ENDANGERED SPECIES

any species of plant or animal that is threatened with extinction. A number of agencies, both international and national, work to maintain lists of endangered species, to protect and preserve natural habitats, and to promote programs for recovery and reestablishment of these species. One such international agency is the Survival Service Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), which publishes information on endangered species worldwide in a series of loose-leaf binders called the Red Data Book. Another agency is the Secretariat for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. In the United States the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior is responsible for conservation and management of fish and wildlife resources and their habitats, including endangered species. The service was created in 1940 from the consolidation of the Bureau of Fisheries (1871) and the Bureau of Biological Survey (1885). The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (superseding those of 1966 and 1969) obligates the government to protect all animal and plant life threatened with extinction, including in this category threatened species, defined as any species which is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. It also provides for the drawing up of lists of such species and promotes the protection of critical habitats (areas designated as critical to the survival of a species). By 1990 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had compiled a list of almost 1,000 species of endangered or threatened animals and plants (of which more than 500 are found only in foreign countries), and some 200 recovery programs were in effect.