(AFP) — One in four mammals, one in eight birds, 40% of all amphibians and nearly one in three conifer trees; all are at risk of dying out.
Some 20,000 of the world’s plant and animal species are now threatened with extinction out of 73,600 monitored — 1.8 million have been listed in total.
Some 800 are already described as extinct while 69 species are only able to survive in captivity.
Within the world’s mammal population, more than half of all primates are under threat of extinction due to the destruction of tropical forests, the illegal wildlife trade and hunting.
The northern white rhino is critically endangered — the handful left are likely to be the last. And the future of six out of eight bear species is also cause for concern: the giant panda for example is considered endangered while the polar bear is ‘vulnerable’.
In the oceans, climate change and overfishing are affecting a third of the world’s coral reefs.
Meanwhile more than 30 percent of shark species and rays are threatened with extinction, again due to over-fishing.
Back on dry land the situation is just as worrying for plants. More than 10,000 types could soon disappear, Central Asia’s wild apricot for example, the ancestor of varieties of the fruit grown worldwide.
https://youtu.be/059hptIdlPw
