IUCN Red List shows Arctic seals and tropical forest birds among the fastest-declining species.
Hooded seal uplisted to Endangered; bearded and harp seals now Near Threatened.
61% of the world’s bird species are in decline — up from 44% in 2016.
Habitat loss from warming seas, agriculture and logging driving global biodiversity collapse.
Six species newly declared extinct, including Australia’s striped bandicoot and Hawaii’s Delissea sinuata.
Habitat loss driven by global warming is pushing Arctic seals closer to extinction, while bird populations are plummeting due to deforestation, reveals the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Released at the ongoing IUCN Congress, held once every four years, the updated list shows three Arctic seal species facing heightened threats. The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) has been moved from Vulnerable to Endangered, while the bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) and harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) have been downgraded from Least Concern to Near Threatened, the IUCN said.
In a statement, the organisation identified the loss of sea ice due to global warming as the primary threat to Arctic seals — their only habitat for breeding, raising pups, moulting, resting and accessing feeding areas. The melting ice is disrupting their feeding patterns, bringing humans closer to their territories and increasing their vulnerability.
The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average, drastically reducing both the extent and duration of sea ice cover. The IUCN warned that thinning ice sheets and shorter ice seasons are also severely affecting other ice-dependent species such as walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) and marine mammals across the Arctic. Similar impacts are being observed in the Antarctic and among sub-polar species like the Caspian seal (Pusa caspica).
Arctic species such as polar bears and other indigenous fauna play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem balance. They consume fish and invertebrates, recycle nutrients and influence food webs, making them keystone species in the marine environment.
“Each year in Svalbard, the retreating sea ice reveals how threatened Arctic seals have become, making it harder for them to breed, rest and feed. Their plight is a stark reminder that climate change is not a distant problem – it has been unfolding for decades and is having impacts here and now,” said Kit Kovacs, co-chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Pinniped Specialist Group and Svalbard Programme Leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Kovacs added that protecting Arctic seals goes beyond these species; it is about safeguarding the Arctic’s delicate balance, which is essential for us all.
Other major risks highlighted by IUCN include shipping, oil and mineral extraction, underwater noise, bycatch in fisheries and hunting.
The IUCN update also revealed that 1,256 of the 11,185 bird species assessed — or 11.5 per cent — are globally threatened. Of the 1,360 bird species reassessed by BirdLife International, 61 per cent now show declining population trends — up sharply from 44 per cent in 2016.
The main drivers of decline are habitat loss and degradation, largely caused by agricultural expansion and heavy logging. Tropical forest loss poses a particularly severe threat to bird species in regions such as Madagascar, West Africa and Central America.
“In Madagascar, 14 endemic forest bird species have been uplisted to Near Threatened and three to Vulnerable, including Schlegel’s asity (Philepitta schlegeli), whose males have vibrant blue and green face wattles. In West Africa, five species are now Near Threatened, including the black-casqued hornbill (Ceratogymna atrata), which is also hunted and traded. In Central America, forest loss has pushed the tail-bobbing northern nightingale-wren (Microcerculus philomela) to Near Threatened,” the IUCN said.
Ian Burfield, BirdLife’s Global Science Coordinator (Species) and Bird Red List Authority Coordinator, in a statement underlined the urgency of the situation. “Three in five of the world’s bird species have declining populations shows how deep the biodiversity crisis has become and how urgent it is that governments take the actions they have committed to under multiple conventions and agreements,” he stated.
Birds play a vital role in ecosystems as pollinators, seed dispersers, pest controllers, scavengers and ecosystem engineers. The IUCN noted that hornbills, for example, can disperse up to 12,700 large seeds per square kilometre each day, helping to sustain forest regeneration and carbon storage. However, agriculture, logging, invasive species, hunting, trapping and climate change continue to endanger bird populations worldwide.
The updated Red List also confirms six species have moved into the Extinct category. These include the Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) and the cone snail (Conus lugubris), both lost since the late 1980s. Other confirmed extinctions include the slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris), last seen in Morocco in 1995 and Diospyros angulata, a tree species related to ebony, last recorded in the 1850s.
Three Australian mammals — the marl (Perameles myosuros), the south-eastern striped bandicoot (Perameles notina) and the Nullarbor barred bandicoot (Perameles papillon) — as well as Delissea sinuata, a Hawaiian plant species, have been assessed for the first time and are already listed as Extinct, the IUCN said.