Threatened mammals in Norway:
fact sheets and proposed Red List

ISAKSEN, K., SYVERTSEN, P. O., KOOIJ, J. VAN DER & RINDEN, H. (EDS) 1998. Threatened mammals in Norway: fact sheets and proposed Red List. Norsk Zoologisk Forening. Rapport 5. 182 pp. (ISBN 82–7857–004–3). (In Norwegian with English summary).

 

Note: A new Norwegian Red List was published in 2006. The summary below does thus not present the species' official red list status. [Read more and download the new list]

Summary

This report contains proposals for a Norwegian Red List of threatened mammals, prepared by the Norwegian Zoological Society (NZF). The report is commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management, and is intended as a background document for further considerations for a revised official Red List. Fact sheets are presented for 42 of the 77 species that are known to occur naturally in the country. The report includes Norwegian Arctic territories and marine waters; these areas have not always been considered in the national Red Lists. In addition one extinct species (Rattus rattus) is listed although its presence in Norway was man-induced. Fact sheets are given for four species which are currently not listed or proposed for listing (NOT THREATENED): Neomys fodiens because the species in some neighbouring countries has been negatively affected by human activities, Myotis daubentoni and Eptesicus nilssoni because they until recently were included on the official list (the reasons for down-grading are given), and Lemmus lemmus because Norway has a special international responsibility for the survival of the species. The remaining 38 species for which fact sheets are included distribute themselves between the following categories of threat:

EXTINCT (EX): 2 species (Rattus rattus and Eubalaena glacialis).

ENDANGERED (E): 4 species (Balaena mysticetus, Canis lupus, Alopex lagopus and Ursus arctos).

VULNERABLE (V): 3 species (Gulo gulo, Lutra lutra and Lynx lynx).

RARE (R): 2 species (Nyctalus noctula and Sicista betulina).

INDETERMINATE (I): 3 species (Myotis nattereri, Balaenoptera borealis and Balaenoptera musculus).

INSUFFICIENTLY KNOWN (K): 15 species (Sorex minutissimus, Sorex caecutiens, Sorex isodon, Myotis mystacinus, Myotis brandti, Pipistrellus nathusii, Vespertilio murinus, Barbastella barbastellus, Plecotus auritus, Mesoplodon bidens, Hyperoodon ampullatus, Monodon monoceros, Phocoena phocoena, Lagenorhynchus acutus and Mustela putorius).

CONSERVATION DEPENDENT – CARE DEMANDING SPECIES (DC): 2 species (Balaenoptera physalus and Megaptera novaeangliae).

CONSERVATION DEPENDENT – MONITORING SPECIES (DM): 7 species (Erinaceus europaeus, Pipistrellus pipistrellus [P. pygmaeus], Ursus maritimus, Odobenus rosmarus, Phoca vitulina, Halichoerus grypus and Rangifer tarandus).

Distribution maps are presented for 21 species, mostly species for which only a few records exist in Norway or Norwegian marine waters. The maps are based partly on literature references, and partly on unpublished records in the data base of the Norwegian Zoological Society's national mammal atlas project (Prosjekt Pattedyratlas). 

The previous official Norwegian Red List (Størkersen 1992) included 18 mammal species, corresponding to 24% of the recorded mammal fauna at the time, but about 60% of the species evaluated. The current proposal includes 38 species, nearly 50% of the naturally occurring mammal species in Norway. The difference in the number of species listed as threatened is mainly due to the expanded geographic perspective, in particular the inclusion of marine species. In addition 17 species are proposed as Norwegian RESPONSIBILITY SPECIES (Lemmus lemmus, Hyperoodon ampullatus, Delphinapterus leucas, Physeter catodon, Phocoena phocoena, Balaena mysticetus, Balaenoptera borealis, Balaenoptera physalus, Balaenoptera musculus, Megaptera novaeangliae, Ursus maritimus, Gulo gulo, Lutra lutra, Odobenus rosmarus, Phoca groenlandica, Cystophora cristata and Rangifer tarandus), i.e. species that Norway has a special international responsibility for maintaining the survival of. This includes all Norwegian species that are globally threatened, species which have at least 25% of their European populations in Norway (Europe defined as reaching east to the Ural Mountains, Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, with associated waters, as well as East-Greenland with off-shore waters), and endemic species. The only mammal taxon endemic to Norway is Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus (confined to Svalbard), and this subspecies therefore also constitutes a special Norwegian conservation responsibility.

Categorization of threat factors operating across all mammal taxa is difficult, due to the group's diversity of adaptations and requirements. In many cases the status or ecology of Norwegian populations are also poorly known, or it is uncertain what the main factors of influence are. An attempt at providing a general list of threat factors is nevertheless given in the table on pp. 8–10. Further details are given in the individual fact sheets. 

The report contains general information on Red List categories and previous Norwegian listing of threatened mammals (pp. 11–13 and the appendices), and an overview of International Conventions and Agreements of relevance to the conservation of Norwegian mammals (pp. 13–15), in addition to the proposal for a revised Red List and the fact sheets. A special report with evaluation of the 1992 list (as far as mammals are concerned), submitted to the Directorate for Nature Management in 1996, is included in the current report as Appendix (Vedlegg) 1.

Some of the fact sheets presented in the report can be found here (in Norwegian only).

The printed version of the report can be ordered from:

Norwegian Zoological Society

P.O.Box 102 Blindern, NO-0314 Oslo, NORWAY

Read about the national distribution mapping project on mammals in Norway and have a look at maps presenting the present mapping status for each species.