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The new Canid Action Plan synthesizes the current knowledge on the biology, ecology and status of all wild canid species, and outlines the conservation actions and projects needed to secure their long-term survival.

Wild chimpanzees are only found in tropical Africa, where their populations have declined by more than 66% in the last 30 years. This action plan focuses on one of the four chimpanzee subspecies, the western chimpanzee, which is one of the two subspecies most threatened with extinction.

Cycads were a dominant part of the earth’s flora during the age of the dinosaurs and many species were common even in more recent times.

These proceedings provide an overview of the ongoing research and management activities on polar bears in the circumpolar arctic.

Use of and trade in wildlife is a fact of life for human society around the globe.

Bats make up a quarter of all mammals, and almost half of the species can be considered threatened or near threatened at a global level. This publication offers the results of the first comprehensive review to identify the conservation priorities for the 834 species of Microchiroptera.

In the five years since publication of the 1995-99 action plan, the Megapode Specialist Group has been active in promoting, initiating and executing conservation and research projects on thermometer birds. But the conservation outlook for many species remains bleak.

Bryophytes are of great importance in their ecosystems and for human well-being.

Grouse have long attracted and fascinated people. Their display behaviour, and their traditional communal mating grounds or "leks", have inspired poetry and folklore as well as scientific theories on sexual selection and mating systems.

One threat to parrot arises from their attractiveness as "talking" companions to humans, leading to a high demand for trade that involves hundreds of thousands of birds annually on a global basis, and gives parrots a high monetary value.

The African elephant is the largest living land mammal. It once inhabited most of the continent, from the Mediterranean coast down to its south tip. This picture of elephant range today is one of scattered, fragmented populations south of the Sahara Desert.

Although most antelope species still exist in large numbers in sub-Saharan Africa (some in hundreds of thousands), up to three-quarters of the species are in decline.

The eight species of bear live in more than 65 countries or autonomous regions in four continents, in a variety of habitats from tropical rainforests to arctic ice. Numerous human cultures around the world symbolically or physically try to incorporate the power of bears into their people.

Deer are a unique group of mammals recognised for their grace and beauty. Some are also prime examples of flagship species, whose continued survival sustains the complex interplay of flora and fauna. Today many species are under threat of extinction.

Sharks and their relatives, the rays and chimaeras, are the diverse group of cartilaginous fishes that have evolved over 400 million years.

This reflects the ongoing activities of the Crocodile Specialist Group, providing the first application of the new 1994 IUCN Red List Categories to crocodilian status assessment.

Descended from a long and ancient lineage, tapirs are important tropical forest seed dispersers. However, today, all species of tapirs are threatened to various degrees by habitat destruction and hunting.