16,306

[babylonsister]

188 More Species Listed as Near Extinction

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 13, 2007; Page A10

Habitat loss, climate change and infectious diseases are pushing a growing number of species toward extinction, according to a report yesterday by the World Conservation Union.

The organization's 2007 "Red List," the most sweeping annual scientific assessment of the world's animals and plants, now lists 16,306 species as threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The addition of nearly 200 imperiled species to the list reflects the reality that the more scientists learn about the status of the world's millions of species, the more they find that appear to be in trouble, experts said.

"We expect the situation across taxonomic groups to be, quite honest, quite bleak. One needs to know how bleak," Jane Smart, who heads the group's species program, said in an interview. "If we received a lot more money, we would have a lot more species on the Red List."

The organization, which is based in Switzerland and is formally known as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), enlists several thousand scientists to evaluate the state of animals and plants as varied as the imperiled Yangtze River dolphin and Central Asia's wild apricot. After subjecting the assessments to a peer-review process, the group decides whether a species deserves to be listed as vulnerable to extinction, endangered, critically endangered -- or extinct.

Conservation advocates said the new report had a few bright spots, such as North American reptiles doing relatively well. But in a news conference in Washington yesterday, they painted a largely grim picture of how factors such as armed conflict and warming seas are shrinking the planet's natural heritage.

"Let's not kid ourselves, when it comes to biodiversity worldwide, the news generally is not good," said Michael Hoffman, a program officer in IUCN's biodiversity assessment unit.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202322.html

[lonestarnot]

1. Gorillas.

:cry:

[jdlh8894]

2. Might as well put humans on the list

The way things are going, it won't be much longer.