Shrews: Soricidae

According to the Red List of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), twenty-eight species are Critically Endangered, facing an extremely high risk of extinction; twenty-eight are Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction; fifty-five are Vulnerable, facing a high risk of extinction; and four are Near Threatened, not currently threatened, but could become so. In other words, more than one-third of all shrew species are at some risk. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service names one species, the Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew, as Endangered. Many of the at-risk shrews live in limited areas and have very small known populations. This combination puts them in danger, because a single natural disaster, like a flood or one human disruption of their habitat, such as a mining operation, could destroy the entire population.