There are nine categories present in the 'IUCN Red List' system: extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, least concern, data deficient and not evaluated.
Classification into these categories occurs through a set of quantitative criteria that are based on biological factors that include the rate of decline, population size, the area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.
A species is listed as extinct in the wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, captivity or as a naturalized population outside the previous range. A species is presumed extinct in the wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual.