Wikipedia:Conservation status

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These conservation status categories are used in Wikipedia articles.

For threatened species and species believed to have become extinct after 1500, the categories are based on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List 1994 categories. Such species should be classified using the IUCN 1994 criteria directly using the most up-to-date database; the criteria given here are only a summary.

  • Lower Risk (LR): Has been evaluated but does not qualify for Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered. Divided into three subcategories, cd (Conservation Dependent), where cessation of current conservation measures could result in it being classified at a higher risk level, nt (Near Threatened), close to qualifying for listing as Vulnerable but not fully meeting those criteria, and lc (Least Concern) where neither of cd or nt apply. Least Concern is thus a catch-all category which includes common species as well as those for which there may be conservation concern, but which do not warrant a higher category. Examples: LRcd: Coast Redwood; LRnt: Bigcone Douglas-fir; LRlc: Leopard, Orca.
  • Vulnerable (VU): faces a high risk of extinction in the medium-term. Examples: Ring-tailed Lemur, Great White Shark.
  • Endangered (EN): faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future. Examples: Blue Whale, Desert Bighorn Sheep, Giant Panda, Black-footed ferret (as of September 20, 2005, upgraded from Extinct in the Wild).
  • Critical (Wikipedia's term) or Critically Endangered (IUCN's term) (CR): faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Examples: Slender-billed Curlew, Spanish Lynx, Red Wolf.
  • Extinct in the Wild (EW): captive individuals survive, and/or the species has been reintroduced outside its former natural range, but the species otherwise matches the criteria for "Extinct", such that no free-living, natural population is believed to exist. "Extirpated" is used for species that still exist in the wild but not in a particular area where they were once common. Examples: Przewalski's Horse (in preliminary recovery).
  • Extinct (EX): extensive and appropriate surveys have failed to record any living members. The last remaining member is believed to have died later than 1500. Examples: Thylacine, Dodo, Moa, Huia.
  • Data Deficient (DD): a taxon is listed as Data deficient when there is inadequate information to make an assessment of its risk category, either through lack of knowledge of population size, threats to it, or to taxonomic uncertainty of the validity of the taxon. Examples: Scottish Crossbill (taxonomic uncertainty with respect to Parrot Crossbill), Yunnan Cypress (lack of knowledge of wild population size).


The following additional categories are specific to Wikipedia and cover species that fall outside the scope of the IUCN Red List. The IUCN criteria are authoritative and should be used directly if applicable.

  • Secure (SE) or Domesticated: no immediate threat to the survival of the species. This category overlaps Least Concern but has been applied to humans and domesticated animals, for which the IUCN criteria are not valid. Examples: Human, Cat, Dog, Llama.
  • Prehistoric: somewhere between Extinct and Fossil: the species went extinct before 1500. At least one specimen of the species exists in a non- or semi-fossilized state (meaning a significant amount of its organic content is still extant; see subfossil). This is of particular use in human evolution, as molecular analysis of the specimens can be compared against that of other modern and prehistoric specimens. Examples: Mammuthus exilis, Cave lion, the Neanderthal human, most Moa and Hawaiian honeycreeper extinctions. Generally speaking, this encompasses pre-Western contact Late Quaternary extinctions.
  • Fossil: not a conservation status as much as an indication that the species is only known from the fossil records. Examples: Tyrannosaurus rex, Australopithecus, Ammonites.

Be aware of the fact that in scientific literature, no distinction is usually made between fossil and subfossil specimens. Generally, if molecular analysis or radiocarbon dating can be routinely carried out on specimens of a taxon, they would be classified as "Prehistoric". The recent discoveries of what seems to be minute amounts of preserved soft tissue in some dinosaur specimens, on the other hand, would not alter their "Fossil" status. As a rule of thumb, taxa extinct in the recent 50-30.000 years would possibly qualify as "Prehistoric".

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External link

hu:Veszélyeztetettségi státusz (biológia) ro:Wikipedia:Stare de conservare

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