List of threatened sharks facts for kids

The whale shark, the world's largest fish, is classified as Endangered.

Sharks are amazing creatures, but many of them are now in danger of disappearing forever. When we say a shark is "threatened," it means its population is shrinking fast. These sharks could become extinct (vanish completely) in the near future.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global group that checks on the health of species. They sort threatened species into three main groups based on how much danger they are in:

• Vulnerable: These species face a high risk of extinction in the wild.
• Endangered: These species face a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
• Critically Endangered: These species face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

All these groups are considered "threatened." You might also hear them called "red-listed" because they are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Why Are Sharks in Danger?

In 2013, a big decision was made. The CITES group stopped international trade in fins from the scalloped hammerhead (pictured) and four other shark species.

Many shark species are becoming threatened because of fishing. Both large fishing companies and people fishing for fun catch too many sharks. Other types of fishing can also harm the seabed where sharks live or reduce the number of fish sharks eat.

Sharks also suffer from changes to their homes. This includes damage from building on coastlines and pollution in the ocean. People want more and more shark products, which puts extra pressure on shark populations. Sadly, most shark fishing is not watched or managed well.

Over the last few decades, shark numbers have dropped a lot. Some species have lost over 90% of their population. It was common for populations to drop by 70% by 1998. When young sharks are caught before they can have babies, it really hurts future populations. Sharks usually take many years to grow up and have very few offspring compared to other fish.

The Problem of Shark Finning

Experts believe that up to 100 million sharks are killed each year by fishing. A big reason for this is shark fin soup. Some countries see this soup as a status symbol, showing wealth or importance.

Fishermen often catch live sharks, cut off their fins, and then throw the finless sharks back into the water. These sharks cannot swim properly and die from suffocation or from other predators. Sharks are also caught for their meat in Europe and other places. The 2007 film Sharkwater showed how sharks are being hunted to extinction.

In 2009, a group of shark experts from IUCN looked at sharks and rays that live in the open ocean. They found that more than half of these sharks, which are often caught by big fishing boats, were in danger of extinction.

Working to Protect Sharks

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) helps control the trade of endangered animals. In 2010, CITES tried to make rules to control the trade of several shark species, like hammerheads and oceanic whitetips. However, the proposal did not get enough votes to pass. China, which uses the most shark products, and Japan, which often opposes rules for ocean species, led the opposition.

But things changed in 2013! CITES member countries voted again, and this time they succeeded. This was a "milestone" decision. The oceanic whitetip, porbeagle, and three types of hammerheads joined the great white, basking, and whale shark on CITES Appendix II. This means that from September 2014, trading these sharks internationally needs special permits. Countries must show that the sharks were caught in a way that is sustainable and legal.

Shark Management in Western Australia

From 2014, the government of Western Australia started a policy of killing large sharks. This was done to protect people from shark attacks after several deaths along the coast between 2010 and 2013. They put out special fishing lines with bait near popular beaches. These lines were meant to catch large sharks like great whites, bull sharks, and tiger sharks. If a large shark was caught but still alive, it was shot and its body was put back into the sea.

The government said they were not "culling" sharks (killing many sharks to reduce their numbers). Instead, they called it a "targeted, localised, hazard mitigation strategy." This means they were trying to reduce danger in specific areas. The leader of Western Australia at the time, Colin Barnett, said that people who opposed killing the sharks were "ludicrous" and "extreme." He stated that he would not change his mind.

Recent Findings on Shark Decline

A study in 2021, published in the journal Nature, showed some worrying facts. It found that fishing pressure in the oceans has increased by 18 times since 1970. This overfishing has caused the number of sharks and rays in the open ocean to drop by 71% globally. Now, three-quarters of these species are at risk of extinction.

Scientists say that we urgently need to set limits on how many sharks can be caught. We also need strict bans to stop populations from collapsing. This will help prevent damage to ocean ecosystems and allow global fisheries to start recovering.

List of Threatened Sharks

Order	Image	Scientific name	Common name	Population trend	IUCN status	Fish Base	FAO	CITES Appendix
Mackerel shark		Alopias pelagicus	Pelagic thresher	decreasing	Endangered
Mackerel shark		Alopias superciliosus	Bigeye thresher shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Mackerel shark		Alopias vulpinus	Common thresher	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Atelomycterus baliensis	Bali catshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Aulohalaelurus kanakorum	New Caledonia catshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Brachaelurus colcloughi	Bluegrey carpetshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Carcharhinus borneensis	Borneo shark	unknown	Critically Endangered
Groundshark		Carcharhinus hemiodon	Pondicherry shark	unknown	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Carcharhinus leiodon	Smoothtooth blacktip shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Carcharhinus longimanus	Oceanic whitetip shark	decreasing	Critically endangered			II (eff. Sep-2014)
Groundshark		Carcharhinus obscurus	Dusky shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Carcharhinus plumbeus	Sandbar shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Carcharhinus signatus	Night shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Mackerel shark		Carcharias taurus	Sand tiger	decreasing	Critically endangered
Mackerel shark		Carcharodon carcharias	Great white shark	unknown	Vulnerable			II
Dogfish		Centrophorus granulosus	Gulper shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Dogfish		Centrophorus harrissoni	Dumb gulper shark	decreasing	Endangered
Dogfish		Centrophorus lusitanicus	Lowfin gulper shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Dogfish		Centrophorus squamosus	Deepwater spiny dogfish	decreasing	Vulnerable
Mackerel shark		Cetorhinus maximus	Basking shark	decreasing	Endangered			II
Groundshark		Chaenogaleus macrostoma	Hooktooth shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Galeorhinus galeus	School shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Galeus mincaronei	Southern sawtail catshark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Glyphis gangeticus	Ganges shark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Glyphis garricki	New Guinea river shark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Glyphis glyphis	Speartooth shark	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Glyphis siamensis	Irrawaddy river shark	unknown	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Haploblepharus fuscus	Brown shyshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Haploblepharus kistnasamyi	Natal shyshark	unknown	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Hemigaleus microstoma	Sickle fin weasel shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Hemipristis elongata	Snaggletooth shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Hemiscyllium hallstromi	Papuan epaulette shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Hemiscyllium strahani	Hooded carpet shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Hemitriakis leucoperiptera	Whitefin topeshark	unknown	Endangered
Groundshark		Holohalaelurus favus	Honeycomb Izak	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Holohalaelurus punctatus	Whitespotted Izak	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus	Daggernose shark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Mackerel shark		Isurus oxyrinchus	Shortfin mako	decreasing	Endangered
Mackerel shark		Isurus paucus	Longfin mako	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Lamiopsis temminckii	Broadfin shark	decreasing	Endangered
Mackerel shark		Lamna nasus	Porbeagle	decreasing	Vulnerable			III (II eff. Sept. 2014)
Groundshark		Mustelus fasciatus	Striped smooth-hound	decreasing	Critically endangered
Groundshark		Mustelus mustelus	Common smoothhound	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Mustelus schmitti	Narrownose smoothhound	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Mustelus whitneyi	Humpback smoothhound	decreasing	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Nebrius ferrugineus	Tawny nurse shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Negaprion acutidens	Sharptooth lemon shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Mackerel shark		Odontaspis ferox	Small-tooth sand tiger shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Dogfish		Oxynotus centrina	Angular rough shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum	Shorttail nurse shark	unknown	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Rhincodon typus	Whale shark	decreasing	Endangered			II
Groundshark		Schroederichthys saurisqualus	Lizard catshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Scylliogaleus quecketti	Flapnose houndshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Sphyrna lewini	Scalloped hammerhead	decreasing	Critically endangered			II (eff. Sept. 2014)
Groundshark		Sphyrna mokarran	Great hammerhead	decreasing	Critically Endangered			II (eff. Sept. 2014)
Groundshark		Sphyrna tiburo	Bonnethead shark	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Sphyrna tudes	Smalleye hammerhead	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Sphyrna zygaena	Smooth hammerhead	decreasing	Vulnerable			II (eff. Sept. 2014)
Dogfish		Squalus acanthias	Piked dogfish	decreasing	Vulnerable
Dogfish		Squalus montalbani	Philippines spurdog	decreasing	Vulnerable
Angel shark		Squatina aculeata	Sawback angelshark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Angel shark		Squatina albipunctata	Eastern angel shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Angel shark		Squatina argentina	Argentine angel shark	decreasing	Endangered
Angel shark		Squatina formosa	Taiwan angelshark	unknown	Endangered
Angel shark		Squatina guggenheim	Hidden angelshark	decreasing	Endangered
Angel shark		Squatina japonica	Japanese angelshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Angel shark		Squatina nebulosa	Clouded angelshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Angel shark		Squatina oculata	Smoothback angel shark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Angel shark		Squatina punctata	Angular angelshark	decreasing	Endangered
Angel shark		Squatina squatina	Angel shark	decreasing	Critically endangered
Angel shark		Squatina tergocellatoides	Ocellated angelshark	unknown	Vulnerable
Carpet shark		Stegostoma fasciatum	Zebra shark	decreasing	Vulnerable
Groundshark		Triakis acutipinna	Sharpfin houndshark	decreasing	Endangered
Groundshark		Triakis maculata	Spotted houndshark	decreasing	Vulnerable

See also

• List of threatened rays