The reporter learned from the recent meeting on the assessment of the endangered level of China's primate species held at the Qinling Rare and Endangered Animal Field Research Base of the Shaanxi Academy of Sciences: In order to protect wild animals more specifically and take different protective measures for primate species of different endangered grades, scientists have delineated the endangered level of primate species in China in detail, providing a scientific basis for the protection goals and management measures of China's primate species.
The endangerment level is an important basis for determining the priority conservation order of species and formulating the conservation strategy of endangered species, and is an important step in the conservation of biodiversity. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) divides species into nine conservation levels based on the risk of extinction of thousands of species, including extinction, extinction in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near-threatened, non-threatened, lack of data, and unassessed.
"The IUCN's assessment of the survival status of species is based on a global basis and does not represent the survival status of species in various distribution countries. A species' IUCN Red List rating is not necessarily equivalent to its grade on a national Red List unless the species is endemic to the country. Therefore, there is a need for a system of evaluation criteria for one's own country. Wang Xiaowei, a researcher at the Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, introduced that China's animal protection level is based on the principle of endangerment, preciousness, prevention, coordination, similarity, and concern, based on the actual resource survey and evaluation data, and with reference to the "China Red List of Vertebrates" and the classification system and standards of the IUCN Red List, it is divided into Level I key protection, Level II key protection, local key protected wild animals and non-protected wild animals. Among them, the level I key protected wild animals are rare or endangered wild animals in China; the level II key protected wild animals are wild animals with a small number or endangered danger; and the local key protected wild animals refer to wild animals other than the national key protected wild animals, which are under key protection by provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
Over the years, scientific research institutions represented by the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Zoology and other units have carried out a large number of studies on the ecology, behavior, and countermeasures for the protection of endangered wild animals, providing scientific means and basis for the protection of wild animals. "In recent years, the international influence and competitiveness of Chinese primate species research have been continuously improved. We urgently need to reclassify and rank the original conservation list, so as to take more targeted conservation measures and contribute to biodiversity conservation and promote the development of primate disciplines in China! Wang Xiaowei said.
It is understood that the meeting systematically summarized the resources and distribution status of 27 primate species in China, analyzed and evaluated the living conditions of all species of primates in China, predicted the future development trend, assessed the endangered level of Primate species in China, proposed the red endangered species list, the conservation goals and management measures of China's primate species, revised the evaluation standards of the national conservation level, and proposed the national I and II protection lists of Primate species in China.
Author: Zhang Mei
Source: Shaanxi Daily