The Threatened Biodiversity
A large number of species are under the threat of extinction. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a worldwide organization with headquarters in Switzerland, the number of species under various categories such as endangered, vulnerable, rare etc.is increasing day be day world over.
According to the IUCN Red list 2000, the number of Critically Endangered primates has increased to 19 from 13 in 1996. Similarly, there is an increase in the number of Critically Endangered (CR) and Endangered species (EN), see Table 13.7.
Table 13.7 Increase in number of CR and Endangered Species
| CR | EV | |||
| 1996 | 2000 | 1996 | 2000 | |
| Mammals | 169 | 180 | 315 | 340 |
| Birds | 168 | 182 | 235 | 312 |
| Reptiles | 10 | 24 | 28 | 47 |
| Turtles (Fresh water) | 10 | 24 | ||
Madagascar having the most Critically Endangered and Endangered primates has lost 90% of its original vegetation. The Philippines also has lost 97% of its original vegetation and has the highest number of Critically Endangered and Endangered birds.
Indonesia has the highest number of species of threatened mammals. The number of species threatened in India is 80 while Brazil and China has 75 and 72 threatened species of mammals, respectively.
The number of threatened bird species in various countries is listed in Table 13.8.Table 13.8 Threatened Bird Species
| Country | Number |
| Indonesia | 115 |
| Brazil | 113 |
| Colombia | . 78 |
| China | 76 |
| Peru | 75 |
| India | 74 |
The number of plant species is also declining in South and Central America, Central and West Africa and South East Asia. The number of threatened plant species is 5,611. Since this number is based on only 4% of the world’s total described plants, the actual number would be far greater.
Malaysia has the largest number of threatened plant species (681). For Indonesia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, the corresponding numbers are 384, 338 and 280 species, respectively.
13.5.1 The Indian Scenario
Table 13.9 gives threatened species of plants and animals in India as per the Red list of IUCN, 2000.
Table 13.9 Threatened Species in India
| Category | Plants | Animals |
| Extinct | 7 | 0 |
| Extinct in the wild | 2 | 0 |
| Critically Endangered | 44 | 18 |
| Endangered | 113 | 54 |
| Vulnerable | 87 | 143 |
| Lower Risk- Conservation Dependent | 1 | 10 |
| Lower Risk- near Threatened | 72 | 99 |
| Data Deficient | 14 | 31 |
According to IUCN, 2000, India is second in terms of number of threatened mammal species and it also ranks second in the number of the most threatened birds.
The number of threatened species by taxonomic group is listed in Table 13.10.-
Table 13.10 Threatened Species by Taxonomic Group
| Taxonomic Group | Number |
| Mammals | 86 |
| Birds | 79 |
| Reptiles | 25 |
| Amphibians | 3 |
| Fish | 3 |
| Molluscs | 2 |
| Other Invertebrates | 21 |
| Plants | 244 |
| Total | 459 |
13.6