IUCN Red List Reveals Worlds Mammals In Crisis
16 years ago
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Barcelona, Spain, 6 October, 2008 (IUCN) – The most comprehensive assessment of the world’s mammals has confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four at risk of disappearing forever, according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, revealed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.
The new study to assess the world’s mammals shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction. At least 76 mammals have become extinct since 1500. But the results also show conservation can bring species back from the brink of extinction, with five percent of currently threatened mammals showing signs of recovery in the wild.
“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,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “We must now set clear targets for the future to reverse this trend to ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out many of our closest relatives.”
The real situation could be much worse as 836 mammals are listed as Data Deficient. With better information more species may well prove to be in danger of extinction.
“The reality is that the number of threatened mammals could be as high as 36 percent,” says Jan Schipper, of Conservation International and lead author in a forthcoming article in Science. “This indicates that conservation action backed by research is a clear priority for the future, not only to improve the data so that we can evaluate threats to these poorly known species, but to investigate means to recover threatened species and populations.”
The results show 188 mammals are in the highest threat category of Critically Endangered, including the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus), which has a population of just 84-143 adults and has continued to decline due to a shortage of its primary prey, the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
China’s Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus), is listed as Extinct in the Wild. However, the captive and semi-captive populations have increased in recent years and it is possible that truly wild populations could be re-established soon. It may be too late, however, to save the additional 29 species that have been flagged as Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct, including Cuba’s Little Earth Hutia (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis), which has not been seen in nearly 40 years.
Nearly 450 mammals have been listed as Endangered, including the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), which moved from Least Concern to Endangered after the global population declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer.
The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), found in Southeast Asia, moved from Vulnerable to Endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands. Similarly, the Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) moved from Vulnerable to Endangered. Its population has declined by 90 percent in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing.
Habitat loss and degradation affect 40 percent of the world’s mammals. It is most extreme in Central and South America, West, East and Central Africa, Madagascar, and in South and Southeast Asia. Over harvesting is wiping out larger mammals, especially in Southeast Asia, but also in parts of Africa and South America.
The Grey-faced Sengi or Elephant-shrew (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) is only known from two forests in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, both of which are fully protected but vulnerable to fires. The species was first described this year and has been placed in the Vulnerable category.
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Posted
6th October, 2008 00h00
- Sarah Horsley, IUCN Media Relations Officer, m +34 600 906 822, m +41 79 528 3486, e [email protected]
- Carolin Wahnbaeck, IUCN, m +34 600 919 620, m +41 79 858 87593, e [email protected]
- “No other tool is as valuable for conservation as the Red List, which provides scientists and decision makers with an important set of information, freely available to the public, to improve the effectiveness of our conservation efforts,” says Dr. Russell Mittermeier, Chair of IUCN's Primate Specialist Group and president of Conservation International.
- “Reliable data are the foundation for conservation planning that hopes to drive effective conservation action on the most endangered species and sites,” says Prof. Luigi Boitani, Sapienza Università di Roma. “For the first time, good data, contributed and validated by the best experts on Earth, show the patterns and extent of the pressures on the viability of mammal species. This trend is particularly dramatic for Southeast Asia which suffers from increasing human activities, deforestation being the major issue.”
- “This assessment establishes a platform from which all future conservation efforts can be measured,” said Dr. Andrew Smith, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University. “It captures data on the mammal fauna of the world in a unique database that has been structured to highlight conservation, and which is designed to be a living database to incorporate future data and trends on mammals. This effort will hopefully spur greater attention on the conservation of mammals and the habitats they occupy, for the benefit of all biodiversity.”
- “These mammal data represent the best in collaboration among academic researchers and conservationists, because they bring to bear the best science on the status of the world’s mammals, placing it directly into the hands of the people who will effect conservation action in the field,” Dr. Thomas Lacher, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University.
- “This massive tabulation of the locations and often precarious situations of the Earth's mammal species spotlights our need for an increased understanding of the regional changes that are the ultimate challenge to the survival of many of these incredible creatures,” says Dr. Thomas C. Skalak, Vice President for Research, University of Virginia.
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