IUCN Red List 2019 - Discussion

birdsandbats

birdsandbats

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I know European Rabbits were just changed to Endangered - what is their status in the wild?

Also, the Guam Rail was just changed to Critically Endangered (from Extinct in the Wild) because of a small population on Cocos Island off the coast of Guam. What are the chanches of this species ever being on Guam again?
 
I have just seen this article about some of the changes on the IUCN Red List. Among the changes mentioned:

Species recoveries
- Guam rail from Extinct in the Wild to Critically Endangered
- Echo parakeet from Endangered to Vulnerable
- Australian trout cod from Endangered to Vulnerable
- Pedder galaxias from Critically Endangered to Endangered

All of these recoveries are due to a combination of either captive-breeding or translocation projects.

Declines due to climatic change
- 37% of Australia's freshwater fish are now threatened, with 58% of those threatened by climate change
- Shorttail nurse shark has moved from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered, due to climate change-driven declines in coral reefs
- Imperial parrot of Dominica declined from Endangered to Critically Endangered due to the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes

Species added to the Red List
- Three species added for the first time have all entered the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, the fan mussel from the Mediterranean (affected by a new pathogen, with an 80-100% mortality rate), giant pseudoscorpion of Ascension Island (threatened by invasive predators such as cockroaches) and barbie pagoda, a New Caledonian fungus threatened by habitat clearance and invasive species

Species that have declined
- European rabbit has moved from Near Threatened to Endangered
- Tana River red colobus has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered
- Madagascan rousette bat has moved from Near Threatened to Endangered

Species that have changed status according to new information
- BirdLife has re-examined extinction likelihood for some species, which means the cryptic treehunter, poo-uli and Alagoas foliage-gleaner are now classified as Extinct while the Spix's macaw is now Extinct in the Wild

There has also been a full assessment of all 826 species of eucalyptus tree, which has revealed that almost 25% are threatened with extinction.

The full article can be found below:
Species recoveries bring hope amidst the biodiversity crisis - IUCN Red List
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Tana River red colobus has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered
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That's depressing. It was already super rare in the wild, and their was zero in zoos. We need zoos to save this species but it's really hard, due to their specialized diet. Zoos need to take action in a lot of Red colobus species, but its really difficult.
 
I am not sure if this was this year, but I believe (By checking on the IUCN website) that Flat-headed cats were considered vulnerable, but are now considered endangered. I could be wrong, and It has always been endangered, but I do seem to remember a change in recent years.
 
Luke da Zoo nerd said:
That's depressing. It was already super rare in the wild, and their was zero in zoos. We need zoos to save this species but it's really hard, due to their specialized diet. Zoos need to take action in a lot of Red colobus species, but its really difficult.
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Out of curiosity, what is the reason that red colobus species are not as commonly kept by zoos as the Black and white colobus are ?

Is this due to any particularities in replicating their wild diet in captivity ? or issues with sourcing them Africa for ex-situ captive breeding? or just a lack of interest / will by zoos ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Out of curiosity, what is the reason that red colobus species are not as commonly kept by zoos as the Black and white colobus are ?

Is this due to any particularities in replicating their wild diet in captivity ? or issues with sourcing them Africa for ex-situ captive breeding? or just a lack of interest / will by zoos ?
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Many zoo populations are relicts of the commercial animal trade in the 1960s and 70s. Both Colobus came to the UK animal dealers (Ravensden and Banham were major traders in wild-caught primates), but the Reds died out quickly. It was before my time, but other people will know. I assumed it was either dietary or group social structure issues not adapting to confinement.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Many zoo populations are relicts of the commercial animal trade in the 1960s and 70s. Both Colobus came to the UK animal dealers (Ravensden and Banham were major traders in wild-caught primates), but the Reds died out quickly. It was before my time, but other people will know. I assumed it was either dietary or group social structure issues not adapting to confinement.
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Very interesting Andrew , thank you for sharing this information. It is a shame that the reds died out so quickly but evidently the black and whites positively thrived.

TeaLovingDave said:
I have a feeling one of the Durrell books indicates the former was the case - will see what I can root out.
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Interesting , I can remember that book "Catch me a colobus" (vivid memories of its cover) and if I remember correctly I might have read it years ago.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Very interesting Andrew , thank you for sharing this information. It is a shame that the reds died out so quickly but evidently the black and whites positively thrived.

Interesting , I can remember that book "Catch me a colobus" (vivid memories of its cover) and if I remember correctly I might have read it years ago.
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I grew up on Durrell books, amongst others..
'Catch Me a Colobus' was definitely 'Catch Me a (Red) Colobus'!
 
Andrew Swales said:
I grew up on Durrell books, amongst others..
'Catch Me a Colobus' was definitely 'Catch Me a (Red) Colobus'!
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I am sure I read this books , but for some reason other than the cover I can't remember anything about it. The copy I had for a while (no idea what happened to it) was a hardback and I believe the dustjacket had an illustration of Durrell looking up into the branches of a tree where a troop of red colobus were staring back.
 
I noticed that the Pedder Galaxias Wikipedia page says that the Australian government considers the species to be Extinct in the Wild, what's the captive breeding situation of this species like?

Also, are there any zoos breeding the nurse shark other than Amsterdam?

~Thylo
 
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As @Hipporex supremely memed, one has to wonder if there would be any issue with exporting Australian rabbits to Europe to slow the decline? After all, the Australian population also has some resistance to myxomatosis and RHD, which is the major reason for the uplisting. Not only could this help stabilize the rabbit population, but also the predators that have significantly declined (lynxes and eagles) due to the decrease in food resources.

ThylacineAlive said:
I suppose it would be a case of a species that is extremely common in its introduced range but is endangered in its native range.
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Perhaps nothing is more emblematic of that irony than the headline photo on the European Rabbit Wikipedia page being taken in Tasmania :p

European rabbit - Wikipedia
 
Coelacanth18 said:
As @Hipporex supremely memed, one has to wonder if there would be any issue with exporting Australian rabbits to Europe to slow the decline? After all, the Australian population also has some resistance to myxomatosis and RHD, which is the major reason for the uplisting. Not only could this help stabilize the rabbit population, but also the predators that have significantly declined (lynxes and eagles) due to the decrease in food resources.



Perhaps nothing is more emblematic of that irony than the headline photo on the European Rabbit Wikipedia page being taken in Tasmania :p

European rabbit - Wikipedia
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I think it'd come down to whether or not the introduced populations have hybridized with Domesticated Rabbits or not, which I'd imagine they will have. Additionally, I think all of the introduced populations stem from the nominate subspecies, which from my understanding only ever represented a relatively small portion of their overall range.

~Thylo
 
Luke da Zoo nerd said:
I am not sure if this was this year, but I believe (By checking on the IUCN website) that Flat-headed cats were considered vulnerable, but are now considered endangered. I could be wrong, and It has always been endangered, but I do seem to remember a change in recent years.
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No, you're correct that they changed, just not this year. They were changed from Vulnerable to Endangered in 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I think it'd come down to whether or not the introduced populations have hybridized with Domesticated Rabbits or not, which I'd imagine they will have. Additionally, I think all of the introduced populations stem from the nominate subspecies, which from my understanding only ever represented a relatively small portion of their overall range.
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The original release was wild European rabbits. Given how rapidly that population exploded, one might think domestics haven't really had much of a genetic impact. I also have some opinions about the necessity of maintaining subspecific "purity"... but that not being the subject of this thread, I'll simply acknowledge the very low likelihood that European wildlife managers will decide to buy thousands of one-way tickets to Spain for Australian-born bunnies.
 
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