least concern

[leest kuhn-surn]

adjective

Biology, Ecology.

1. (of a plant or animal species) assessed to be thriving, with a distribution or population status that is neither threatened nor near threatened, as categorized by the IUCN Red List: LC

   Among the least concern birds on our favorite watches are the sandhill cranes and the pied-billed grebes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of least concern¹

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

If a species becomes more at risk - for example, its numbers fall or its habitat is damaged - it may be moved to a higher-risk category such as Endangered; if it recovers thanks to conservation efforts, it may shift to a lower-risk category like Near Threatened or Least Concern.

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The green turtle has been downgraded from Endangered to Least Concern.

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the species to be of “least concern.”

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Today, the whales have recovered to the point that they are considered a species of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though the organization considers the western population of the whales that lives off Asia to be endangered.

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Right now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the green anaconda as a species of least concern when it comes to extinction risk—but this classification is based, in part, on how widely distributed a species is.

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