What does the IUCN Red List category Endangered indicate?

• A. A population stable and not at risk.
• B. A high risk of extinction in the wild.
• C. Critically at immediate risk of extinction in the wild.
• D. Data deficient; insufficient information.

Answer: (D)

Endangered means there is a high risk of extinction in the wild. This category signals that the species is threatened with extinction and faces significant threats that are causing rapid declines, a very small population, or a very limited geographic range. It sits between Vulnerable (less threatened) and Critically Endangered (more threatened), reflecting a serious but not yet the most extreme level of risk.

Data Deficient, on the other hand, is a separate category used when there isn’t enough information to assess the species’ risk of extinction. So a statement about being data deficient points to missing information, not to the level of threat that Endangered indicates.