| Red List Indicates Extinction Crisis | 19 November 09 |
 Of the 47,677 species surveyed this year by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) over a third are at risk. The Red List has 17,291 species at some level of danger and 875 species considered extinct, indicating an extinction crisis.IUCN found that of known species, 30% of amphibians, 21% of mammals, 12% of birds, 28% of reptiles and 70% of plant species are in danger. Every year more species are discovered and examined by IUCN so more are found to be in danger. These numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. IUCN is calling it a "serious extinction crisis", according to Jane Smart, Director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group. The cause for increase in species loss is habitat loss and changes in land use. IUCN warns the situation may actually be even worse than their numbers show as more species need to be examined. View November 3, 2009 The Economist press releaseView IUCN Red List webpage View November 3, 2009 IUCN press release Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature |
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