the Red List is a compilation of species categorized as Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable according to the IUCN Categories of Threat. For the most part, categorizations are made by the Species Survival Commission Specialist Group covering the taxa in question.

The actual list of threatened animals is in a searchable database maintained by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, located at http://www.wcmc.org.UK/data/database/ rl_anml_combo.html.

The printed version of the 1996 Red List contains the list which was current at the time of printing (September 1996), however the web version is periodically updated in light of new information, and therefore will not exactly match the printed version, but provides more up-to-date information.

Printed copies of the The 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals are available at:

IUCN Publications Service Unit,
219c Huntingdon Road,
Cambridge CB3 0DL,
United Kingdom

[information taken from the IUCN homepage at http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/redlist/ redlist.htm]