Ecology & Environment
Threatened Species of India
Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable species.
IUCN statuses change, so keep them updated from current affairs.
Three categories mean threatened: Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. What each of them means, and the categories either side of them, is set out below the list.
Critically Endangered
9 speciesAndaman White-toothed ShrewCrocidura andamanensis
MammalEndemic · Andaman Islands
Leaf litter of tropical evergreen forest on South Andaman Island.
A nocturnal insectivore known from a handful of specimens. One of three shrews endemic to the islands, all Critically Endangered.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Jenkins's Andaman Spiny ShrewCrocidura jenkinsi
MammalEndemic · Andaman Islands
Forest floor of Mount Harriet, now Mount Manipur, on South Andaman.
Known only from the type locality. Distinguished by stiff, spiny guard hairs.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Nicobar White-tailed ShrewCrocidura nicobarica
MammalEndemic · Great Nicobar
Coastal forest of Great Nicobar around Campbell Bay.
Restricted to a very small area now overlapped by the Great Nicobar development project.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Kashmir Stag or HangulCervus hanglu hanglu
MammalEndemic · Kashmir Himalaya
Temperate riverine and coniferous forest, 1,700 to 4,000 m, almost entirely inside Dachigam National Park.
The only surviving red deer of the Indian subcontinent and the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir. Population about 300. Project Hangul and a second home at Tral Wildlife Sanctuary are the main interventions.
Jammu & Kashmir
Elvira Rat or Large Rock RatCremnomys elvira
MammalEndemic · Eastern Ghats
Rocky slopes with dry deciduous and scrub forest in the Eastern Ghats around Salem.
A nocturnal, seed-eating rodent known from very few localities.
Tamil Nadu
Malabar CivetViverra civettina
MammalEndemic · Western Ghats
Lowland forest, cashew plantations and degraded coastal thickets of the Malabar coast.
Possibly already extinct. There has been no confirmed record for decades. Historically hunted for civetone, used in perfumery.
Kerala · Karnataka
Namdapha Flying SquirrelBiswamoyopterus biswasi
MammalEndemic · Namdapha
Tropical evergreen forest in the Noa-Dihing valley, Namdapha National Park.
Known from a single specimen collected in 1981. Among the rarest mammals in the world.
Arunachal Pradesh
Kondana Soft-furred RatMillardia kondana
MammalEndemic · Sinhagad plateau
Grass and scrub on the Sinhagad plateau near Pune, above 900 m.
Confined to an area of a few square kilometres under heavy tourism pressure.
Maharashtra
Chinese PangolinManis pentadactyla
Mammal
Subtropical and tropical forest, grassland and plantations of the north east and eastern Himalaya.
The world's most trafficked mammal group. Scales are smuggled for traditional medicine. Note that India has two pangolins: this one is Critically Endangered, the Indian pangolin is Endangered.
Assam · Arunachal Pradesh · Meghalaya · Nagaland · Manipur · Mizoram · Tripura · Sikkim · West Bengal
What the categories mean
IUCN Red List- EXExtinctNo reasonable doubt the last individual has died.
- EWExtinct in the WildSurvives only in cultivation, captivity or as a naturalised population outside its range.
- CRCritically EndangeredFacing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- ENEndangeredFacing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- VUVulnerableFacing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- NTNear ThreatenedClose to qualifying as threatened, or likely to qualify soon. Not itself a threatened category.
- LCLeast ConcernAssessed, and does not qualify for any category above. Widespread and abundant species sit here.
The three that mean threatened. This page lists those and nothing else.
Outside the scale
- DDData DeficientNot enough information to assess the risk. It is a statement about the evidence, not about the species.
- NENot EvaluatedHas not yet been assessed against the criteria.
Recent status changes
11 to knowAssessments that have moved. Some of these species are no longer threatened and so are not in the list above.
Greater Adjutant
Downlisted from Endangered to Near Threatened in the 2023 Red List update, after the Hargila Army community programme in Assam raised nests in Kamrup from 28 in 2010 to more than 250. It should no longer be taught as Endangered.
Lesser Adjutant
Downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened in 2023.
Painted Stork
Downlisted from Near Threatened to Least Concern in 2023.
Snow Leopard
Downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2017. Many Indian study materials still say Endangered.
Fishing Cat
Downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016.
Asiatic Lion
The subspecies Panthera leo persica is assessed Endangered; the species Panthera leo is assessed Vulnerable. Both statements appear in print, so specify which you mean.
Himalayan Brown Bear
Often listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered in Indian material. The IUCN assesses the species Ursus arctos as Least Concern and has not assessed the Himalayan subspecies separately. It is Schedule I under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, which is a different thing from an IUCN category.
Red Sanders
Downlisted from Endangered to Near Threatened in 2018, though it remains heavily trafficked and CITES-listed.
Indian Wild Ass
The species Equus hemionus is Near Threatened, not Endangered. The khur population in the Rann of Kachchh has grown steadily.
Blackbuck
Least Concern since 2017, not Near Threatened. It remains Schedule I in India.
Black-necked Crane
Downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened in 2020.
What is being done
Species Recovery ProgrammeThe Government of India runs targeted recovery programmes for 22 entries covering 32 species, under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme. Three of them are Least Concern on the Red List and are on the national list all the same, because a programme answers to what has happened in India rather than to the species everywhere.
The Species Recovery Programme →