Conservation Status is the term used to describe the current risk of extinction for a species. A species may be considered extinct in the wild, meaning that it no longer exists in its natural habitat and can only be found in captivity or as a fossil. Extinct in the wild animals are usually kept alive by captive breeding programs. Critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable are terms used to describe species at increasing risk of becoming extinct. The IUCN Red List is widely recognized as the most authoritative guide to the conservation status of plant and animal species.
A species’s conservation status can change over time as its numbers decline or rebound in response to changes in environmental conditions or human activity. For example, once-abundant large mammals such as lions, tigers, and elephants have become increasingly rare due to hunting and habitat loss. Conversely, some species that were once on the brink of extinction—such as American bald eagles and peregrine falcons—have made significant recoveries thanks to protective measures put in place by governments and conservation organizations.
The primary goal of conservation efforts is to prevent species from going extinct by protecting their habitats and taking other measures to ensure their long-term survival. However, even when a species’s numbers are healthy, it may still be at risk if its habitat is threatened by factors such as climate change or pollution. For this reason, scientists also focus on assessing a species’s “resilience”—its ability to withstand environmental changes and continue reproducing successfully into the future. By understanding how different species will respond to different types of threats, we can make more informed decisions about which ones need our immediate protection.