Question

A threatened species among the following is
A. Only endangered species
B. Only vulnerable species
C. Only rare species
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Species are a group of individuals which can breed and successfully produce fertile offspring. Because of various natural or unnatural reasons, there is a loss of biodiversity in the ecosystem.

Complete answer:
Threatened species are the species which are at high risk of extinction or are found only in a certain geographical area in the world. They threatened extinction due to various reasons for biodiversity loss which refers to the extinction or threat of extinction of a certain type of ecosystem, species, or genes which are adapted to different climates. Some of the causes are loss of habitat due to human invasions in the forest regions, oceans, and other parts of the world where the recent advancement in the human generation has caused forest fires while plastic, pollution has an extreme effect on other species living around in that niche (i.e. functional role an organism plays within the ecosystem).
Overexploitation of a specific species for hunting animals and over-use of certain medicinal plants and herbs has left them vulnerable to extinction. All those species which are on the edge of extinction, or at risk of extinction, or the rare species are considered as Red List categories and they come under the Biodiversity conservation plans.
Species that are endangered (which are facing a high risk of extinction in near future), vulnerable (species whose population is declined to levels from where it is likely to move into the endangered category in near future), or rare (a small population with localized habitat) are considered to be threatened species.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: While endangered, vulnerable, and area species come under threatened species but they have different meanings. Endangered species are at high risk of extinction in the wild in near future. Vulnerable are less endangered species that pose a threat of extinction in the far future. Rare species are not on the edge of extinction but they are found in few numbers in a restricted geographical area or localized habitat.