According to the most recent assessment released today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it is estimated that there are currently 5,578 wild tigers in the world, a number that is about 40% higher than the 3,726 reported in 2015.
In the update of the “Red List of Threatened Species”, the IUCN explains that the difference is mainly due to the improvement of the tracking techniques used, which shows that there are more wild tigers than previously thought and that this population “appears to be stable or in growth”.
Even so, the species remains threatened and the main risks are the furtive home of tigers and their prey and the destruction of their ‘habitat’ due to “increasing agricultural pressures”, points out the International Union, which underlines the need to expand the areas protected areas and their effective management, also working with local communities close to the ‘habitats’.
On the other hand, the migratory monarch butterfly has joined the IUCN List as a result of climate change, with its population in North America declining by between 22% and 72% in the last decade.
The western population has declined by about 99.9% since the 1980s, while the eastern population, the largest, has declined by 84% between 1996 and 2014.
The sturgeon situation has also worsened and all 26 sturgeon species remaining in the world are now threatened, with a steeper decline than previously thought, mainly due to illegal fishing and obstacles to migration.
The lake sturgeon has moved from the category of “critically endangered” to “extinct in the wild”. The IUCN reassessment also confirmed the extinction of the Chinese oarfish.
The most recent version of the Red List, which classifies species according to eight threat categories from “least concern” to “extinct”, evaluated 147,517 species, 41,459 of which are threatened.
There are 9,065 critically endangered species registered, 16,094 endangered and 16,300 considered vulnerable.
Created in 1964, the Red List includes 902 species already extinct and 82 extinct in the wild, meaning they only survive in cultivation or captivity.
Source: With Agencies