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Polar bears, hippos among 16,000 species
threatened with extinction
GENEVA — Polar bears and hippos are among more than 16,000 species of
animals and plants threatened with global extinction, the World Conservation
Union said Tuesday. According to the Swiss-based conservation group, known by
its acronym IUCN, the number of species classified as being in serious danger
of extinction rose from about 15,500 in its previous "Red List" report,
published in 2004. The list includes one in three amphibians, a quarter of the
world's mammals and coniferous trees, and one in eight birds, according to a
preview of the 2006 Red List. The full report is published later this week.
"Biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down," said Achim Steiner, the
conservation group's director general. "The implications of this trend for the
productivity and resilience of ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of
billions of people who depend on them are far-reaching." The Red List
classifies about 40,000 species according to their risk of extinction and
provides a searchable online database of the results. The total number of
species on the planet is unknown, with 15 million being the most widely
accepted estimate. Up to 1.8 million are known today. People are the main
reason for most species' decline, mainly through habitat destruction, according
to IUCN. Polar bears are threatened by global warming and melting ice caps,
because they are conditioned for the icy environment and depend on Arctic ice
floes for hunting seas. They are predicted to suffer a 30 percent population
decline in the next 45 years. The hippopotamus population in war-ravaged Congo,
meanwhile, has plummeted by 95 percent, mainly because of unregulated hunting
for meat and ivory in their teeth. "Regional conflicts and political
instability in some African countries have created hardship for many of the
region's inhabitants, and the impact on wildlife has been equally devastating,"
said Jeffrey McNeely, chief scientist at IUCN. Freshwater fish have suffered
some of the most dramatic population declines because of human activities that
damage their habitat, like forest clearance, pollution and water extraction. In
the Mediterranean, more than half of the 252 endemic species are threatened
with extinction. Seven species, including two relatives of carp, are already
extinct, IUCN said. The conservation union warned that the decline in wetlands
and freshwater ecosystems will also damage supplies for humans of food, clean
drinking water and sanitation. Other species threatened with extinction include
desert gazelles, ocean sharks and Mediterranean flowers, IUCN said. Some 784
are listed as extinct — only a small increase from 2004 — while 65
are found only in captivity. But the situation looks a little brighter for some
others, such as the white-tailed eagle and Indian vultures. "Reversing this
trend is possible, as numerous conservation success stories have proven,"
Steiner said. "Biodiversity cannot be saved by environmentalists alone —
it must become the responsibility of everyone with the power and resources to
act."
St. Augustine.com/AP SAM CAGE Associated Press Writer Commentary: |