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'Polar bears are dying'
03/05/2006 08:27 - (SA)
Geneva - Polar bears, hippos and freshwater fish are among the more than 16 000 species threatened with global extinction, said the World Conservation Union (IUCN) on Tuesday.
According to the Swiss-based conservation group, the number of animal, bird, fish and plant species classified as being in serious danger of extinction was about 15 500 in its previous "Red List" report in 2004.
A preview of the 2006 Red List said the threatened include one in three amphibians, a quarter of the world's coniferous trees and mammals, and one in eight birds. The full report will be published this week.
IUCN director general Achim Steiner said: "Biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down.
"The implications of this trend for the productivity and resilience of ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people who depend on them are far-reaching."
Polar bear populations down by 30%
The Red List classifies 40 000 different species according to their risk of extinction and provides a searchable online database of the results. The number of species on the planet is unknown. The most widely accepted estimate is 15 million.
According to the IUCN, people are the main reason for most species' decline, mainly through habitat destruction.
Polar bears are threatened by global warming and melting ice caps, because they are conditioned for the icy environment and depend on Arctic ice floes for hunting seas.
The IUCN said polar bear populations would decline by 30% in the next 45 years.
The hippopotamus population in war-ravaged Congo has plummeted 95%, reported the Red List. The animals are hunted for their meat and for the ivory in their teeth.
IUCN chief scientist Jeffrey McNeely said: "Regional conflicts and political instability in some African countries have created hardship for many of the region's inhabitants and the impact on wildlife has been equally devastating."
65 species only found in captivity
Freshwater fish populations have declined dramatically because of human activities that damage their habitat, such as forest clearance, pollution and water extraction.
Around the Mediterranean, more than half of the 252 endemic species are threatened with extinction, said the Red List. Seven species, including two relatives of carp, are already extinct.
The conservation union said the decline in wetlands and freshwater ecosystems will also damage supplies for humans of food, clean drinking water and sanitation.
Other species threatened with extinction include desert gazelles, ocean sharks and Mediterranean flowers.
About 784 are listed as extinct. The Red List listed 65 species as found only in captivity.
But the situation looked a little brighter for some, such as the white-tailed eagle and Indian vultures.
- AP
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