GENEVA (Reuters)
- One in four species of mammal and one in eight species of bird
are at risk of extinction, a World Conservation Union report shows.
The Swiss-based
environment agency's latest Red List of Threatened Animals, last
published four years ago, reveals 11,046 species of plants and
animals face extinction in the near future if nothing is done.
From the Wandering
Albatross, with its 11-foot wingspan, to the Caspian Sea's sturgeon
fish, whose eggs are used to make caviar, the report shows the
total number of threatened animal species has increased from 5,205
to 5,435.
``We are in
an extinction crisis. The trends are shocking,'' said Maritta
Koch-Weser, director-general of the World Conservation Union.
The group's
research, undertaken by a network of around 2,000 scientists from
around the world, was based on an assessment of 18,276 species
and subspecies.
That is a
tiny fraction of an estimated 10 million or more species that
exist in the world, of which only 1.4 million have been named,
said World Conservation Union official Simon Stuart.
``Every 10
days, a new species is facing a significantly elevated risk of
extinction,'' Stuart said.
``And that
is almost certainly an underestimate because that rate is based
on mammals and birds which are a tiny fraction of all the species
that exist.''
Twenty-four
percent of mammal species and 12 percent of bird species face
a high risk of extinction, the report showed.
It added that
approximately 25 percent of reptiles, 20 percent of amphibians
and 30 percent of fish were threatened.
Humans To
Blame
Extinction
is a natural process -- most animals and plants that have evolved
over the millions of years since life began are now extinct. But
the rate has accelerated with the growing human population, habitat
destruction, pollution and over-harvesting.
Primates were
the worst hit among mammals. If present trends in habitat destruction
and hunting continue, some species of gorillas and apes will not
be around much longer, Koch-Weser said.
Among them
was the Cross River Gorilla, with the lowest population among
African apes with just 150 to 200 left. It was listed as critically
endangered.
Also in danger
was the African ape species known as Miss Waldron's Red Colobus,
originally discovered by Willoughby Lowe in Ghana in 1933 and
named after his traveling companion. The World Conservation Union
said the animal had not been seen for some time.
The report
said Madagascar had more endangered primates than anywhere else
in the world while Indonesia, home to 10 percent of the world's
primate species and a big timber exporter, had the largest number
of threatened mammals with 135 species, followed by India, Brazil
and China.
In Europe,
the report said Caspian Sea's sturgeon faced extinction due to
a free-for-all trade controlled by smugglers.
The Wandering
Albatross was threatened by long-line fishermen who trail thousands
of baited hooks behind their boats and inadvertently catch the
bird, it said.
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