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Organisms with a conservation status of critically endangered have an extremely high risk of becoming extinct.
IUCN Category
The Critically Endangered status, in relation to other IUCN Red List categories
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), widely considered to be the most objective and authoritative system for classifying species in terms of the risk of extinction,[1] lists 3246 species (1665 animals, 1575 plants, 6 fungi, lichens and algae)[2] of the world as being critically endangered in their 2008 Red List.
Critically endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN for wild species. Critically endangered means that a species numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations.[3]
As the IUCN does not consider a species extinct until extensive, targeted surveys have been conducted, species which are possibly extinct are still listed as "Critically Endangered". A new category for "Possibly Extinct" has been suggested by BirdLife International to categorize these taxa.
See also
References
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