The Red List Is Growing Thousands of animal species of Nature IUCN has kept its are threatened around the world Red List Understanding what puts these Many countries and organizations animals at risk allows humans keep their own lists But the Red List to help the species survive This attempts to include all threatened knowledge also helps people identify species in the world It contains both other animals that may need help animals and plants Approximately All known threatened species are 80 000 species are on the list tracked on a list Since 1964 the Some of these are in less danger International Union for Conservation than others Some have already gone extinct More than 20 000 species are currently threatened with extinction Approximately 2 500 are critically endangered animals Those numbers continue to grow Many animals face the same threats Climate change and loss of living space are two of the biggest One example of a species facing these threats is the polar bear These bears rely on cold O Sea otters were nearly wiped out in the early 1900s due to the fur trade They are still
Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt seals environments Polar bears hunt for alone Many species large and small face similar threats food on sea ice and it is melting The IUCN expects the global polar bear population to drop by 30 percent over the next 35 to 40 years But the polar bear is not The Red List is updated several times per year It helps organizations around the world know what species need the most help 834 BACK FROM EXTINCTION Number of extinct animals on the Red List The IUCN Red List has been kept since 1964 It helps track endangered species and spot others that could be at risk Some species seem to have risen from the dead The coelacanth SEE luh kanth fish was thought to have disappeared along with dinosaurs 66 million years ago Then one was caught near South Africa in 1938 They are hard to find since they live down to 2 300 feet 700 m deep in the ocean The coelacanth Approximately 2 500 animals are critically endangered imate change and loss of habitat are two reasons the list is is an endangered species Approximately 1 000 exist in the world growing
Endangered Species Act Has Been a Success In 1914 the passenger pigeon went species live on is protected from extinct It used to be one of the damage by human activities most common birds in the United The US government dedicates States In 1944 the whooping crane resources to protecting and was so endangered that only 21 recovering species In the of the birds were living Pollution 40 plus year history of the ESA and pesticide use threatened many 98 percent of the species listed species in the 1950s and 1960s are still living It takes a long time Faced with these new threats the US government decided to do something AMERICA S SYMBOL President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act ESA into law in 1973 The law was made to protect species and rebuild their populations The ESA meets these goals in a few ways The One of the greatest success stories of the ESA is the bald eagle The bald eagle is an official symbol of the United States Fewer than 500 nesting pairs were alive in the 1960s Strict hunting rules were put in place due to the ESA Scientists developed ways to breed bald eagles The eagles could then be released into the wild The act identifies species that are endangered or threatened It bans the hunting of these animals Even accidentally hurting an animal on this list may be a crime The ESA also makes sure the land these bird was removed from the list in
29 for a species to completely recover Once a species has recovered it is Number of species removed from the ESA list removed from the list Compared with the number of species that have been listed the number of those removed after recovery is small However many species still Extinctions and threats encouraged government action in the first half of the 1900s on the list are in stronger positions The Endangered Species Act became law in 1973 than they once were For example in 1990 fewer than 50 green sea turtles were estimated to live along Florida's coastline one of It protects species and encourages their regrowth Approximately 98 percent of species protected by the ESA have not gone extinct their main habitats Thanks to the ESA during the most recent count in 2013 more than 10 000 nests were found on Florida beaches Fewer than 500 El Segundo blue since increased more than 20 000 butterflies were known to exist in percent There are now more than 123 000 of these butterflies 1984 But their population has Green sea turtles need space on beaches to
