FWD: Shrinking species

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This article is from thestar.com.my

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2002/10/15/features/iucnred & sec=\

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Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Shrinking species

 

 

THE nomadic Saiga antelope could soon be taking its last leap, the wild Bactrian

camel its last drink, and the Ethiopian water mouse its last dip. All are on the

brink of extinction, conservationists said last Tuesday.

 

The freshwater gastropod mollusc has already made its salty tearful goodbyes in

the last two years, joining the long-departed Dodo bird among the ranks of

vanished creatures.

 

 

 

There are 11,167 other plants and animals threatened with extinction, according

to the World Conservation Union & #8217;s 2002 Red List of Threatened Species, an

increase of 121 since 2000.

 

The Red List, produced by a network of some 7,000 species experts working in

almost every country in the world, found that 811 species have disappeared over

the last 500 years, some permanently, while others exist only in artificial

settings, such as zoos.

 

The IUCN said five species have been added to the “extinct” list over the last

two years. Besides the mollusc they include: two hippo species, last seen in

1500; the sea mink, unseen since 1860; and Reunion Island sheldgeese, last

sighted around 1710.

 

“It can take so long because we need scientific proof and records that the

species has gone extinct and that there are no subspecies alive,” said IUCN

spokeswoman Xenya Cherny. “That can take a long time.”

 

The group has examined some 18,000 species and subspecies around the globe. But

scientists admit that even a study of this magnitude only scratches the surface.

Earth is home to an estimated 14 million species & #8211; and only 1.75 million

have been documented. Many may become extinct before they are even identified,

much less studied by scientists.

 

Conservationists think the current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times

higher than it should be under natural conditions. That means that in the first

decades of the 21st century, many creatures may disappear. The main cause of the

decline: shrinking habitat, as humans encroach on or pollute their homes, as

well as poaching, hunting or competition with introduced species.

 

The IUCN says Indonesia, India, Brazil and China are home to the most

threatened mammals and birds, while plant species are declining rapidly in South

and Central America, Central and West Africa, and South-East Asia.

 

The report upgraded the following species to “critically endangered,” the

closest to extinction:

 

<li> The wild Bactrian camel, a predominantly Chinese species that is being

decimated by sport hunting, loss of habitat and hybridisation with domestic

species.

 

 

 

<li> The Iberian lynx, which lives in Mediterranean woodland and brush in

south-western Spain. Its population has fallen from 1,200 a decade ago to less

than 600 today. “It is close to becoming the first wild cat species to go

extinct for at least 2,000 years,” the IUCN warns.

 

<li> Two Indian birds of prey, the slender-billed vulture and Indian vulture,

hit by disease, poisoning and pesticide use.

 

<li> The black-browed albatross, a bird that breeds primarily in the Falkland

Islands, and whose numbers have dwindled by a third over the last 30 years

because so many birds have been snared on baited hooks trailed by longline

trawlers.

 

<li> The Ethiopian water mouse, only one specimen of which has ever been found.

Its home, near the source of the Little Abbai, a tributary of the Blue Nile in

north-western Ethiopia, is being hit by livestock grazing.

 

<li> The Saiga antelope, which lives on the open dry steppe grasslands and

semi-arid deserts of Central Asia. Their population has dropped by more than 90%

in just 10 years due to poaching.

 

Surprisingly, two species previously considered extinct have been rediscovered:

the Lord Howe Island stick insect and the Bavarian pine vole. The stick insect

was believed to have become extinct in 1920 but was seen again in 2001. No

specimens of the Bavarian pine vole were recorded after 1962 when its only known

habitat was eroded by the building of a hospital but a small population of the

rodents was found on the German-Austrian border in 2000.

 

The study found habitat loss and degradation affect 89% of all threatened

birds, 83% of mammals, and 91% of threatened plants assessed. Lowland and

mountain tropical forests were the habitats with the highest number of

threatened mammals and birds. Freshwater habitats are also extremely vulnerable

with many threatened fish, reptile, amphibian and invertebrate species.

 

In 2000, the Red List declared 11,046 species to be at high risk of extinction

in the near future, accounting for one in four of all mammal species, one in

eight of all birds species, a quarter of assessed reptile species, 20% of

amphibians and 30%of fishes. The database can be searched on the Internet, on <a

href= " http://www.redlist.org " target= " _blank " >www.redlist.org</a> . & #8211;

Agencies<p>

 

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