<h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong style="color: rgb(230, 0, 0);">Threatened Species</strong></h1><p class="ql-align-center"><br></p><h3 class="ql-align-justify">Context</h3><ul><li class="ql-align-justify">A list of threatened species was released at the <strong>15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal.</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">Several marine species like Abalone, dugong and pillar coral are threatened with extinction.</li></ul><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><h3 class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Dugong</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-align-justify">The Dugong is an herbivorous <strong>marine mammal species.</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>IUCN Status</strong> - Remains Vulnerable globally but</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>In East Africa</strong> - Critically Endangered</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>In New Caledonia</strong> - Endangered</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Threats</strong> - Unintentional capture in fishing gear.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Destruction of their food (sea grass) due to chemical pollution, bottom trawling and oil and gas exploration and production.</li></ul><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><h3 class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Pillar Coral</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-align-justify">The pillar coral is a hard coral found throughout the Caribbean from the <strong>Yucatan Peninsula and Florida to Trinidad and Tobago.</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">They are affected by the contagious <strong>Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">Its population shrunk by over 80% across most of its range since 1990.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">IUCN - <strong>Critically Endangered (moved from Vulnerable)</strong></li></ul><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><h3 class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Abalone Shellfish</strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Abalone is a shellfish species threatened with extinction.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Abalone species are among the world’s most expensive seafood.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">20 of the world’s 54 (44%) abalone shellfish species at risk of extinction, according to IUCN.</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Threats </strong>- Marine heatwaves have exacerbated abalone diseases worldwide.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Unsustainable extraction and poaching along with <strong>climate change, disease, algal blooms and pollution.</strong></li></ul><p class="ql-align-justify"><br></p><h3 class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Species of Abalone </strong></h3><ul><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Black abalone (H. cracherodii)</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">Found in California and Mexico</li><li class="ql-align-justify">IUCN: Critically Endangered</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Green ormer (H. tuberculata)</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">Found from the English Channel to Northwest Africa and the Mediterranean</li><li class="ql-align-justify">IUCN: Vulnerable</li><li class="ql-align-justify"><strong>Omani abalone (H. mariae), a commercial species</strong></li><li class="ql-align-justify">Found in the Arabian Peninsula</li><li class="ql-align-justify">IUCN: Endangered</li></ul><h1 class="ql-align-center"><strong>PRELIMS NOTES:</strong><a href="https://www.sunyaias.com/subscription-details/prelims-2023-sunya-notes-current-affairs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204);"><strong>CLICK HERE</strong></a></h1>