vulnerable species
Populations facing decline
A vulnerable species is one facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
The classification sits between "endangered" and "near threatened" on conservation scales—the population is declining but not yet critically so.
The IUCN listed the polar bear as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss.
Wildlife management often prioritizes vulnerable species before they reach more dire categories.
- endangeredAt risk of extinction
- habitat lossElimination of living spaces
- habitat destructionEliminating natural living spaces
- critically endangeredAt extinction's edge
- on the brinkAt the threshold
population decline · ecosystem balance · genetic diversity · poaching · legal protections · climate change · wildlife trafficking · conservation · rhino · captive breeding · breeding program · deforestation · overfishing · preserve · wildlife reserves · habitat fragmentation · coral · fragile
- speciescritically endangered, subspecies
- wildlife conservationhabitat protection, game warden, wildlife officer, wildlife refuges, wildlife refuge
- extinctionmass extinction, dodo, extinct, extinction event, extinction rate