History of Red Data Book

The Red Data Book came into existence after research conducted by a Soviet biologist (today’s Russia) between 1961 and 1964, which resulted in a public domain document.
This book contains all the information needed to categorize species into different categories, which tells about their current situation of survival chances and the need to take into consideration conservation at various levels.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is involved in maintaining the Red data book. IUCN, which started back in the year 1948, and till now, has been involved in maintaining the record of every species that is scientifically recognized.

As mentioned above, the IUCN has recognized eight Red List Categories of species, which are defined as follows:

Red List Category	Color Coding	Definition	Examples In India
Extinct	Black	A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.	Pink-headed Duck,Mountain Quail
Extinct in the wild		A taxon is extinct in the wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitats have failed to record an individual.	Pygmy Hog, Siberian Crane, Forest Owlet
Critically Endangered	Red	A taxon is critically endangered when it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.	Peacock Tarantula, Indian Pangolin, Red Panda
Endangered	Orange	A taxon is endangered when it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.	Snow Leopard, Bengal Tiger,Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Vulnerable	Yellow	A taxon is vulnerable when it is not critically endangered or endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.	Rusty-spotted Cat, Indian Sloth Bear, Nilgiri Tahr
Lower Risk	Green	A taxon is at lower risk when it has been evaluated and does not satisfy the criteria of critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.	Indian Peafowl, Common Myna, Indian Flying Fox
Data Deficient	Blue	A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct or indirect assessment of its risk of extinction.	Nilgiri Laughingthrush, Malabar Tree Toad, Indian Tarantula
Not Evaluated	Gray/White	A taxon is Not Evaluated when it has not yet been assessed against the above criteria.	Microorganisms, Certain Plant Species,Several Insect Species

Red Data Book

Red Data Book, back in history between 1961 and 1964, came into existence due to a search conducted by a Russian biologist. It is a Russian-origin name of a publication that deals particularly with endangered biological species. It provides complete information from a research point of view of all the rare, endangered, and extinct species.

The IUCN Red Data Book is maintained by The International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Red data book list gives an estimate of the wildlife biodiversity and how it can be efficiently maintained. Many nations across the world have prepared Red Data Books for their biological resources. Some Red Data books include both plants and animals, whereas generally, the plants are dealt with separately from animals.

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