Which organisation publishes worldwide list of endangered species?
- (a)The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- (b)The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
- (c)The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- (d)The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Correct — A, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN compiles and publishes the Red List of Threatened Species, begun in 1964, which is the world's standard inventory of the conservation status and extinction risk of plants, animals and fungi. Species are placed in categories running from Least Concern and Near Threatened up through Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild and Extinct, with Data Deficient and Not Evaluated for the rest. The three threatened categories are Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered. The other three organisations all work on conservation or development, but none of them maintains that global list.
- (b)The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) — WWF is a conservation organisation best known for field projects and for its Living Planet Report, but the Red List of Threatened Species is compiled and published by the IUCN.
- (c)The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — UNEP is the UN's environment arm and hosts several treaty secretariats, but it does not produce the global list of threatened species.
- (d)The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — UNDP works on poverty, governance and human development and publishes the Human Development Report — it has no role in assessing species extinction risk.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, established in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. Assessments follow published quantitative criteria on population size, rate of decline, range and fragmentation, so a category is a technical judgement rather than an opinion. The Red List underpins national conservation planning, environmental impact assessment and trade decisions, and it is the reference behind phrases such as 'critically endangered' in the news.
The trap in this question is that all four bodies are genuinely involved with nature or development, so recall alone decides it. A useful separator is that the IUCN is a membership union of states, government agencies and non-governmental organisations rather than a UN organ — a point UPSC has tested directly — whereas UNEP and UNDP are UN programmes and WWF is an international non-governmental organisation. As of the 2024 exam and still today, the IUCN updates the Red List several times a year, so a species can move between categories between one exam cycle and the next; do not memorise a category as if it were permanent.
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was established in 1964 and is published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Its nine categories are Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, Data Deficient and Not Evaluated.
- 'Threatened' covers three categories together — Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable.
- The IUCN is a union of governments and non-governmental bodies, not an organ of the United Nations.
- Choosing WWF because its panda logo is the most familiar conservation symbol.
- Assuming the IUCN is a United Nations body — it is a union of member states and organisations, not a UN organ.
- Confusing the Red List, which ranks extinction risk, with lists of protected areas or of endemic species.
Asked as a straight recall item pairing a well-known publication with the organisation that produces it.
The "Red Data Books" published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) contain lists of 1. Endemic plant and animal species present in the biodiversity hotspots. 2. Threatened plant and animal species. 3. Protected sites for conservation of nature and natural resources in various countries. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
- (a) 1 and 3
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) 3 only
Answer(b) 2 only
Same publication, tested on its contents rather than its publisher. That UPSC item makes the boundary explicit — the Red List records threatened species, not endemic species by hotspot and not protected sites.
With reference to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. IUCN is an organ of the United Nations and CITES is an international agreement between governments. 2. IUCN runs thousands of field projects around the world to better manage natural environments. 3. CITES is legally binding on the States that have joined it, but this Convention does not take the place of national laws. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 2 and 3 only
The same organisation, tested on what kind of body it is. Statement 1 there is false precisely because the IUCN is not a UN organ — the cleanest way to separate it from the UNEP and UNDP distractors in this CDS item.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recently categorized the Red Sanders (Red Sandalwood) into
- (a) deficient category
- (b) endangered category
- (c) near-threatened category
- (d) critically endangered category
Answer(b) endangered category
The Red List in use rather than in outline. That NDA item asks for a specific category assignment, and it is also a reminder that assessments are revised — a species' listing is current as of the assessment, not permanent.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which three IUCN Red List categories together make up the 'threatened' species?
- (a)Extinct, Extinct in the Wild and Critically Endangered
- (b)Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable
- (c)Endangered, Vulnerable and Near Threatened
- (d)Vulnerable, Near Threatened and Least Concern
Answer(b) Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable — Near Threatened and Least Concern sit below the threatened band.
- practice — not a real PYQ
A species placed in the 'Data Deficient' category of the IUCN Red List means that
- (a)the species is certainly not at risk
- (b)there is not enough information to assess its extinction risk
- (c)the species has already gone extinct
- (d)the species is protected under CITES Appendix I
Answer(b) there is not enough information to assess its extinction risk — it is a statement about the evidence, not about safety.