Born Free has just heard that the 2008 IUCN Red List status for the African Elephant has been corrected from 'Near Threatened' to 'Vulnerable' as of midnight 10 March 2010.  Other corrections made are to the status of the Central African sub-population, now 'Endangered' (previously 'Data Deficient') and that of West Africa now 'Vulnerable' (previously 'Near Threatened').

"On 11 March 2010, IUCN corrected the listing of the African elephant from Near Threatened to Vulnerable. This correction was made necessary due to the discovery of an inadvertent error of interpretation made in the 2008 listing of the species. The error, which had not been picked up in IUCN's own or any other peer review process, was found and reported by the IUCN SSC African Elephant Red List Authority in February 2010. In response, IUCN is making the necessary correction at its first opportunity with the imminent update of the Red List on 11 March 2010. The error relates to the interpretation of assumptions about population changes in the distant past, and does not relate to the current status of the African elephant or threats to the species. It should be stressed that the change is a correction to the 2008 listing, and is not a new listing for 2010."

This is a significant update as trade in ivory is on the agenda again at CITES¹ this month. See www.bloodyivory.org

http://iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/red_list/?4895/RedListStatusoftheAfricanElephantCorrectedhttp://iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/red_list/?4895/RedListStat...

¹The United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna