The largest living lizard in the world, the Komodo dragon in Indonesia, is more threatened than previously thought. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies it as “critically endangered”.
Gland / Marseille – The largest living lizard in the world, the Komodo dragon in Indonesia, is more threatened than previously thought. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified it on its list of threatened animal and plant species as “critically endangered” since Saturday.
This moves it one step higher on the scale of extinction. The IUCN classifies examined species into eight categories, from “insufficient data” to “extinct”. “Highly endangered” is level 5. In total, there are now almost 140,000 species on the Red List of threatened animal and plant species, of which almost 40,000 are threatened with extinction.
According to the IUCN, the Komodo dragon is affected by climate change. Rising sea levels will probably make a third of its habitat disappear in the next 45 years: The omnivores, which are up to three meters long, have lived in eastern Indonesia, in the Komodo National Park and on the adjacent island of Flores for millions of years. It is estimated that there are still around 6000 animals.
The IUCN has better news for tuna: the stocks of four of the seven most popular tuna species have recovered after decades of protective measures. Fishing quotas and consistent measures against illegal fishing have had an impact.
For example, the IUCN estimates that the number of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) native to the Mediterranean has increased by 22 percent over the past four decades. This species was previously listed as “critically endangered”, but improved by three levels. It is now no longer considered endangered. This also applies to the albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) and the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), which improved by one level. The population of the still endangered southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) has also recovered slightly, and has been upgraded from category 6 to 5.
The IUCN is committed to nature and species protection. It has more than 1,300 members, including ministries, federal agencies, nature conservation associations and research institutes. It is currently holding its species protection congress in Marseille. dpa
