180 species added to global extinction red list
The new edition of the World Conservation Union’s annual Red List of threatened species saw over 180 new species facing extinction, it was reported in the Guardian. This is very grave news and even sadder in the wake of yesterday’s news that the Bengal tiger was returning to its Indian habitats. Unfortunately, other species are not doing so well.
The rate at which species are becoming threatened is also increasing, showing that conservation efforts so far are not being as effective as had been hoped. The only species to be doing better than before in this year’s list is the Mauritius Echo Parakeet which has been downgraded from ‘critically endangered’ to merely ‘endangered’. Positive but hardly resoundingly successful.
Species now on the Red List include: gorillas, orangutans, Gharial crocodiles, the Eastern Chimpanzee, Speke’s Gazelle, Banggai Cardinalfish, the Red-headed and Egyptian vultures, some species of rattlesnake, two Mexican freshwater turtle species, some corals and seaweeds. "We're at code red," Dr Mark Wright, chief scientist at WWF-UK, was quoted as saying. "We urgently need to reverse this trend and start living within the planet's natural resources - not just for the wellbeing of these threatened species but also for our own."
