Mass extinction rate 'faster than dinosaurs'

Polar bears and hippos have joined the ranks of threatened species, along with a third of amphibians and a quarter of mammals and coniferous plants, according to the World Conservation Union. The conservation group's Red List of endangered species found that 16,119 species are at the highest levels of extinction threat, equivalent to nearly 40 percent of all species in its survey. All told, more than 26,000 species of animals, birds, plants and fish were added to the list of those in "serious danger" of extinction. Fish are in particular danger, with more than half of freshwater species in the Mediterranean basin facing threats and formerly common ocean fish such as skate disappearing. The World Conservation Union, known by the acronym IUCN, found that more than 500 species had been added to the ranks of those classified as endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable since 2004–a rise of three percent. There are estimated to be around 15 million species in the world, although only around 12 percent of that number have ever been classified by scientists and the Red List examines 40,000 species. At present, animals are believed to be going extinct at 100 to 1,000 times the usual rate, leading many researchers to claim that we are in the midst of a mass extinction event faster than that which wiped out the dinosaurs. Most of the new additions in the union's 2004 report were amphibians, joining the Red List after the Global Amphibian Assessment that revealed one in three species of frog, toad, newt and salamander were under threat. IUCN director general Achim Steiner said that there was no slackening in the rate of global extinctions, and warned that tackling the problem would require governments, civil society groups and businesses to work together with environmentalists. "Biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down," he said. "Reversing this trend is possible [but] biodiversity cannot be saved by environmentalists alone–it must become the responsibility of everyone with the power and resources to act." The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment said in 2004 that polar bears would be extinct within 100 years, and some scientists believe that they could disappear within 25 years. The IUCN predicted a more conservative decline of 30 percent in the next 45 years. The report also said that civil breakdown in the Democratic Republic of Congo had led to a catastrophic decline in hippo populations, with the country's 30,000-strong herds losing 95 percent of their numbers to poaching and ivory hunting since 1994. The list showed 784 species as extinct and 65 as existing only in captivity. Other particularly threatened animals included the dama gazelle of the Sahara, the goitred gazelle of central Asia, the Angel shark of the North Sea, the West African pygmy hippo, and a species of trout from Lake Malawi. Sharks, skates and rays are all thought to be vulnerable. Around 20 percent of sharks are in increasing danger of extinction, the study says. The giant devil ray, similar to a manta ray, is often accidentally caught in nets intended for tuna and other fish. Two carp species from Turkey and Croatia were listed as extinct and one in eight classified bird species were endangered or vulnerable, along with a third of dragonflies. The Mediterranean herbs bugloss and centuary were listed as critically endangered. The IUCN said that people were responsible for the majority of extinctions, via habitat destruction or degradation. Invasive species, over-hunting, pollution and unsustainable harvesting were also mentioned as major causes of threats, along with climate change. A 2004 report by the University of Leeds in Britain found that a quarter of land animals and plants could be driven to extinction by global warming.