WHALE sharks have been listed as “endangered” in a dire warning for the future of one of WA’s most iconic and cherished species.

The new International Union for Conservation of Nat­ure’s assessment ­revealed growing human pressures on whale sharks were putting the species at an ­“increasing risk of extinction”.

The plankton-eating giants are much loved in WA, where they thrill thousands of tourists each year off Exmouth and Ningaloo Reef during migrations that can also take them to South-East Asia.

But their global numbers have more than halved in the past 75 years as they succumb to the dual threats of fishing and ship strike, said the IUCN.

Previously whale sharks were listed as “vulnerable”. The endangered listing means they are now one threat level away from “critically ­endangered” – the highest on the IUCN scale

Camera Icon A Whale Shark swimming at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Credit: Supplied, Luxury Lodges of Australia

While conservation action in India, the Philippines and Taiwan has ended large-scale fishing of whale sharks, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species report released yesterday warned the animals continue to be fished in locations including China and Oman.

Brad Norman, WA’s leading Ningaloo-based whale shark expert and founder of marine conservation charity Ecocean, co-authored the Red List assessment.

He said whale sharks and tuna were often present together, meaning whale sharks were frequently caught by fishers targeting tuna.

“This is a very concerning ­result,” Dr Norman said of the endangered listing.

“We cannot sit back and fail to implement direct actions to minimise threats facing whale sharks at the global scale. It is clear that this species is in trouble.”

Dr Norman said whale shark numbers at Ningaloo “seem reasonable – now” but government funding was needed to do a proper assessment.

Camera Icon A woman swimming with a whale shark in Cebu, Philippines. Credit: Supplied, Istock

Whale sharks are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but it has no power to restrict domestic trade, which Dr Norman said can be “significant”.

“Our satellite-tagging program has revealed that some sharks have the ability to move great distances – away from protection in one country to the waters of other countries where they may be vulnerable,” he said.

“Further research is imperative, followed by efforts at the governmental level to imple­ment and adequately police reg­ional protection for this ­species.”

The complete update to the Red List will be ann­ounced at the IUCN World Conservation Congress to be held in Haw­aii in September.