Endangered species

Endangered species face a very high risk of extinction in the wild. The category identifies elevated extinction risk, not simply small population size.

IUCN Red List: A global system for assessing the extinction risk of species and documenting their conservation status. Its criteria define when a species qualifies as endangered.
Extinction: The permanent disappearance of a species when its last individual dies. Endangerment describes risk of this outcome, not extinction itself.
Endangered Species Act of 1973: A United States federal law that protects listed species and the habitats they depend on. It converts endangered status into legal protections and recovery duties in the United States.
Amur leopard: A leopard subspecies native to the Russian Far East and northeastern China. Its severe historical decline illustrates the effects of habitat loss and poaching.
Extinction debt: The future loss of species caused by past environmental changes whose effects have not yet played out. A population may remain present even when habitat damage has made its eventual loss likely.
Population viability analysis: A method for estimating the likelihood that a population will persist under specified conditions. It models how population size, threats, and chance affect extinction risk.
Species: A basic biological classification grouping organisms by shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships. Risk assessments apply to defined species, though taxonomic boundaries can be contested.
Species recovery plan: A conservation strategy that sets actions and objectives for restoring a threatened species. Plans coordinate monitoring, habitat protection, and population recovery measures.
Vaquita: A small porpoise found only in Mexico’s northern Gulf of California. Bycatch in fishing gear has driven this species toward imminent extinction.
Taxonomic uncertainty: Uncertainty about how organisms should be classified into species and other taxonomic groups. Changing species boundaries can alter which populations qualify for assessment and protection.

Linked from 58 pages