Vulnerable

IUCN species status
Also known as: VU

Learn about this topic in these articles:

binturongs

  • binturong
    In binturong

    Binturongs are classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Despite the large geographic range of the species, binturong populations have been declining since the 1980s. Ecologists have noted that population losses in Indonesia and Malaysia are the product of deforestation

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dingoes

  • dingo (Canis lupus dingo)
    In dingo

    … classifies the dingo as a vulnerable species, in large part because of hybridization (that is, the crossbreeding of different species) with domestic dogs, a problem that is constantly increasing with spreading human settlement. Wild dingoes, though bold and suspicious, can be tamed, and they are sometimes captured and tamed by…

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humpback whales

koalas

  • koala
    In koala

    …listed the koala as a vulnerable species since 2016. The species decreased in number by nearly 28 percent between the years 1984 and 2012, largely because of habitat loss and fragmentation, which made the animal more susceptible to vehicle strikes and predation by dogs. Devastating drought and bushfires during the…

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lions

  • male lion
    In lion: Conservation status

    … (IUCN) lists the species as vulnerable, and several subspecies have died out. At present the lion’s main stronghold is in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asiatic lion exists only as a remnant population made up of approximately 500 to 700 individuals inhabiting India’s Gir National Park on the Kathiawar Peninsula. However,…

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manatees

  • West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus)
    In manatee: Conservation status

    …manatees have been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since the 1980s. The Amazon and West African manatee populations are estimated at 8,000–30,000 adults and 10,000 adults, respectively. The adult population of Antillean manatees is likely fewer than 2,500 individuals, and the number of…

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matsutake mushrooms

mugger crocodiles

  • mugger (Crocodylus palustris)
    In mugger: Conservation status

    …classified the mugger as a vulnerable species since 1982. Limited population studies conducted during the late 1980s reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 muggers remained worldwide. More-comprehensive studies conducted since then estimate that adults and juveniles combined (though excluding hatchlings) number between 5,700 and 8,700, and populations, though largely isolated…

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pandas

pangolins

  • Sunda, or Malayan, pangolin
    In pangolin

    …had classifed four species as vulnerable, two species—the Indian pangolin (M. crassicaudata) and the Philippine pangolin (M. culionensis)—as endangered, and two species—the Sunda, or Malayan, pangolin (M. javanica) and the Chinese pangolin—as critically endangered. So dire was the

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Red List of Threatened Species

  • giant panda
    In endangered species: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

    …250 individuals, or other factors Vulnerable (VU), species that possess a very high risk of extinction as a result of rapid population declines of 30 to more than 50 percent over the previous 10 years (or three generations), a current population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals, or other factors…

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snow leopards

  • snow leopard (Panthera uncia or Uncia uncia)
    In snow leopard

    …status was changed to “vulnerable” after a population calculation error was discovered in the species’ 2008 population assessment. Between 2,500 to 10,000 adult snow leopards remain in the wild, but the species continues to face daunting threats to its survival.

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Sulawesi coelacanth

white sharks

  • white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
    In white shark: Conservation

    …has been classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1996. Its wide distribution throughout many areas of the ocean has made comprehensive population surveys difficult; however, catch-rate data collected by fishery officials worldwide suggest that the species may be undergoing a decline,…

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