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Nearly one quarter of world's mammals face extinction, annual 'red list' reports
Posted on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 (CDT) by Thoth
 Nearly a quarter of the world's land mammal species are at risk of extinction, and many others may vanish before they are even known to science, according to a major annual survey of global wildlife.
At least 1,141 of the 5,487 known species of mammal are threatened, with 188 listed in the highest risk "critically endangered" category. One in three marine mammals are also threatened, according to the five year review.
The "red list" assessment, conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), involved more than 1,700 experts in 130 countries, and confirms the devastating impact of forest clearing, hunting, fisheries, pollution and climate change on the populations and ranges of the world's most studied class of animals.
Jan
Schipper, the director of the global mammals assessment, a partnership
between Conservation International and the IUCN, called for countries
to be held responsible for the fate of fauna within their borders and
the establishment of an international coalition to save species that
cross national boundaries.
"We're looking at a 25%
decline over the long term, yet for mammals there is no bail out plan.
There is no long term conservation strategy that is going to prevent
species extinction in the future," he said.
"As human beings, we should be ensuring that we don't cause other species to go extinct."
Disturbingly, the figures
are likely to be a conservative estimate, because scientists have
insufficient data on 836 species to even classify how threatened they
are. If these are all at risk, it would mean 36% of the world's mammal
species are in danger of becoming extinct.
Among the critically
endangered species is the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), with only 84 to
143 adults remaining. Experts believe 29 others may already have become
extinct, including the Baiji or Yangtze river dolphin, and the little
Earth hutia, a small rodent endemic to islands off Cuba, which has not
been seen in nearly 40 years. Two species, the Scimitar-horned oryx and
Père David's deer are extinct in the wild, and only live on in
captivity.
Many species, such as the
grey wolf and brown bear, have experienced substantial population
declines and seen their ranges contract as their natural habitats have
been destroyed. More than half of the world's mammal species for which
trends are known are in decline, the report found.
"We are getting far too
used to seeing these reports bemoaning the fate of the planet or the
decline of animals. I am really concerned that we have become deadened
to this sort of depressing information and now simply ignore it without
stopping to think about the implications," said Mark Wright, chief
scientist at WWF.
"The IUCN report shows
that, with our ill-considered management of the Earth and its
resources, we are threatening the future of wildlife and nature and
denying our children the chance to experience what we have experienced."
The survey, which is
published by the journal Science today, identifies extinction hotspots
where vast numbers of species are under threat. Typically, these are
regions with a rich diversity of species that all face a similar threat
to their environment.
Threatened land mammals are
concentrated in south and south-east Asia. There, a staggering 79% of
monkeys and apes face extinction. Other hotspots include the tropical
Andes, the Cameroonian highlands, the Albertine rift and the Western
Ghats in India.
"Often, there is habitat
loss from deforestation, either for farming or timber, and that leaves
the animals living on small patches of land. Then, on top of that, you
have hunting, with an enormous number of people who are entirely
reliant on natural resources to feed themselves. That has really set up
a perfect storm over south-east Asia," said Schipper.
The greatest threats to
marine mammals are being caught in fishing nets or being struck by
shipping vessels, although for the Yangtze river dolphin, pollution is
a major contributor.
Climate change is already
having an impact on amphibians and plant life, but it is expected to
put increasing pressure on mammals too, either by destroying their
environment, such as the Arctic ice sheets that are home to polar
bears, or by forcing their prey elsewhere.
Among the most threatened
mammals are those only recently discovered. Since 1992, 349 new mammal
species have been identified, but 51% of these face extinction,
compared with 23% of species known prior to 1992. "Species may be
vanishing even before they are known to science," the scientists write
in the journal.
There is a glimmer of hope
among the bleak assessment. At least 5% of the currently threatened
species now have stable or rising populations, many of which are the
focus of huge conservation efforts. Populations of the European bison
and black-footed ferret are both recovering.
"The problem we face is
that without the political and public will to spend money on species
conservation we are pressed up against the wall," said Schipper. "By
making this data public, we're hoping it'll reach the people who make
decisions about where money is spent."
Copyright: guardian.co.uk
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