Biodiversity and its Conservation Question 68
68. According to IUCN Red List, what is the status of Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)?
(a) Critically endangered species
(b) Vulnerable species
(c) Extinct species
(d) Endangered species
Show Answer
Answer : d
Hints & Solutions
(d) IUCN is International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural resources which is now called World Conservation Union (WCU). It maintains a red databook or red list which is a catalogue of taxa facing risk of extinction. Endangered Species are those facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future due to decrease in its habitat, excessive predation or poaching. The percentage number of endangered species in the list of threatened ones is 19 % mammals, 17 % birds, 21 % reptiles, 22 % amphibians and 19 % angiosperms. In India their number is 54 animals and 113 plants e.g Red Panda, Bentinckia nicobarica. Critically Endangered: The taxon is facing very high risk of extinction in the wild and can become extinct any moment in the immediate future, e.g. Sus salavinus (Pigmy Hog ), Berberis nilghiriensis. Vulnerable: Presently the population is sufficient but is undergoing depletion due to some factors so that it is facing risk of extinction in medium term future e.g. Antelope cervicapra. Extinct: The taxon has been completely eliminated or died out from earth e.g. Dodo.
