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What Is the Red List?
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The IUCN Red List is a scientific assessment of the extinction risk facing species around the world. According to the latest 2026 update, 175,909 species have been assessed, and 49,505 of them are threatened with extinction.
Put simply, the Red List is like a health checkup for life on Earth. Just as a medical exam helps us understand a person's condition, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, examines population size, habitat, and the rate of decline among animals, plants, fungi, and other forms of life.
The latest published data include assessments for 175,909 species. That's an astonishing number. Yet it still represents only part of the life we know. Many plants, invertebrates, and fungi haven't been studied closely enough, so the true scale of extinction risk may be greater than the numbers currently recorded.
The Red List began in 1964. In 1994, the foundation of today's assessment system was established, and it has since been refined into the current nine-category framework. Rather than a report published once every few years, it's closer to a living database that changes as new scientific evidence becomes available.
▲ The IUCN Red List classifies species into nine categories, from Extinct (EX) to Not Evaluated (NE).Source: IUCN Red List
▲ The IUCN Red List website provides each species' extinction-risk category, distribution, and major threats.Source: IUCN Red List
There's one point worth keeping in mind. A rise in the number of species listed doesn't, by itself, prove that biodiversity is deteriorating more quickly. The total also increases when previously unassessed species are added. To understand how nature is actually changing, we need to look at long-term population data as well.
In that sense, the WWF Living Planet Report 2024 sends a sobering signal. Between 1970 and 2020, the average size of monitored wild vertebrate populations declined by 73 percent. That doesn't mean 73 percent of all wild animals disappeared — it means the monitored populations became, on average, 73 percent smaller.
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How Is Extinction Risk Assessed?
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So how is a category assigned? Assessors don't rely on the impression that a species "seems harder to find these days." They examine how quickly its population is declining, how much its habitat has shrunk, how many mature individuals remain, and how fragmented its habitat has become. When necessary, they also calculate the probability that the species could become extinct within a given period.
● Extinct (EX)
No surviving individuals are known to remain.
● Extinct in the Wild (EW)
The species survives only in captivity, cultivation, or outside its former natural range.
● Critically Endangered (CR)
The species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
● Endangered (EN)
The species faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
● Vulnerable (VU)
The species faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
● Near Threatened (NT)
The species doesn't currently meet the criteria for a threatened category but may do so in the near future.
● Least Concern (LC)
The species is currently assessed as facing a relatively low risk of extinction.
● Data Deficient (DD)
There isn't enough information to determine the species' current extinction risk.
● Not Evaluated (NE)
The species hasn't yet been assessed under IUCN criteria.
Of these nine categories, Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable are collectively described as threatened species.
As of 2026, 49,505 of the 175,909 assessed species fall into these three categories — roughly 28 percent of assessed species. But it would be misleading to say that 28 percent of all life on Earth is threatened. Many species haven't yet been assessed, and the depth of research differs greatly among groups.
▲ This video introduces threatened species included on the IUCN Red List.Source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, YouTube
There's another category that deserves more attention: Data Deficient (DD). The name may sound less alarming, but it doesn't mean a species is safe. It means we don't yet have enough evidence to judge whether it's secure or already in serious danger.
Species living in the deep sea, on remote islands, or in hard-to-reach forests are especially difficult to study. Some may be in severe decline long before we notice. That's why conservation sometimes begins not with a dramatic rescue, but with the simple task of finding out what lives there and how much of it remains.
▲ Data Deficient (DD) doesn't mean safe — it means there isn't enough information to assess the species' extinction risk.Source: IUCN Red List
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Who Conducts the Assessments, and How Do Categories Change?
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Is the Red List created only by IUCN staff? Not quite. Researchers and specialists with strong knowledge of a species may prepare and submit an assessment using IUCN criteria. But submission doesn't mean automatic listing — the evidence and use of the criteria must pass expert review and formal verification.
A category isn't fixed forever, either. It may move up or down when new survey data become available or when populations and habitats change. Categories can also change because of taxonomic revisions or corrections to earlier assessments.
A Brazilian Tree Once Thought Extinct Is Found Again
▲ This guarujuva tree was rediscovered at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in 2015.Source: Global Trees Campaign
Brazil's guarujuva tree (Terminalia acuminata) was long believed to have disappeared from the wild. Then, in 2015, staff at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden found living specimens — a species thought to be extinct had reappeared.
That was certainly welcome news. But rediscovery doesn't mean the species is suddenly safe. If only a few individuals remain or their habitat is extremely limited, protection is still essential. This is why the IUCN is cautious about lowering a risk category, and usually checks whether the improved conditions are sustained over time.
The Dugong: A Species That Can Vanish Region by Region
▲ The dugong is a marine mammal classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.Source: Getty Images Bank
The dugong is a large marine mammal that moves slowly through shallow seas and grazes on seagrass. Stories say that sailors once mistook its silhouette for a mermaid.
Globally, the dugong is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List. Yet conditions differ sharply by region. In 2022, researchers concluded that dugongs along the coast of China had reached a state of functional extinction — meaning the remaining population was no longer likely to sustain itself. That doesn't mean every dugong in the world has disappeared. It's a warning that, in some places, recovery may already be extremely difficult.
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There Is Still Hope: India's Tigers Return
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▲ The tiger is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List.Source: IUCN Red List
Tigers remain classified as Endangered (EN). Habitat destruction, poaching, and the decline of prey once pushed them close to the edge. India's experience, however, shows that long-term protection can produce real change.
India launched Project Tiger in 1973, protecting key habitats while strengthening anti-poaching efforts and population monitoring. India's estimated wild tiger population reached about 3,682 in 2022, more than double the 1,706 recorded in 2010. Conflict and habitat pressure continue in some regions, but the broader lesson is clear: sustained protection and careful management can help a population recover.
Two Pillars of Species Protection
1. Institutional protection by governments and the international community
Habitats must be protected by law, illegal trade and poaching must be controlled, and long-term funding must support research and restoration.
2. Public awareness and everyday choices
Learning about threatened species and habitats, choosing responsible products, and participating in conservation efforts can all help create change.
When a species disappears, it's not simply one more name erased from a list. The work it once performed — carrying pollen, renewing forests, and sustaining other lives — disappears with it.
The Red List is a record of extinction risk, but it's also a map showing where action is still possible. As India's tigers remind us, life can return when it's given room and time.
Perhaps our task is simpler than it sounds: notice what's disappearing before it's too late, and once we notice, refuse to look away.
Nature can live without us. We cannot live without nature.
Written by Sharon Choi
Director of Planning, Sunhak Peace Prize Secretariat
References
1. IUCN, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2026)
2. IUCN, Summary Statistics (2026)
3. IUCN, Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1
4. IUCN, The IUCN Red List Assessment Process
5. WWF, Living Planet Report 2024
6. Turvey, S. T. et al., "Functional Extinction of Dugongs in China," Royal Society Open Science (2022)
