What is Endangered species?

 

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is facing a high risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species.

Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves.

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BIODIVERSITY

What is biodiversity?

Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is a term we use to describe the variety of life on Earth. It refers to the wide variety of ecosystems and living organisms: animals, plants, their habitats and their genes.

                         Biodiversity is the foundation of life on Earth. It is crucial for the functioning of ecosystems which provide us with products and services without which we couldn’t live. Oxygen, food, fresh water, fertile soil, medicines, shelter, protection from storms and floods, stable climate and recreation - all have their source in nature and healthy ecosystems. But biodiversity gives us much more than this. We depend on it for our security and health; it strongly affects our social relations and gives us freedom and choice.
Biodiversity is extremely complex, dynamic and varied like no other feature of the Earth. Its innumerable plants, animals and microbes physically and chemically unite the atmosphere (the mixture of gases around the Earth), geosphere (the solid part of the Earth), and hydrosphere (the Earth's water, ice and water vapour) into one environmental system which makes it possible for millions of species, including people, to exist.
At the same time, no other feature of the Earth has been so dramatically influenced by man’s activities. By changing biodiversity, we strongly affect human well-being and the well-being of every other living creature.
 

Biodiversity glossary
Biodiversity: the variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.
An ecosystem: a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and interact in the same area or environment.
An ecosystem service: a service people obtain from the environment. Ecosystem services are the transformation of natural assets (soil, plants and animals, air and water) into things that we value. They can be viewed as provisioning such as food and water; regulating, for example, flood and disease control; cultural such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; or supporting like nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on Earth. Ecosystem ‘goods’ include food, medicinal plants, construction materials, tourism and recreation, and wild genes for domestic plants and animals.

Where is biodiversity and how can we measure it?

Biodiversity is everywhere. It occurs both on land and in water, from high altitudes to deep ocean trenches and it includes all organisms, from microscopic bacteria to more complex plants. Although many tools and data sources have been developed, biodiversity remains difficult to measure precisely. According to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, the total number of species on Earth ranges from five to 30 million and only 1.7–2 million species have been formally identified.
But we do not need precise figures and answers to devise an effective understanding of where biodiversity is, how it is changing over space and time, what are the drivers responsible for this change, its consequences for ecosystem services and human well-being, and the available response options.
There are many measures of biodiversity. Species richness (the number of species in a given area) represents a single but important metric that is valuable as the common currency of the diversity of life—but to fully capture biodiversity, it must be integrated with other metrics.
IUCN has access to many different kinds of information on species. The Red List of Threatened Species™ provides global assessments of the conservation status of species. The IUCN Species Survival Commission, together with the Species Programme and their partners have developed a number of approaches to build up a comprehensive picture of the status and trends in species and biodiversity at global, regional and national levels.

How much is it worth?

Unlike foods and other products that we buy in supermarkets, many ecosystem services have no price tag attached to them. This means that the importance of biodiversity and natural processes in providing benefits to people is ignored by financial markets. If the full economic value of these services was taken into account in decision-making, the degradation of ecosystem services could be significantly slowed down or even reversed.

This is what the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study is working towards. The study aims at developing mechanisms to assess the value of nature, drawing attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity and highlighting the growing costs of its loss. IUCN plays a central role in this work.

The results of the study have demonstrated clearly that the economic value of biodiversity and ecosystems is significant but still poorly recognized and inadequately reflected in public and private decisions. In order to build support for and guide efforts to reduce ecosystem degradation and halt biodiversity loss, more information and wider understanding is needed of the local and global benefits of ecosystem services, and of the full costs of restoration and conservation.

World Environment Day

World Environment Day

World Environment Day (WED) is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and public action. It is on 5 June. It was the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from 5–16 June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972.^[1] The first World Environment Day was on 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5 June. World Environment Day is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

"Stockholm was without doubt the landmark event in the growth of international environmentalism", writes John McCormick in the book Reclaiming Paradise. "It was the first occasion on which the political, social and economic problems of the global environment were discussed at an intergovernmental forum with a view to actually taking corrective action."

World Environment Day is similar to Earth

Day

World Wild Fund For Nature

What is WWF 

WWF-India is one of the largest conservation organisations engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country.

Established as a Charitable Trust on November 27, 1969, it has an experience of over four decades in the field. From a modest beginning, the organisation was propelled forward by the efforts of its founders and associates who volunteered their time and energy to lend momentum to this movement.

A part of WWF International, the organisation has made its presence felt through a sustained effort not only towards nature and wildlife conservation, but sensitising people by creating awareness through capacity building and enviro-legal activism.

A challenging, constructive, science-based organisation WWF addresses issues like the survival of species and habitats, climate change and environmental education.


Historically, WWF-India started as a wildlife conservation organisation with a focus on protecting a particular species of wild flora and fauna. Over the years, the perspective broadened to reflect a more holistic understanding of conservation issues facing the country.

To suit India's specific ecological and socio-cultural situation, WWF-India articulated its mission in 1987 as follows:

"The promotion of nature conservation and environmental protection as the foundation for sustainable and equitable development."

What is WWF Doing?

Biodiversity Conservation

2050 Biodiversity Goal
By 2050, the integrity of the most outstanding natural places on Earth is conserved, contributing to more secure and sustainable future for all

Starting locally, WWF-India has identified the country’s most critical regions and priority species which characterize the country’s natural heritage, and is working to conserve their health and numbers, through field work, policy interventions and positive campaigns. 

Footprint Reduction

2050 Footprint Goal
By 2050, humanity’s global footprint stays within the Earth’s capacity to sustain life and the natural resources of our planet are shared equitably

WWF-India is working to reduce the country’s footprint on the planet by addressing key development and environmental issues that have an impact on our overall national & global footprint.  

What is WWF 

WWF-India is one of the largest conservation organisations engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country.

Established as a Charitable Trust on November 27, 1969, it has an experience of over four decades in the field. From a modest beginning, the organisation was propelled forward by the efforts of its founders and associates who volunteered their time and energy to lend momentum to this movement.

A part of WWF International, the organisation has made its presence felt through a sustained effort not only towards nature and wildlife conservation, but sensitising people by creating awareness through capacity building and enviro-legal activism.

A challenging, constructive, science-based organisation WWF addresses issues like the survival of species and habitats, climate change and environmental education.


Historically, WWF-India started as a wildlife conservation organisation with a focus on protecting a particular species of wild flora and fauna. Over the years, the perspective broadened to reflect a more holistic understanding of conservation issues facing the country.

To suit India's specific ecological and socio-cultural situation, WWF-India articulated its mission in 1987 as follows:

"The promotion of nature conservation and environmental protection as the foundation for sustainable and equitable development."

What is WWF Doing?

Biodiversity Conservation

2050 Biodiversity Goal
By 2050, the integrity of the most outstanding natural places on Earth is conserved, contributing to more secure and sustainable future for all

Starting locally, WWF-India has identified the country’s most critical regions and priority species which characterize the country’s natural heritage, and is working to conserve their health and numbers, through field work, policy interventions and positive campaigns. 

Footprint Reduction

2050 Footprint Goal
By 2050, humanity’s global footprint stays within the Earth’s capacity to sustain life and the natural resources of our planet are shared equitably

WWF-India is working to reduce the country’s footprint on the planet by addressing key development and environmental issues that have an impact on our overall national & global footprint.  

Endangered Species

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. 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]

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 like Pandas. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.

IUCN Red List Endangered Species

IUCN Red List refers to a specific category of threatened species, and may include critically endangered species. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species uses the term endangered species as a specific category of imperilment, rather than as a general term. Under the IUCN Categories and Criteria, endangered species is between critically endangered and vulnerable. Also critically endangered species may also be counted as endangered species and fill all the criteria

The more general term used by the IUCN for species at risk of extinction is threatened species, which also includes the less-at-risk category of vulnerable species together with endangered and critically endangered. IUCN categories include:

• Extinct: Examples: Javan Tiger, Thylacine, Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, Caribbean Monk Seal, Steller's Sea Cow, Aurochs, Elephant Bird, Woolly Mammoth, Dusky Seaside Sparrow

• Extinct in the wild: captive individuals survive, but there is no free-living, natural population. Examples: Hawaiian Crow, Wyoming Toad, Socorro Dove, Red-tailed Black Shark, Scimitar Oryx, Catarina Pupfish

• Critically endangered: faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. Examples: Mountain Gorilla, Bactrian Camel, Ethiopian Wolf, Saiga, Takhi, Kakapo, Arakan Forest Turtle, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Javan Rhino, Brazilian Merganser, Axolotl, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Northern White Rhinoceros, Gharial, Vaquita, Philippine Eagle, Brown Spider Monkey, California Condor, Island Fox, Black Rhinoceros, Chinese Alligator

• Endangered: faces a very high risk of extinction in the near future. Examples: Dhole, Blue Whale, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda, Snow Leopard, African Wild Dog, Green Sea Turtle, Malayan Tapir, Tiger, Steller's Sea Lion, Philippine Eagle, Markhor, Bornean Orangutan, Grevy's Zebra, Tasmanian Devil

• Vulnerable: faces a high risk of extinction in the medium-term. Examples: African Elephant, Cheetah, Gaur, Lion, Sloth Bear, Dugong, Polar Bear, Indian Rhinoceros, Komodo Dragon, Great White Shark, Hippopotamus, Mandrill, Fossa

• Near threatened: may be considered threatened in the near future. Examples: Blue-billed Duck, Solitary Eagle, American Bison, Jaguar, Maned Wolf, Tiger Shark, Southern White Rhinoceros, Okapi, African Grey Parrot, Striped Hyena, Narwhal

• Least concern: no immediate threat to the survival of the species. Examples: Common Wood Pigeon, Rock Pigeon, Giraffe, Common Bottlenose Dolphin, California Sea Lion, Brown Bear, Grey Wolf, House Mouse, Scarlet Macaw, Platypus, Human, Bald Eagle, Brown Rat, Cane Toad, Humpback Whale, Emperor Penguin, American Crow, Wolverine,^[4] Mute Swan, Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, Indian Peafowl, American Alligator, Southern Elephant Seal, Meerkat

OKAPI

                         The okapi Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa. Although the okapi bears striped markings reminiscent of the zebra, it is most closely related to the giraffe.
The animal was brought to prominent European attention by speculation on its existence found in popular press reports covering Henry Morton Stanley's journeys in 1887. Remains of a carcass were later sent to London by the English adventurer and colonial administrator Harry Johnston and became a media event in 1901.Today there are approximately 10,000–20,000 in the wild and as of 2011, 42 different institutions display them worldwide.

^LIGER

                        The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a tigress (Panthera tigris). Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon. It is the largest of all known cats and extant felines.^{[citation needed]}
Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. Ligers exist only in captivity because the habitat of the parental species do not overlap in the wild. Historically, when the Asiatic Lion was prolific the territories of lions and tigers did overlap and there are legends of ligers existing in the wild. Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tiglons which tend to be about as large a female tiger.

^TIGON

The offspring of a male tiger and a lioness is a tigon (alternative names are tion, tigron or tiglon). Tigons have no scientific name, but Panthera tigris X leo has been posited. That lions and tigers can be crossbred is well documented. According to AP Gray in Mammalian Hybrids, the basic colour of lion/tiger hybrids is pale ochre to rust yellow-brown, more intensive than in the lion, but paler than in the tiger and with tiger striping. The mane of the males develops late and is shorter than that of a lion. L Reisinger(1929) reported a male liger as weighing as much as both parents together.
In "The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication" Charles Darwin wrote: "Many species of Felidae have bred in various menageries, although imported from diverse climates and closely confined. Mr. Bartlett, the present superintendent of the Zoological Gardens (18/17. On the Breeding of the Larger Felidae 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1861 page 140.) remarks that the lion appears to breed more frequently and to bring forth more young at a birth than any other species of the family. He adds that the tiger has rarely bred; "but there are several well-authenticated instances of the female tiger breeding with the lion [liger]." Strange as the fact may appear, many animals under confinement unite with distinct species and produce hybrids quite as freely as, or even more freely than, with their own species." The voluntary hybridisation of some zoo animals is also referred to as hypersexuality.

What is Animals

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.

Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago