Leaders from government and non-government organisations as well as celebrities and scientists have converged on Barcelona, Spain, for a meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Yesterday at the Congress a new study assessing the status of the world’s mammals was released showing:
“188 mammals are in the highest threat category of Critically Endangered, including the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus), which has a population of just 84-143 adults and has continued to decline due to a shortage of its primary prey, the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
China’s Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus), is listed as Extinct in the Wild. However, the captive and semi-captive populations have increased in recent years and it is possible that truly wild populations could be re-established soon. It may be too late, however, to save the additional 29 species that have been flagged as Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct, including Cuba’s Little Earth Hutia (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis), which has not been seen in nearly 40 years.
Nearly 450 mammals have been listed as Endangered, including the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), which moved from Least Concern to Endangered after the global population declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer.
The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), found in Southeast Asia, moved from Vulnerable to Endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands. Similarly, the Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) moved from Vulnerable to Endangered. Its population has declined by 90 percent in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing.”
The report states that habitat loss is the biggest issue for the world’s mammals especially in Southeast Asia.
The Sumatran tiger falls under this category and continues to lose habitat including to palm oil plantations and then there is also the issue of poaching.
The IUCN lists the tiger, Panthera tigris, as Endangered with less than 2,500 mature individuals in the wild.
This picture of a Sumatran tiger was taken by a camera trap set by Neil Franklin and provided by Richard Ness. Richard Ness has commented that “I am not sure the cutting of primary forest for logging or plantations is a real issue for them. They may do just as well in secondary growth. The main problem is humans hunting them for parts… same goes for orangutans.”
Dr Brendan Moyle, a zoologist and senior lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand, wrote on the issue of tigers and poaching in a note entitled ‘Tigers and Endangered Species’ at this blog in July last year. ‘
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According to Wikipedia, the IUCN was founded in 1948 and brings together 83 states, 108 government agencies, 766 non-governmental organizations and 81 international organizations and about 10,000 experts and scientists from countries around the world.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
We gotta WANT to save ’em.
I spend hours a day trying to save my ever diminishing bunch but even the people who profess to care the most [greengroups, govts etc] are often the main problems.
For instance, if these greengroups would petition govt to have the dingo declared a feral [which it is] instead of protecting them, some serious eradication programs could begin which would make a huge difference to the horrendous killing that is going on night and day from dogs, dingoes, foxes and cats.
Instead, they invariably petition govts to protect these “native dogs”.
These predators come in waves.
I see the numbers of natives [I’m talking about small rock wallabies, pademelons, echidnas, mountain possums, gliders, koalas, bandicoots etc] starting to build up and I grit my teeth because in no time all I encounter is death and blowflies from these wildlife killers.
Making an animal like the tiger extinct to satisfy the absolutely absurd and redundant desire by, mainly Chinese, for aphrodisiac, is an environmental issue I can support; it’s a pity the vast waste of resource devoted to carbon pollution is not directed towards specific issues like that.
And then some PhD starts telling me how globall warming is going to extinguish our wildlife species…….
But not all PhDs…
Sadly some of the most biodiverse regions left in the world are also some of the poorest. And no matter how much environmental assistance is given from wealthier countries, without a deeply entrenched desire to preserve these animals by the locals and their govts, extinctions are certain.
sd; I think there is a difference between extinctions that will occur because some third world countries are going to achieve a higher standard of living and extinctions that involve, shall we say, a certain level of decadence and cultural obsolescence; I’m also against waste; if you’re going to use an animal, use all of it; hunting sharks for their fins and discarding the rest is just stupid.
See http://www.appinsys.com/GlobalWarming/GW_History.htm for additional history of the IUCN and its connection to the global warming agenda.
Hi,I come from China. Although Chinese government has promulgated so many laws to protect the endangered animals, I can still see that some people are killing these animals such as tigers, spotted deers and Tibetan antelope for money. Sometimes I feel the protecting of the animals are not only decided by the government legislation but also by improving public moral standars.
Moreover, I think that the extinction of so many animals are the results of human activities rather than the changing of the climate. Some would argue that changing of climate such as global warming have a strong negative influence on the habitat in which animals live, however, the direct cause of the changing of the climate attribites to our activities or what we called “exploring the earth” rather than other factors.
another problem which I concerned is should we protect the endangered spices by using our limited resources when we still have so many pressing problems such as hungery, poverty, and unemployment. Can we protect all the endangered spices? If we cannot, do we have the rights to decide which of them have the priority to be protected? For those spices whose extinction are the force of nature choice, will the protection be efficient?
Liu ZiRu,
Your country is obviously incurring many ecological problems with it’s rapid rise in living standards and it will be a huge effort for your people and government to meet this challenge.
However, I think China will win great respect and credibility with any success it can achieve in this field.
Outsiders should be hesitant to suggest what efforts should be directed where, to protect which species but there will be “endless advice” available, for what it is worth.
Hi, spangled drongo
China is indeed facing unprecedented ecological problems and environmental pollutions which related to the rapid economical development. Many people believe that the our government have made a balance between the economical development and the protecting of environment. However, as far as i am concerned, even though the government has the volition to restore the ecology, the populace does not have the consciousness and the sense of responsibility. As a student major in environmental engineering, I really worry about it.
Liu ZiRu,
I wish you every success.
Thank you spangled drongo.
Although I know what I am researching now may not have crucial impact on the overall environment protec, I believe if everyone takes the environmental consciousness as their responsibility and devotes some time and energy, we will ensure ourselves a more comfortable home and leave our offsprings a beautiful world.
P.S. In China, to arouse people’s awareness is more important than to punish them for what they have done. I can see more and more people purchase SUV as their forst choice which has a big oil consumption than the Hybrid cars. As I know, in many western countries SUV could be seen as a lack of the envirionmental awareness , ironically in my country this is the symbol of wealth and high social status.
Just how political has the IUCN red list become. Recently the IUCN was part of an investigation team to Tasmania, however when the report of its expert and two other experts was tabled it was given the rider “Views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect IUCN policy in relation to this property”
Was this because the experts found Tasmania’s wilderness and its forests to be well managed, completely contradicting the claims of the wilderness society and the Greens Political Party? Is it more than a coincidence that the Wilderness Society’s nominee Senator Christine Milne is a Vice President of the IUCN.
In the past as well as now threatened species are used as a weapon to stop development by the greens. The Orange belied parrot is on the red list and despite its breeding habitat being secured in Tasmania’s southwest national park, its threatened status was used as a reason to stop a wind farm in Victoria. Perhaps it is threatened not by wind farms but that its likely winter habitat is now occupied by 3.1 million people.
Another is the Tasmanian Devil, given as a reason to stop the pulp mill and to halt timber harvesting, despite it being listed due to a facial disease of unknown origin but definitely not forestry or a value adding factory.
Then there is Bob Brown’s Wielangta Federal court case against Forestry Tasmania and the parties to the Regional Forest Agreement that he lost. That was over the Swift Parrot, the Wedge Tail Eagle and the Wielangta Stagg Beetle. Swift parrot habitat is all ready well reserved, wedge tail eagle reported number have dramatically increased so that they are over 80% of the population estimated to exist in 1750. The only known death of the Wielangta stag beetle in recent years was when one was trapped in a chemically laden pit trap to provide evidence for Bob Brown’s prosecution.
Loss of the Sumatrun Tigers, Panda’s etc is tragic. However there is an even bigger tragedy happening in our own Australian backyards. 30% of our Fauna and 40% of our Flora now classified as endangered and what are we doing ?
Lets stop debating climate change and get on with practice and policy that factors in the real social and environmental cost of development.
We have an extraordinary opportunity in the heart of Melbourne’s suburbia to establish a benchmark project that demonstrates sustainable urban development. Act Now Go to………
http://www.youtube.com/user/BLEEPNOW
This is my info..
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Half the Amazon Rainforest to be Lost by 2030
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(NaturalNews) Due to the effects of global warming and deforestation, more than half of the Amazon rainforest may be destroyed or severely damaged by the year 2030, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The report, “Amazon’s Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire,” concludes that 55 percent of the world’s largest rainforest stands to be severely damaged from agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching in the next 22 years. Another 4 percent may be damaged by reduced rainfall caused by global warming. This is anticipated to destroy up to 80 percent of wildlife habitat in the region.
read more..
http://hernadi-key.blogspot.com/2008/11/half-amazon-rainforest-to-be-lost-by.html
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