IUCN/SSC Action Plans for the Conservation of Biological Diversity

This review of the European bison’s (Bison bonasus) status clearly indicates that, through proper management and conservation, its present numbers and distribution have improved significantly since its extinction in the wild at the beginning of the 20th century. The Action Plan briefly summarizes the history of extinction in the wild and present status of the European bison, as well as the reasons of extinction.

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.

Les chimpanzés vivent à l’état sauvage uniquement en Afrique tropicale où leur population a diminué de plus de 66% au cours des trente dernières années. Ce plan d’action concerne l’une des quatre sous-espèces de chimpanzés, le chimpanzé d’Afrique occidentale, qui est l’une des deux sous-espèces les plus menacées d’extinction.

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. However, many of the 297 species and sub-species dealt with in this Action Plan are threatened by habitat destruction and plant collecting, and more than half the known species are now classified as threatened.

Consistent evaluation and new recommendations for action are required of protective measures to address threats that were unrecognised or non-existent until recently. Global warming, noise pollution and reduced availability of prey are now of great concern. The all too familiar threats of accidental killing in fishing gear and exposure to toxic chemicals remain almost intractable. This Action Plan reviews threats and offers possible solutions.

Once one of the most abundant grazing animals, now only seven species remain. Equids persist in some of the harshest climates and terrains in the world, habitats which are also home to many human populations. Conservation will depend on local nomadic pastoralists participating in, and benefiting from, the conservation management of their areas.

The fourth part in a series of action plan, this publication covers less than one-quarter of the world's antelope species that are found in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Herds numbering in the tens of thousands formerly occurred across the steppes and semi-deserts of Eurasia and India, but these have nearly all been reduced to fractions of their earlier size. Populations are fragmented across the region and several species have disappeared altogether during recent decades.

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.

These species, a group of about 150 ground-dwelling gamebird, are found on every continent apart from Antarctica. They live in a wide variety of habitats from tropical forests, high-altitude alpine zones, temperate forests, open country, to desert environment. Although widespread, little is known of the species occuring outside Europe and North America, but several species are considered at grave risk of extinction.