IUCN List Of World’s Mammals Facing Extinction

From Green Right Now

Green Right Now reports that a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, shows that 1,141 (and possibly nearly 2,000) of the world’s 5,487 mammals are known to be threatened with extinction. The real situation could be much worse as 836 mammals are listed as Data Deficient. With better information more species may well prove to be in danger of extinction.

The threatened mammals include:

• Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) — 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) — 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.
• Cuba’s Little Earth Hutia (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis) — not seen in almost 40 years.
• Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) — 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.
• Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) — its population has declined by 90 percent in the last 100 years due to unsustainable hunting and habitat degradation and is still decreasing.

The project to assess the world’s mammals was conducted with help from more than 1,800 scientists from over 130 countries. It was made possible by the volunteer help of IUCN Species Survival Commission’s specialist groups and the collaborations between top institutions and universities, including Conservation International, Sapienza Università di Roma, Arizona State University, Texas A&M University, University of Virginia, and the Zoological Society of London.

For more on the study, see Green Right Now.