Critically Endangered
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"Critically Endangered" is a classification used by conservation scientists to label animal and plant species that face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. It matters because this designation helps prioritize which species need urgent protection efforts and resources to prevent them from disappearing forever.
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Western gorilla, a species of Gorilla with a conservation status of critically endangered, due to habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of March 2026, of the 172,620 species currently on the IUCN Red List, 10,774 (or 6.2%) of those are listed as critically endangered, with 1,406 being possibly extinct and 64 possibly extinct in the wild. More than half of all species listed as critically endangered are plants, with a total of 6,445 plant species (or 59.8%) listed as such. There are 4,277 animal species, 48 fungi species and 4 chromista species listed as critically endangered.
The IUCN Red List provides the public with information regarding the conservation status of animal, fungi, and plant species. It divides various species into seven different categories of conservation that are based on habitat range, population size, habitat, threats, etc. Each category represents a different level of global extinction risk. Species that are considered to be critically endangered are placed within the "Threatened" category.