NVDL: You take a risk when you behave in unsustainable ways towards others. I mean creatures of your own species and others species. Engage in unfair practise, tread on others toes, take away their means of sustenance and you invite upon yourself a...er...response.
"Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide," the team led by Jan Schipper of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland, concluded.
"We estimate that one in four species is threatened with extinction and that the population of one in two is declining," the researchers said in a report to be published Friday in the journal Science. The findings were being released Monday at the IUCN meeting in Barcelona, Spain.
The report updates the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, which overall includes 44,838 species, of which 16,928 are threatened with extinction. Of these, 3,246 are in the highest category of threat, critically endangered, 4,770 are endangered and 8,912 are vulnerable to extinction. The IUCN estimated that 76 mammal species have gone extinct since 1500.
Among the mammals particularly in danger are primates, used for bush meat in parts of Africa and facing major loss of habitat in Southeast Asia, Smith noted.
The report also notes unusually high threats to tapirs, hippos, bears, pigs and hogs, while among the less threatened are moles, opossums and free-tailed bats.
For marine mammals the major threat is accidental death, especially fisheries by-catch and vessel strike.
Climate change is also affecting sea ice dependent species such as polar bears and harp seals.
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clipped from news.yahoo.com
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