Beluga Whale
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Beluga Whale Conservation Status

Conservation status for the Beluga whale

The Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is listed as Vulnerable (VU) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This means that is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. This is of course serious, but the conservation situation is still better for the Beluga whale than for many other marine species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species place threatened and extinct species into six different groups.

• Extinct (EX)
• Extinct in the wild (EW)
• Critically endangered (CR)
• Endangered (EN)
• Vulnerable (VU)
• Lower risk (LR

As you can see, the situation for the Beluga whale could be far worse. This does not mean that we can sit back and relax; if we do not do anything about the major threats that the Beluga whales are facing their conservation status may decline rapidly. Beluga whales are hunted as food, not only at a regional and national level, but to satisfy the international market as well. They are also hunted by scientists and alleged scientists, and some people find it a nice past-time to hunt Beluga whales. Pollution is naturally also a threat to this marine species, and human activities, including boat traffic, can disturb the Beluga whales. 

Conservation status for the Cook Inlet subpopulation of Beluga whales

The Cook Inlet subpopulation of Beluga whales is considered Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN. The conservation status for this subpopulation is much worse than that of the entire Beluga whale population, and the Cook Inlet population is growing smaller each year. The only identified cause of decline was excessive hunting, but even though measures against hunting have now been enforced, the population continuous to decline. This is of course exceptionally troublesome, since it is hard to do something for the Beluga whales when you do not know the exact causes of their decline. More research is needed in order to find out how we can improve the Cook Inlet Beluga whale conservation status.