The beginning of the 20th century, the English scientist J. Durrell draws an analogy: the world is a web, and if you touch it lightly, it will tremble at best, and at worst a gap will appear. So man, along with technological progress, is shaking the world, creating holes in it that, most likely, will not close. First of all, this affects the flora and fauna of the entire planet: various species of animals, plants, fungi disappear, the existence of many of which the world community already now learns only from paleontological excavations. What will be left for our descendants? Will they have to study the former diversity of the animal world from pictures in encyclopedias and historical references?
Humanity sooner or later had to come to the understanding that the surrounding nature must be protected and protected. The result of an attemptpreservation of flora and fauna and became the International Red Book. The history of its creation is quite interesting.
How the Red Book was created
Already distant 1902. Paris, a congress of biologists from all over the world, an urgent issue is the protection of birds. After long reports, for the first time a decision was made to protect the planet's biodiversity and the International Convention for the Protection of Birds was signed, which became the progenitor of the modern Red Book.
More than forty years have passed. The whole world is recovering after World War II. 1948, under the auspices of UNESCO, a non-governmental organization is created - the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN (IUCN). Already in 1949, the IUCN established a "supervisory body" - the Commission on Surviving Species.
Main Tasks
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has identified the main tasks of the Commission on Surviving Species:
- study the state of rare species of plants, fungi, animals;
- identify species at high risk of extinction;
- develop draft international treaties, conventions;
- list endangered species;
- offer solutions for the conservation of endangered species.
Defined goals, tasks, but what's next? And, as it usually happens, their implementation was delayed… Almost 20 years have passed. 1963, the head of the commission, Peter Scott, proposes to compile a list of endangered animals, the name of which is the International Red Book. The members of the commission asked the question: “Why red?” To which Scott replied: “Red is the colordanger, which means we could lose even the little we have.”
The first edition in two volumes, similar to a flip calendar, is coming out soon. It includes 312 bird species and 211 mammal species. The book was sent to certain recipients - scientists and statesmen. The creators of the tome provided in advance that information about animals could change, so as the data was updated, new sheets were sent to the recipients to replace the old ones.
Changes and additions: chronology
Until 1980, the Red Book was reprinted three more times: the format changed, the number of volumes increased, information about species changed (13 restored animal species appeared in the 4th edition), the structure changed.
From 1988 to 1998 The International Red Book is published - a list of animals called the "Red List of Threatened Species". Within 10 years, 5 such lists were published. They are similar to the Red Book, but have a completely different format, a different classification of species. So, the list consists of two blocks, which are further divided into taxa. Interestingly, one of the taxa includes those species of animals that have survived in captivity.
Both the lists and the International Red Book are maintained by the IUCN and the World Environmental Monitoring Center (Cambridge, UK). Under the auspices of the IUCN, thousands of people from the Commission on rare species are engaged in information analysis, data accounting and book publishing. It is thanks to themat work, we know which animals need protection, and which, unfortunately, we will never see on our planet.
Appearance
What does the International Red Book look like? This is a rather interesting tome, which is somewhat reminiscent of a rainbow: the cover is bright scarlet, and the sections are of different colors (red, black, white, green, yellow, gray). Many people have a question about where the Red Book is stored. Fortunately, this is a public domain edition, so it can be found in any good library. Some nature lovers prefer to have it in their personal book arsenal as well.
Now let's talk more about each section. Information about animals of the International Red Book is conditionally divided into six parts:
- extinct species;
- disappearing and rare animals;
- species that are rapidly disappearing;
- small species;
- little studied species;
- animals that do not need protection.
Thanks to this, it is easy to find information about a particular animal in it.
Species encoding
Representatives of each section of the Red Book have their own code.
The black pages of the tome feature extinct animals (EX) and extinct animals in nature (EW); red pages – Vulnerable (VU) and Critically Endangered (CR) species; yellow pages - endangered species (VN); white pages - species that are close to vulnerable (NT); gray pages – understudied species (CD); green pages - views fromLeast Threatened (LC).
What other information does the International Red Book contain? Photo of animals. Naturally, on the pages of the book, next to the biological data, there is a photograph of the described species (with the exception of extinct animals, the appearance of which is recreated either graphically or using computer graphics).
This is what the International Red Book looks like. The animals that are presented in it are diverse. In connection with scientific progress, information is constantly updated, new species are added, and some animals change their status due to conservation actions. And this is good news!
Regional editions of the Red Book
Speaking of the International Red Book, it is worth noting that it has analogues: for example, the International Red Book of Ukraine or the International Red Book of Russia. Animals, information about which such publications contain, live (or once lived) in the indicated territories.
As it turned out, the regional editions of the Red Book contain more detailed information about the species, in contrast to the international one. This fact is due to the fact that in the regions, first of all, attention is focused on the fauna inherent in this area, the number and variety of which differs significantly from world scales. Therefore, the data is analyzed more carefully and updated regularly.
Regional books also differ from internationaldesign, only the red cover remains unchanged.
Let's now focus on the most striking individuals of the animal world, which are on the verge of extinction and are listed in the Red Book.
International Red Book: Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)
The Amur tiger (Ussuri) in the Red Book is designated as a rare species (VU) in northern Russia. Even 100 years ago, the number of these animals was in the thousands, but due to hunting, the population began to decline sharply. Today, the number of Amur tigers barely reaches 500 individuals.
This species is one of the few representatives of the cat family that has adapted to the harsh climate of the taiga. A distinctive feature of this subspecies is a five-centimeter fatty layer on the abdomen, which allows the cat to endure extremely low temperatures.
International Red Book: animals - snow leopard (Panthera uncia)
Snow leopard (irbis, snow leopard) is a large cat that lives in the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Until the beginning of the 20th century, snow leopards were an important link in the fur trade. To date, hunting for the snow leopard is prohibited; information about the animal is contained in the International Red Book. Snow leopards are endangered (EN).
Visyan warty pig (Sus cebifrons)
The Visayan warty pig lives in the world on only two islands - Panay and Negro (Philippine archipelago). Due to random hunting, the population size of thesepigs for 60 years has decreased by as much as 80%! Since 1998, the Visayan warty pig has been protected by the International Red Book. Animals are considered an endangered species (EN).
Spotted marsupial marten (Dasyurus maculatus)
The spotted marsupial marten (tiger cat) gets its name from its resemblance to martens and cats. Today, this species of martens lives in two isolated populations of the Australian coast (northern - Queensland, eastern - from southern Queensland to Tasmania). Information about marsupial martens is contained in the International Red Book. Animals of this species have Near Threatened (NT) status.
Small-toothed sawfly (Pristis microdon)
Small-toothed sawfish (stingray) - an inhabitant of the coastal waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Life expectancy in captivity is no more than 7 years. In the Red Book, the sawfly has the status of Critically Endangered (CR).
Burmese snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri)
The Burmese snub-nosed monkey (Stryker's rhinopithecus) as a species became known to scientists only in 2010. This species of monkey lives exclusively in the north of Burma. The primate got its name due to its discoverer and the unusual structure of the nose - the nostrils of the rhinopithecus are turned up. Due to a similar anatomical feature, the Burmese monkey sneezes during the rain - drops of water fall into her nose. Already in 2012, the Burmese monkey was listed in the Red Book, the status is on the verge of extinction (CR). Today in the worldthere are about 300 Burmese snub-nosed monkeys.
Our closest relative is the orangutan (Pongo)
The orangutan is an arboreal ape, the structure of its DNA is closest to human DNA. There are Sumatran and Kalimantan orangutans (the difference is in size - the Kalimantan is larger). The reason for the decline in the population is the deforestation of rainforests (habitat for orangutans) and poaching.
Sumatran orangutan is listed in the Red Book, the status is on the verge of extinction (CR); The Kalimantan Orangutan is listed as Vulnerable (VU). It remains to be hoped that this species will be preserved thanks to zoos and reserves.
Caspian seal (Phoca caspica)
Caspian seal (Caspian seal) migrates between the northern part of the Caspian Sea and the Urals. Even 100 years ago, the number of seals was more than a million individuals, today their number barely reaches 100,000. Reasons: mass poaching, water pollution, climate change. The Caspian seal is listed in the Red Book as a species that is on the verge of extinction (EN).
As a conclusion
A man, it would seem, is a rational being, but nevertheless he thoughtlessly destroys fields, forests, “turns rivers back”, hunts to excess, poachers. The consequence of such frivolous behavior is the disappearance of representatives of flora and fauna.
The Red Book, having been published, drew the attention of the public to how much harm a person has already brought to the environment. Of course, some species, unfortunately, will remain in the pages of history, but there are still those that can be preserved for future generations.
Thanks to all zoological parks and reserves that make an invaluable contribution to the conservation of species! But still, I really want every person on Earth to contribute to the preservation of the environment, and the Red Book is regularly updated with green pages.
Earthlings! Remember: it is vital for us to protect the planet, which still tolerates us, to appreciate and preserve the nature that surrounds us, and not for a minute forget that every creature on Earth is necessary and important! Animals are our neighbors on the planet, not clothes and food!
