By ANNE BESTON
The katipo spider is just one unwelcome addition to a revamped list of New Zealand's endangered wildlife.
The list, compiled over the past year by the Department of Conservation using a new classification system, contains 2373 organisms, up from 400.
Lists of endangered plants and animals were previously compiled
using more complex criteria but that system had now been simplified, said DoC scientist Dr Rod Hitchmough.
The old lists were aimed at prioritising conservation efforts but this list was aimed at finding out which species were in danger of extinction.
It includes 312 species in the "nationally critical" category, including kakapo, black stilt, fairy tern and Okarito brown kiwi. To make that category, species must have 200 or less adults.
The North Island brown kiwi is listed as being in "serious decline", one of 50 species in that category which also includes the katipo spider, small-scaled skink and black-billed gull.
By far the largest category, 1118, is "range restricted", which for the first time includes a wide range of weird and wonderful native plants from fungi to marine organisms.
Other species on the list include an octopus once commonly found on the Chatham Rise but that now has not been seen for two years, the Campbell Island snipe and the kea, which is listed as nationally endangered.
Herald feature: Environment
