Red Data Book

Red Data Book

Red Data Book: This book is the sourcebook that keeps a record of all the endangered animals and plants. Red Data Book is maintained internationally by an organization.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains a record of all the endangered animals and plants in the world and calls it Red Data Book. India also maintains its own Red Data Book which keeps a record of endangered plants and animals found in India.

There is a Red Data List too, which is also known as IUCN Red List of Threatened Species or IUCN Red List which classified all known plant and animal species into nine groups:

• Extinct: No known individual of the species is alive.
• Extinct in the Wild: No known individual of the species in the wilderness. They exist only in captivity.
• Critically Endangered: Species that are at extremely high risk of being extinct in the wilderness.
• Endangered: Species that are at high risk of being extinct in the wilderness.
• Vulnerable: Species that are at high risk of being endangered in the wilderness.
• Near Threatened: Species that are likely to become endangered in the near future.
• Least Concern: Species that are found in abundance and are not at risk.
• Data Deficient: Species about which we do not have enough data to assess its extinction risk.
• Not Evaluated: Species which has not yet been evaluated on the criteria adopted by the IUCN.

Species that fall in the Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable categories are also referred to as Threatened Species.