The Bornean elephant has been assessed as Endangered, due to threats from human activities, according to an update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
The update also reveals that invasive snakes are driving endemic reptiles on the Canary Islands and Ibiza to extinction, while illegal trade and climate change threaten cacti in Chile.
The IUCN Red List now includes 163,040 species, of which 45,321 are threatened with extinction, surpassing the Barometer of Life goal to assess 160,000 species.
‘The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has informed conservation action for sixty years. As today’s Red List update shows, biodiversity faces increasing pressures, from poaching, to climate change, to the spread of invasive species. Fortunately, the Red List also points to solutions. With sustained, collaborative, science-based conservation action at a sufficient scale, we can pull species back from the brink of extinction.’
DR GRETHEL AGUILAR
IUCN director general
The Asian elephant in Borneo is Endangered, following its first assessment as a distinct subspecies on the IUCN Red List that found there are an estimated 1,000 Bornean elephants remaining in the wild.
The population has diminished over the past 75 years, initially due to extensive logging of Borneo’s forests destroying the majority of the Bornean elephants’ habitat.
As the human population has rapidly expanded in Sabah, elephants are entering human-dominated landscapes more often in search of food, where they may cause damage to crops and face retribution killing.
Further habitat loss from agriculture (especially palm oil), timber plantations, mining and major infrastructure projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway threaten the future of Bornean elephants.
Poaching for ivory, accidental ingestion of agrochemicals and vehicle collisions are also concerns.
‘The last two decades have seen extensive efforts both to understand and to conserve Bornean elephants. These activities are vital to secure a future for this subspecies and to allow for smooth socio-economic development of the areas where the elephants are roaming.’
AUGUSTINE TUUGA
Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department and member of the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group
Reptile species on Gran Canaria are declining significantly due to invasive snakes.
The Gran Canaria giant lizard (Gallotia stehlini) has moved from Least Concern to Critically Endangered and the Gran Canaria skink (Chalcides sexlineatus) has moved from Least Concern to Endangered.
These endemic animals are prey to the invasive California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae), which was introduced to the island in 1998.
The populations of both the Gran Canaria giant lizard and Gran Canaria skink have declined by more than half since 2014.
Also on the Canary islands, conservation action has boosted populations of the La Gomera giant lizard (Gallotia bravoana), despite continuing threats.
The species has improved in status from Critically Endangered to Endangered, following captive breeding and reintroduction programmes.
Endemic to its namesake island, this once-common species was almost driven to extinction by invasive cats, rats and hunting by people over several centuries.
However, the species is still highly threatened by feral cats, as well as landslides that are likely to become more frequent with climate change.
The Ibiza wall lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) has moved from Near Threatened to Endangered, its population declining by 50% since 2010 due to the invasive horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis).
82% of copiapoa cacti species are now at risk of extinction, up from 55% in 2013.
Endemic to the Atacama coastal desert in Chile, the fashion for copiapoa cacti as ornamental species in Europe and Asia has led to an increase in illegal trade, facilitated by social media.
The development of roads and housing has brought more people to the area, making the plants more accessible to poachers and destroying their desert habitat.
Climate change further threatens these cacti; the oceanic fog they require for hydration moves with global temperature changes, and these long-lived species cannot reproduce quickly enough to relocate accordingly.
‘It is easy to distinguish if copiapoa cacti have been poached or grown in a greenhouse. Poached copiapoa have a grey tone and are coated in a dusty-looking bloom that protects the plants in one of the driest deserts on Earth, whereas cultivated plants appear greener.’
DR PABLO GUERRERO
Principal Investigator at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Associate Professor at the University of Concepción and member of the IUCN SSC Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group
Collaboration between countries is key to prevent poached plants being transported across borders.
Additionally, cultivating copiapoa in greenhouses has the potential to provide a sustainable alternative to supply cacti to the worldwide market.
Mobile species are ‘glue’ connecting different habitats, study finds.
Landmark UN report reveals the world’s migratory species of animals are in decline, and the global extinction risk is increasing.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Weekly ethical news, offers, comps and a free digital mag (quarterly) – what’s not to love?
