN Red List that Dr. Stuart helped to create, there are various Red Lists, including the one published by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Though, all are lists of threatened species.
Q2 : The following sentences describe amphibians which are threatened with extinction. Choose the one that is not correct.
Answer : 2. Amphibians are not threatened with extinction because of humans.
The major causes are the loss of habitat, diseases such as chytridiomycosis, and overharvesting. All of these problems have been caused by humans. You may think that the prevalence of diseases has nothing to do with humans, but it is believed that chytridiomycosis spread throughout the world because of the globalization of human activity.
Important points!
The Red List is a list of threatened wildlife. It is essential for the understanding of the current state of wildlife around the world, and has been widely used for wildlife conservation.
All of the problems that threaten amphibians with extinction are caused by humans. Amphibians are vulnerable to deterioration of the environment and the crisis encompassing amphibians reflects the crisis within the global environment.
More details!
Critical State of Wildlife Shown in the IUCN Red List
Dr. Stuart was deeply involved in the development of the IUCN Red List. In this section, more detailed information (categories and classification) of the IUCN Red List is shown.
After being reviewed and published in 1996 by Dr. Stuart and his coworkers, the Red List was revised slightly in 2001. Various Red Lists in other countries and regions, including the one published by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, were made in conformity with the IUCN Red List.
The table below shows the most recent categories of the IUCN Red List and the wildlife classified into each category. You may find some animals that you know well.
IUCN Red List Categories
| Category | Overview | |
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| Extinct (EX) | A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
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| Extinct in the Wild (EW) | A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range.
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| Threatened Categories |
Critically Endangered (CR) | A taxon is Critically Endangered when it is considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
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| Endangered (EN) | A taxon is Endangered when it is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
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| Vulnerable (VU) | A taxon is Vulnerable when it is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
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| Near Threatened (NT) | A taxon is Near Threatened when it is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
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| Least Concern (LC) | A taxon is classified as Least Concern when it is widespread and abundant.
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| Data Deficient (DD) | A taxon is classified as Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution and/or population status.
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*As of December 2020
As of December 2020, approximately 130,000 species have been evaluated by the ICUN, and 35,500 species among them are considered to be threatened with extinction, which accounts for 27% of the entire evaluated species. However, the percentage varies within the various classifications of living organisms. The IUCN Red List includes animals such as mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, plants, and others (fungi, etc.). In regard to amphibians, which Dr. Stuart and his coworkers conducted a large scale survey, 40% of them are threatened with extinction, which is very serious. Other surveys have also revealed that 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 26% of mammals, and 14% of birds are threatened with extinction.
And, although approximately 130,000 species have been evaluated and included in the IUCN Red List, this is only a small part of all wildlife on Earth. There are far more species on Earth, including 1,750,000 already identified species and unknown numbers of unidentified species. Marine species, invertebrates, and fungi, for example, have not yet been fully investigated, and future studies may reveal that even more species are in a critical state. The IUCN continues expanding the Red List to include more species.