Endangered species and the evidence behind conservation status

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• The Javan leopard: mapping a hidden island population

  A national camera-trap and genetic survey is mapping Javan leopards across Java. Learn what its first results show, why black leopards are the same species and what remains unknown.

• Sulphur-crested cockatoos on islands: what the evidence shows

  Separate the widespread sulphur-crested cockatoo from threatened lookalikes and examine what is actually known about island populations.

• Why does the Oriental stork need a chain of wetlands?

  The Oriental stork depends on a network of breeding, feeding and wintering wetlands across East Asia. Conservation has helped some local numbers recover, while habitat pressures remain.

• Red pandas: bamboo forests, fragmentation and the limits of old estimates

  What the 2015 IUCN assessment says about red panda decline, how forest fragmentation affects connected habitat and why old estimates need dates.

• Galápagos marine iguanas: El Niño, algae and climate risk

  How El Niño changes the algae marine iguanas eat, why island populations respond differently and what climate change adds to a natural cycle.

• Florida panthers: what genetic rescue fixed, and what it did not

  Eight Texas females helped reverse severe inbreeding in Florida panthers. See what the 1995 genetic rescue changed, why it worked and why habitat remains the larger challenge.

• The numbat: a daytime marsupial rebuilt by patient conservation

  The numbat moved from Endangered to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2026 after decades of predator control and reintroductions. Its future still depends on woodland, fire management and connected populations.

• Why has the European mink declined?

  Why the critically endangered European mink has declined, how introduced American mink contribute to the pressure, and why river habitat and control measures both matter.

• The Andaman wild pig: an extinction story that needs correction

  The Andaman pig is often described as an extinct endemic species, but current evidence is more complicated. Taxonomic databases treat its name as a synonym, while Indian sources report living wild and local pig populations.

• North Atlantic right whales: ship strikes, entanglement and recovery

  A dated population estimate, too few reproductive females and the two leading human-caused threats facing North Atlantic right whales.

• Why do African wild dogs need connected landscapes?

  African wild dogs need room to disperse, find prey and keep packs connected. See what current evidence says about their range, social life and conservation.

• How does the Amazonian manatee live with the flood cycle?

  The Amazonian manatee follows a seasonal cycle of flooded forest and retreating waters. Learn why drought, hunting and limited monitoring complicate its conservation.

• The crested ibis returns to Noto, but recovery takes more

  Eight crested ibises were released in Japan’s Noto region in 2026. The history behind the release shows why returning a bird also means restoring habitat and ecological conditions.

• The northern white rhino: what embryo science can still do

  Najin and Fatu are the last two northern white rhinos. Follow the embryo programme, its failed transfers and the scientific limits of rebuilding a population.

• The Indian vulture crisis: a drug, a food chain and a slow recovery

  Veterinary diclofenac caused a catastrophic decline in Asian Gyps vultures. New Indian nest surveys show where Indian vultures persist, while revealing why a drug ban is not the end of recovery.

• Southern sea otters: why a growing population is not the whole recovery

  Southern sea otters have rebounded from the fur trade, but their range remains a small fraction of its historical extent. Here is what surveys and recovery work show.

• Komodo dragons: island populations, prey and habitat change

  How island-level monitoring, prey availability, habitat conversion and genetic structure shape Komodo dragon conservation across Indonesia.

• The return of Floreana’s giant tortoises, and what it can restore

  In 2026, 158 young tortoises with Floreana ancestry returned to the island. Learn why this is lineage restoration and ecological rewilding, not the resurrection of an extinct species.

• Bornean orangutans: fragmented forests and the limits of old estimates

  Bornean orangutan numbers vary by assessment and method. Learn what dated estimates show, why forest fragmentation matters and where the evidence is uncertain.

• Seahorses: small coastal fish caught between habitat loss and trade

  Seahorses live in seagrass, mangroves, reefs and other coastal habitats. See how bycatch and trade are monitored, and why global population totals remain unavailable.

• The great bustard is not extinct: conserving a bird of open country

  The great bustard is still alive, but fragmented populations face pressure from intensive farming and power lines. Learn what regional estimates show and how habitat management can help.

• New Zealand’s kiwi: five species, uneven risks and local recoveries

  Kiwi are five distinct species, not one island-wide population. See what New Zealand’s 2025 mainland rediscovery and predator-control data show.

• What threatens the last Asiatic cheetahs in Iran?

  The Asiatic cheetah survives in Iran after disappearing from most of its former range. Explore the evidence, monitoring limits and pressures affecting its last populations.

• Can black rhinoceroses recover while poaching continues?

  Black rhino numbers have risen from historic lows, but recovery remains uneven. Learn how poaching, slow reproduction, security and managed population growth shape conservation.

• Polar bears, sea ice and the limits of a single global number

  Polar bears depend on sea ice, but their status varies across 19 subpopulations. Learn what the 2024 IUCN specialist report estimates and where data remain limited.

• Why a rising panda count does not end the conservation problem

  The giant panda’s recovery is real, but old survey totals, fragmented mountain habitat and changing bamboo ranges make a simple story of rescue misleading.

• How Steller’s sea cow disappeared from the North Pacific

  Steller’s sea cow disappeared from the Commander Islands within decades of its scientific description. Fossils, historical records and competing models complicate the cause.

• The red wolf survives in the wild, but recovery is not secure

  The red wolf was saved from extinction through captive breeding and reintroduction. Its small North Carolina population shows why recovery requires ongoing field management.

• Why does the gharial need free-flowing rivers?

  How fishing nets, altered river flows and the loss of nesting banks affect gharials, and what recent monitoring in the National Chambal Sanctuary can show.

• The axolotl’s wild home is shrinking inside Mexico City

  The axolotl thrives in laboratories, yet its only native wild habitat is a pressured canal landscape in Mexico City. What monitoring can and cannot tell us.

• The baiji and the Yangtze: extinction, evidence and a changed river

  The 2006 Yangtze survey found no baiji. See why scientists judged the dolphin probably extinct, what remains uncertain, and how cumulative river pressures mattered.

• What a Philippine Eagle population estimate really measures

  A habitat-based model estimated how many Philippine Eagles suitable forest could support. That is not a direct census, and it sharpens the case for protecting connected forest.

• The Javan rhinoceros and the risk of one remaining refuge

  The Javan rhinoceros survives in one Indonesian park. Learn what the latest population assessment says, why a single site matters and what a second population could change.

• Vaquita: reading the latest sightings carefully

  The latest vaquita observations are encouraging but not a complete census. Learn how acoustic and visual surveys work, why gillnets remain lethal and what the numbers mean.

• Snow leopards: turning scattered sightings into a population estimate

  A decade of camera-trap data produced Pakistan’s first robust snow leopard estimate: 155, with a wide confidence interval. Learn what the figure measures and what it cannot say about the global population.

• Kākāpō recovery: 325 birds and the work still ahead

  New Zealand's kākāpō population reached 325 after the 2026 breeding season. The recovery is remarkable, but the species still depends on managed island refuges and careful breeding support.

• Mountain gorillas: recovery measured in forests, not headlines

  Mountain gorillas survived a severe decline through protection and community work. A new Bwindi census is being analysed, while habitat pressure and disease remain unresolved.

• The saiga’s recovery: a conservation success that is not secure

  Saiga numbers have rebounded dramatically, but disease, poaching and migration barriers remain. See what the 2023 IUCN reassessment and 2025 Kazakhstan figures mean.

• Sumatran rhinos: 34–47 animals and the cost of isolation

  The IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group gives a February 2026 estimate of 34–47 Sumatran rhinos. Learn why isolation and failed breeding are central risks.

• Can the taiga protect the Amur tiger?

  How forest continuity, prey, protected areas and enforcement shape the Amur tiger's recovery in the Russian Far East, and what population estimates do and do not tell us.

• Tasmanian devils: when cancer spreads as living cells

  How two independently arising cancers spread between Tasmanian devils, what the disease can and cannot tell us about extinction risk, and how field monitoring supports recovery.

• Mesozoic crises and environmental change today

  What mass extinctions can and cannot tell us about present environmental change, from the end-Cretaceous impact to human-driven pressures on biodiversity.

• Dinosaurs and their living lookalikes

  Cassowaries, crocodilians and monitor lizards may look prehistoric, but resemblance is not ancestry. Learn which living animals are dinosaurs and how the groups relate.

• Why amphibians remain the most threatened vertebrate class

  The 2023 second Global Amphibian Assessment found 40.7% of assessed species threatened. Learn what the number measures and why separate threats need separate evidence.

• Evolutionary dead ends: when specialisation becomes a risk

  Why can a successful adaptation become a liability? Explore specialisation, changing environments and the limits of the phrase evolutionary dead end.

• Pangolins: the protective scales that became a trafficking target

  All eight pangolin species face high extinction risk. A 2025 IUCN review counted seizures linked to over half a million animals but stressed how much remains unknown.

• Animals that survived the K–Pg extinction

  Birds, mammals, turtles and other groups crossed the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, but survival was selective and lineages changed afterward.

• Living fossils: ancient lineages, not unchanged species

  The phrase “living fossil” is a metaphor, not a scientific category. Fossils and genomes show how coelacanths, tuatara and horseshoe crabs continued to evolve.

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