From three species of Arctic seals to more than half of all birds globally, several animals have slipped closer to extinction, according to the latest update of the IUCN Red List. However, 20 species have seen a positive change in their status: they’ve moved farther away from the threat of extinction, thanks to effective conservation measures or reduced threats.
The 20 downlisted species include 12 birds: the Rodrigues warbler (Acrocephalus rodericanus), Rodrigues fody (Foudia flavicans), olive-sided flycatcher (Contopus cooperi), rustic bunting (Emberiza rustica), Lidth’s jay (Garrulus lidthi), Guadalupe junco (Junco insularis), Okinawa robin (Larvivora namiyei), Alexandrine parakeet (Palaeornis eupatria), black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor), blue-winged macaw (Primolius maracana), Amami woodcock (Scolopax mira) and redwing (Turdus iliacus).
The Rodrigues warbler and fody, for example, are the last two remaining endemic bird species left on Rodrigues, a volcanic island that’s part of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The island was once home to 12 endemic birds found nowhere else on Earth.
Most of those birds have since gone extinct, and both the Rodrigues warbler and fody were headed the same way. In 1968, scientists estimated just five to six pairs of fodies remained, and only eight to nine pairs of warblers in 1979, according to BirdLife International.
Conservation efforts by BirdLife’s local partner, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), helped restore the birds’ native forest habitat on the island. There are now roughly 20,000 Rodrigues fodies and around 25,000 warblers on the island. Both species are listed as least concern in the latest IUCN update.
“It’s wonderful to see the rebound of two birds that teetered on the path of extinction some 60 years ago and have bounced back to become fairly common birds in built-up areas and backyards, and almost anywhere with suitable forests, including secondary forests, on Rodrigues,” Vikash Tatayah, MWF conservation director, said in a statement.
Similarly, the once-abundant Guadalupe junco, a small bird found only on Guadalupe Island off the western coast of Baja California, Mexico, declined dramatically after feral goats, introduced in the 19th century, grazed and razed the cypress forests the birds relied upon. In 2007, a conservation program successfully removed all feral goats, allowing both the forests and the birds to recover. The Guadalupe junco was listed as endangered in 2016; it’s now been reclassified as vulnerable.
Apart from birds, two species of sea snails, Conus felitae and Conus regonae, have moved from vulnerable to least concern in the latest assessment. A species of land snail, Idiomela subplicata, was reclassified from critically endangered to vulnerable.
Other species that also moved to a lower threat status include the Shark Bay bandicoot (Perameles bougainville), a marsupial, and fish like the roman seabream (Chrysoblephus laticeps), the seventy-four seabream (Polysteganus undulosus) and a marine ray-finned fish, Argyrozona argyrozona.
And in a major conservation win, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has been reclassified from endangered to least concern.
Banner image of a Rodrigues fody by pierrickferret via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0).
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