Harbor Seal
Quarter of the world's mammals on danger list
Published 28 October, 2008, 13:32
A report has revealed that at least 1,000 species are under serious threat largely due to the effects of human behaviour.
The first ‘health check’ of the world's mammals in over a decade has provided a bleak forecast for the future of animals worldwide. The Red List of Endangered Species has announced in their latest report that over 1,000 species of mammals are at risk of extinction due to the destruction of habitats caused by hunting. Many conservationists believe that the figure that could be much higher due to gaps in the data.
Thousands of creatures great and small are at risk of becoming extinct, from the bumblebee bat in Thailand to the Tasmanian Devil. After a study of 5,487 species, 1,141 were found to be at risk, including 188 mammals on the ‘critical list’, including the Iberian Lynx whose numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years. Out of the 188 that have been listed as critical, the depressing report reveals that 29 are already believed to have died out, including the Yangtze dolphin in China. Thousands of other mammals are also suffering dramatically falling numbers, with around half of all ape and monkey species facing extinction.
The updated Red List, which was compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, uncovered that also amongst the critically endangered were the sperm whale, the hooded deer and the Chinese water deer. Julia Marton-Lefevre, the director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has little doubt where the blame lies,
“Within our lifetime hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions, a frightening sign of what is happening to the ecosystems where they live,” she warned.
The destruction of forests throughout the world seems to be where the extermination threat is at its highest. Land mammals in Asia are particularly affected.
The only piece of good news featured in the report was that the African elephant is no longer at high risk and the wild horse is no longer in danger of becoming extinct since it was released back into the wild in Mongolia in the 1990s.
Over 1,800 scientists from 130 different countries were involved in the study, whose bleak findings are that dramatic changes are needed if we are to reverse the damaging effects society has caused to many of our world's rarest and most precious creatures.
Gabrielle Pickard for RT
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