Edie weekly summaries Keeping you up to speed with news and events from around the world. Front Page UK Europe North America ... World Global extinction crisis is as bad or worse than believed The world's largest conservation-related organisation says that there have been dramatic declines in populations of many species, including reptiles and primates since 1996. The Red-shanked Douc Langur faces imminent extinction The World Conservation Union (IUCN), released its report 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , which it says is the most authoritative global assessment of species loss on 29 Sepember, and which is full of alarming facts. The organisation, which brings together government agencies, scientists and NGOs from 181 countries, says that since its last assessment in 1996, critically endangered primates increased from 13 to 19, and the number of threatened albatross species has increased from three to 16 due to long-line fisheries. Freshwater turtles, heavily exploited for food and medicinal use in Asia, went from 10 to 24 critically endangered species in just four years. A total of 11,046 species of plants and animals are listed as threatened, facing a high risk of extinction in the near future, in almost all cases as a result of human activities. This includes 24% of mammal species and 12% of bird species. The total number of threatened animal species has increased from 5,205 to 5,435. | |
|