IUCN Red List Update - December 2022

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
An update for the IUCN Red List was released today. These are things I immediately noticed:

Among mammals:
- The large flying fox has been moved from Near Threatened to Endangered.
- The sloths and several otters have been assessed, but none seem to have had a change in status.

There have been a lot of bird updates, but to be honest I don't know if any huge change in status have occurred among them - two newly-recognised hummingbird species (the Caribbean and Brace's emeralds) have both been classified as extinct (Caribbean emerald last collected in 1860, Brace's emerald in 1877)

Among reptiles:
- Philippine sailfin lizard has been moved from Vulnerable to Least Concern.
- McGregor's pit viper has been moved from Data Deficient to Endangered.

Among amphibians:
- The purple frog has moved from Endangered to Near Threatened.
- Both the hellbender and Japanese giant salamander have moved from Near Threatened to Vulnerable.
- The Macedonian crested newt has been assessed for the first time, and enters the list as a Vulnerable species.
- The Chapa bug-eyed frog has moved from Endangered to Least Concern.
- The cinnamon tree frog has moved from Near Threatened to Least Concern.

Among cartilaginous fishes:
- The Xingu freshwater stingray has moved from Data Deficient to Vulnerable.

Among bony fishes:
- Again, lots of new additions among smaller freshwater and coral reef fishes, including the clownfishes.
- American plaice has been assessed for the first time, and is listed as Endangered.
- Popular reef aquarium fish, the azure demoiselle, is assessed for the first time and listed as Vulnerable.

Lots more insects have been assessed, but none I am overly familiar with in a zoo setting. Joining the Red List for the first time is the Manx shearwater flea, endemic to the Scottish island of Rhum and assessed as Critically Endangered.

Among molluscs, the Obo giant snail Archachatina bicarinata from Sao Tome and Principe has moved from Vulnerable to Endangered. Other snails, and a few bivalves, have also been assessed.

And more corals have also been assessed for the first time.
 
Ursus said:
Where can you read the updates?
Click to expand...

My step-by-step guide:
1. Go to the IUCN website https://www.iucnredlist.org/
2. Click on 'Advanced' next to the top search bar
3. On the left-side of the page, go to the last of the search filters, called 'Red List update'
4. Select the top, most recent update (in this case, 2022-2)
5. Then, you can filter further by taxonomy using the top search filter
 
Very important to note that the two downlistings you mention in herps (Hydrosaurus pustulatus and Nyctixalus pictus) are due to range extensions due to recent discoveries, rather than any recovery. Same is true for marbled teal I think, just gone from Vulnerable to Near Threatened.

Several hundred Philippine herp species have been assessed or reassessed, as have most of the freshwater fish of Argentina. The red list finally includes multiple Arapima species, all as Data Deficient.

All the zoo-bred Partula species have been reassessed, retaining Extinct in the Wild status for now, pending reassessment after the status of reintroduced populations becomes clearer with time.
 
Swampy said:
Article from the IUCN about the update:

Human activity devastating marine species from mammals to corals - IUCN Red List
Click to expand...
Worrying news for the New Caledonian population of Dugongs, especially given that this population is probably more secure than most of the Asian and African populations.
Only Australian populations may be able to avoid the species an uplisting to Endangered in the coming years.

On a brighter side we can notice the downlisting of the Kaka (parrot) from Endangered to Vulnerable (presumed "non-genuine", but recoveries have been noticed in some populations).
The species is extremely rare in European zoos but quite frequent in New Zealand collections (and probably in specialized breeding centres).

There have been a handful of "Genuine" recoveries among Australian and New Zealander birds (Australasian Bittern [EN to VU], Partridge Pigeon [VU to LC], Yellowhead [EN to NT] and South Island Saddleback [NT to LC]) but these species aren't probably kept outside of their native range countries.

The case of the Marbled Teal is among the most debated and controversial because it was initially proposed to downlist it from VU to LC as a Genuine recovery, but it ended with a "non-genuine" downlisting to NT, given that the populations of the species seem to deteriorate in North Africa and Middle East that host the bulk of the populations.
Nevertheless small increases have been noticed in South-Western Europe (perhaps extending to Mediterranean Africa for some extent) owing to reintroduction programs.
The recent debate about the conservation status of this species is detailed here : Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris): Revise global status? - Globally Threatened Bird Forums

The California Newt has been uplisted from LC to NT (in Europe, kept only in Slimbridge/UK).
A couple of Australian frogs have been genuinely downlisted : the Torrent Tree Frog from EN to LC, and the Bibron's Toadlet from NT to LC. Both aren't probably kept out of Australia.
I add the (non-genuine) downlisting of the Danube Crested Newt (kept in some Central and Eastern European zoos) from NT to LC, given that is a quite adaptable species.

The Atlantic Halibut (displayed in some European public aquaria) has been downlisted from EN to NT, for "non-genuine" reasons (but this news remain interesting given that this species has been overfished in the past).
 
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