SA species facing extinction
2004-05-19 14:34
Johannesburg - In 2010, South Africa will be hosting the World Cup Soccer tournament, but the Red Data Book on mammals claims the country will battle to turn around the deterioration of biodiversity by that time.
"It is the first time that all existing scientific data and information about the 295 mammals of South Africa have been put together into one book and compact disc," Yolan Friedman, conservation manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), said at the launch of the book in Johannesburg.
"It also sets the standard against which our attempts will be measured to reach the 2010 biodiversity goals," Friedman said.
Friedman is also programme manager of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group.
Of the 295 mammal species, 52 (17.6%) are grouped together into one of the three Red Data categories.
International experts have used these categories since 1963 to indicate how endangered a species actually is, Friedman explained.
Ten (3.4%) of the 295 species are considered extremely endangered.
Among this group are the desert black rhino (Diceros bicornis) in the first place, the De Winton golden mole in the second and the Juliana golden mole, only found in Pretoria, in the third place.
There are probably less than 50 adult Juliana golden moles left and they are facing a real chance of extinction soon. An open sandpit mine is destroying their habitat - less than 10km2.
Should this species die out, it would be the first one that scientist are aware of to become extinct in South Africa over the past 100 years.
Seven of the ten extremely endangered species are only found in South Africa.
Among the 18 species classified as highly endangered are the wild dog, Harmann's mountain zebra, a bottlenose dolphin, a whale, a bat, a mole and a mouse. Of these 18 species, a third are found only in South Africa.
There are 29 species in the high-risk group where chances of survival are considered "vulnerable".
There is still no final word on 53 of the 295 species where too little information is available.
Poison, pollution, destruction of habitats, agriculture and forests are some of the threats to the survival of species mentioned in the book.