Species face tough fight for survival

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2299547.stm

 

Monday, 7 October, 2002, 23:35 GMT 00:35 UK

Species face tough fight for survival

 

By Alex Kirby

BBC News Online environment correspondent

 

A central Asian antelope, a camel and the Iberian lynx

all face a high risk of extinction, scientists say.

 

They are now classified by the International Union for

the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically

endangered.

 

Its updated Red List of Threatened Species says more

than 11,000 creatures now face extinction.

 

But two, an insect and a rodent, previously thought

extinct, have been rediscovered.

 

Since the last edition of the list two years ago, over

400 new species have been assessed.

 

Dramatic decline

 

Of these, 124 have joined one of the threatened

categories: critically endangered (CR), endangered

(EN), or vulnerable (VU).

 

IUCN (also known as the World Conservation Union) says

11,167 species are now threatened with extinction, 121

more than in 2000.

 

One of the three species causing IUCN particular

concern is the saiga, an antelope found in the deserts

and steppes of central Asia.

 

It has suffered a major decline in the last decade,

poached for both its meat and its horns, which are

exported for use in traditional medicine.

 

In 1993 the total population was estimated at over one

million: by 2000 this had fallen to fewer than

200,000. Scientists believe under 50,000 animals now

remain in the wild.

 

Habitat fragmentation

 

IUCN's director general, Achim Steiner, told BBC News

Online: " This rate of loss is unsustainable. If

nothing is done, the saiga is doomed to extinction in

one or two decades. "

 

Another species, the wild Bactrian camel, is hunted

partly because it competes with domestic camels and

livestock for water and grazing, but also for sport.

 

Its main stronghold is China, where mining is

destroying its habitat. Other problems include the

effects of hybridisation with domestic camels, and

increased human competition.

 

The plight of the third, the Iberian lynx, is dire: it

may be the first wild cat to become extinct for at

least 2,000 years. Fewer than half the 1,200

individuals recorded 10 years ago now survive.

 

The lynx lives in Mediterranean woodland, where

habitat fragmentation by farming and industrial

development means it now survives only in scattered

groups in south-west Spain and Portugal.

 

Higher listing

 

The two species rediscovered after being listed as

extinct are the Lord Howe Island stick insect, an

Australian species, and the Bavarian pine vole, from

Germany.

 

Other species of concern include:

 

*the Ethiopian water mouse (critically endangered),

known from a single specimen found near a tributary of

the Blue Nile in north-west Ethiopia - its habitat may

be overgrazed by livestock

 

*the tiger tail seahorse (vulnerable) is caught for

medicinal and aquarium uses, and accidentally as

bycatch. Its habitat is also being degraded

 

*the slender-billed and Indian vultures are both

classified as critically endangered because they have

suffered extremely rapid population declines,

particularly in south Asia. Suspected causes include

disease, poisoning, pesticide use and changes in the

processing of dead livestock.

 

IUCN has upgraded several species to a higher threat

category, because it now judges them more vulnerable.

 

They include three birds: the Titicaca flightless

grebe, the black-browed albatross, and the blue duck

of New Zealand.

 

In 2000, 5,611 plants were assessed as threatened.

With the addition of Mexican and Brazilian cactus

assessments, the figure is now 5,714.

 

 

But with only about 4% of the world's described plants

evaluated, IUCN says, the true percentage of

threatened species is much higher.

 

The 2000 Red List said the extinction crisis was as

bad as many people feared, with some " dramatic "

population declines.

 

Achim Steiner told BBC News Online: " This update

reaffirms the basic trends identified then.

 

" It is a very serious situation indeed - it's a severe

warning that we have no reason to say things are

turning round.

 

" The resources we have to compile the list are

absolutely inadequate. It is people like birdwatchers

and other nature lovers who generate an enormous

amount of data voluntarily that are the heart and soul

of the conservation movement.

 

" And there are the people in places like Africa who

have no binoculars, but use wildlife every day. We

count on them too. "

 

 

 

 

 

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