Rapid pace of species extinctions mounts to a 'crisis'

Environment News Service: Nearly one-third of all known species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction, finds the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, in the most recent update of its authoritative Red List of Threatened Species™ issued today. The updated assessment shows that 17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction.

"The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," warns Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group. The IUCN finds that 21 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of all known amphibians, 12 percent of all known birds, and 28 percent of reptiles, 37 percent of freshwater fishes, 70 percent of plants, 35 percent of invertebrates assessed so far are at risk.

"This year's IUCN Red List makes for sobering reading," says Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit. "These results are just the tip of the iceberg. We have only managed to assess 47,663 species so far; there are many more millions out there which could be under serious threat."

"We do, however, know from experience that conservation action works so let's not wait until it's too late and start saving our species now," urged Hilton-Taylor.

"January sees the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity, said Smart. "The latest analysis of the IUCN Red List shows the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met. It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we're rapidly running out of time."

Tigers are among the endangered species, image by World66, Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 1.0 License