Two gibbon species, native to Yunan, have been declared extinct in the wild in China. A report –Assessment of the Status of China’s Endangered Primates released recently stated the white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) and the northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) were not seen in the wild for at least 10 years, meeting the criteria for being declared extinct in the wild. Human activities led to the decline, researchers concluded. Habitat loss, hunting and trading for the pet market brought primates to the edge globally.
Every extinct species is a warning sign. The Living Planet Report 2026 came as a stark warning revealing there was an average decline of 73 per cent in monitored wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022 across the world. The report found freshwater species had a more steep collapse since 1970. Titled Science of Hope the Living Planet Report published biennially by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was released on October 8, 2026.
The ZSL produce the Living Planet Index (LPI) by tracking global trends in vertebrate wildlife populations. The LPI in the latest report includes 35,803 populations trends of 5, 790 vertebrate species—mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. While the numbers mirror the 2024 report, it incorporates longer monitoring times and a larger dataset to highlight that the decline is not slowing down under current models. Habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species and disease have been cited as more frequently reported threats decimating wildlife populations.
The window for reversal is closing fast and the report cautioned that conservation efforts alone would not be sufficient to reverse global biodiversity losses warning food, energy and finance systems must hit “positive tipping points” by 2030.
Report highlights India’s conservation milestones
Despite the overall gloom, there have been bright spots as the latest report also reveals a silver lining by recognizing successful interventions like recoveries in tigers, blue fin tuna, green turtles etc. with significant conservation successes in some nations and India emerging as a key example. India stood out in conservation of major cat species –tiger, Asiatic lion, snow leopard and the common leopard.
The country’s tiger population was estimated at 3,682 in the 2022 All India Tiger Estimation while the common leopard population estimated at 13,874 individuals. India’s first nationwide snow leopard estimation found a population of 718 individuals.
The Asiatic lion population increased from 674 in 2020 to 891 in 2025. Flagship species showing a positive trend included the greater one-horned rhinoceros with a population of over 3,300. Increasing trends in the Nilgiri Tahr population and boost in vulture conservation have been some other major species recovery efforts that saw success. These trends highlighted India’s successful conservation efforts.
However, most conservation successes were Protected Area (PA) based. Conservation strategies are failing the wildlife living beyond those boundaries due to habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict and a lack of regulatory enforcement.
Conservation strategies fall short for wildlife outside protected areas
The number of tiger reserves increased exponentially over the years but there have been a sizeable population of tigers still roaming vulnerable without a home territory and slowly retreating to fragmented habitats isolated by expanding network of roads and railways, dams and canals, resorts, towns and factories and massive mining projects. Development projects gorged on tiger landscapes. When it comes to tiger conservation, apart from the threats of habitat destruction and poaching, conflict between tiger and people had posed a bigger challenge.
Human habitations deplete prey base for the tiger– experts had already warned and suggested that conflict cannot be resolved unless wild animals have sufficient protected space so that they do not have a reason to get too close to human habitations.
India’s flagship rhino population at risk with plans to shrink Kaziranga’s protective boundary
From their original wide ranging habitats, the greater one-horned rhino (rhinoceros unicornis) is now confined to 11 pockets in the world spanning around 20,000 square kilometres of protected areas. Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNTR), a natural World Heritage Site, has been reckoned as an ideal habitat for the breeding of rhinos and host the largest population of the species in the world. The concentration of the global greater one-horned rhino population in Kaziranga highlights its success.
While Kaziranga, with ancient floodplains remain the ultimate stronghold for the species, hosts the core of India’s greater one-horned rhino population yet the new proposals by the Assam government to reduce the eco-sensitive buffer from 10 to 1 km poses severe risks to their long-term habitat security. Wildlife regularly moves outside protected boundaries of KNPTR, particularly during seasonal floods, seeking higher ground in the Karbi Anglong hills.
The notified area of North Karbi-Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary and other adjoining areas, which have been under the administrative control of the Karbi-Angling Autonomous Council, are crucial for safe movement of marooned animals during flood. Ecological importance of land outside the protected areas extends beyond administrative boundaries; however, these very demarcations have inadvertently exposed vital natural corridors to unchecked industrial and infrastructure projects.
The move to slash Kaziranga’s protective buffer by 90 per cent would strip away regulatory protections on wildlife corridors, seasonal migration routes used by wide-ranging mega fauna that risks catastrophic consequences for the iconic species and increased human-wildlife confrontations. Reducing the protective buffer to one kilometre would put the wider Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape under greater ecological pressure.
Long ranging animals rely on natural connectivity between forests. At a time when these corridors urgently need protection, the move to shrink KNPTR Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) triggered widespread public anger at home and international outcry.
Human-Wildlife Conflict and wildlife trade are among persisting dangers to India’s wildlife
The human-elephant conflict–that has taken a heavy toll on either side–is a fall out of the shrinkage of elephant habitat. Rapid deforestation and human use of wildlife habitats increasingly brings people and elephants face to face. Fear and insecurity on both sides lead to mutual intolerance and often deadly outcomes. Elephants are considered ‘endangered’ globally. Asian elephants have been fighting a battle for survival each day across their once known strongholds. The mega-herbivores –with large home range and food requirements– have been among species most affected by habitat alteration and loss of habitat connectivity.
Deforestation and fragmentation has resulted in isolated elephant populations with very limited resources. Large stretches of elephants’ habitat are cleared for agricultural and other developmental activities and much of their migratory pathways are taken over leading to confrontations. Although, India’s third Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) has replaced isolated, Protected Area (PA) based model emphasizing a landscape approach to manage ecosystems and reduction of human-wildlife conflict, that model is still a long way off from reality.
After habitat loss, wildlife trade is the second biggest threat to the vital biodiversity of our Planet that threatens endangered species with extinction. India’s north eastern states have remained a source for wildlife products like rhino horns, pangolin scales, tiger parts as well as organs of various cat and civet species and ivory. Illegal wildlife trade has expanded to include Pangolins and monitor lizard as well as all species of nocturnal Asian lizards.
Red- crowned roofed turtles and Indian star tortoises have been worldwide victims of the expanding pet market; the Tokay Gecko has fallen victim to ever growing demand from laboratories. Baby orangutans, kangaroos, chimpanzees, macaques, birds and turtles–many of them belonging to the IUCN’s threatened, endangered and critically endangered list– had been rescued in the northeastern states in the past few years.
The recent seizures of orangutans outside their natural ranges have only reflected a well-established pattern as the recent years saw a spurt in illegal import of exotic wildlife into India. Most of the trafficked animals were taken to Siliguri in West Bengal from where they are sent to private zoos and amusement parks or to be sold as pets, reveal police sources. However, majority of this wildlife was found to be heading to Gujarat.
“When it comes to cases of seized non native wildlife, provisions in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is vague making them prone to trafficking,” most of the forest officials seemed to be unanimous.
Again, provisions in our wildlife laws seem insufficient when it comes to imposing legal action against illegal transit/trade of exotic species. Despite the alarming scale of exotic wildlife trafficking and illicit relocation to private zoos, voids within global conservation frameworks leave recurring enforcement failures unresolved.