Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct

because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation
parameters. Also it could mean that due to deforestation there may be a lack of food and/or
water. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage
of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have
been evaluated through 2006.[2] (Note: the IUCN groups all threatened species for their summary
purposes.) Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for
example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of
the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection.
Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public
notice.

extinction is the end of an organism or group of taxa. The moment of extinction is

generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although
the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a
species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult,
and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as
Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "re-appears" (typically in
the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence.

"Endangered" in relation to "threatened" under the ESA.

Extinct in the Wild (EW) is a conservation status assigned to species or lower

taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a
naturalized population outside its historic range.

Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild
species. Critically endangered means that a species numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by
80% within three generations.[1]

A Vulnerable species is a species which has been categorised by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as likely to become Endangered unless the circumstances
threatening its survival and reproduction improve.

Vulnerability is mainly caused by habitat loss or destruction. Vulnerable species are monitored
and are becoming threatened.
Under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, "endangered" is the more protected of
the two categories. The Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana) is an example of
an endangered subspecies protected under the ESA.

In the United States alone, the “known species threatened with extinction is ten
times higher than the number protected under the Endangered Species Act”
(Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 414). The US Fish and Wildlife Service as well as the
National Marine Fisheries Service are held responsible for classifying and protecting
endangered species, yet, adding a particular species to the list is a long,
controversial process and in reality it represents only a fraction of imperiled plant
and animal life

Currently, 1,556 known species in the world have been identified as endangered, or
near extinction, and are under protection by government law (Glenn, 2006,
Webpage). This approximation, however, does not take into consideration the
number of species threatened with endangerment that are not included under the
protection of such laws as the Endangered Species Act. According to NatureServe’s
global conservation status, approximately thirteen percent of vertebrates (excluding
marine fish), seventeen percent of vascular plants, and six to eighteen percent of
fungi are considered imperiled (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 415-416). Thus, in total,
between seven and eighteen percent of the United States’ known animals, fungi,
and plants are near extinction (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 416). This total is
substantially more than the number of species protected under the Endangered
Species Act in the United States, which means numerous species are inching closer
and closer toward extinction.

Island Fox Loggerhead Sea Turtle Iberian Lynx

The Siberian Tiger