A fifth of the world's animals face oblivion: Scientists fear 'sixth mass extinction' has begun



One in five of the world's mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians are under threat of extinction, according to a major new stock take of life on Earth.

The shocking study found that the number of endangered vertebrates, or animals with backbones, is still rising and that humans are largely to blame.

Many scientists believe the world is going through a 'sixth mass extinction' and that more wildlife is going extinct now than at any time since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.

The panda is one of those species most at risk according to the list

The report comes as governments are taking part in UN talks in Nagoya, Japan to tackle the global threat to wildlife.

It looked at the status of more than 25,000 species on the Red List - a database of threatened animals created by the respected International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Around 20 per cent of the world's vertebrates are threatened, including 25 per cent of all mammals, 13 per cent of birds, 22 per cent of reptiles and 41 per cent of amphibians.

The scientists also found that 33 per cent of 'cartilaginous' fish - species such as shark, rays and skates whose skeletons are made from cartilage, were threatened, along with 15 per cent of bony fish.

Species at risk include the iconic polar bear, panda and Iberian lynx. Others include the Tasmanian devil - which has been badly hit by an infectious form of cancer, the Caspian seal and the Asian fishing cat.

British species on the list include the European eel whose numbers have plummeted by 99 per cent because of pollution and overfishing, the schelly - one of Britain's rarest freshwater fish which is found in only four lakes in the Lake District, and the aquatic warbler - a yellow brown visitor to southern Britain in the late summer.

The report, published in the journal Science and written by 174 scientists, found that an average of 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians slide a step closer to extinction every year - moving into a more threatened category on the list.

One of the world's leading ecologists, Professor Edward O. Wilson, from Harvard University, warned: 'The 'backbone' of biodiversity is being eroded.

'One small step up the Red List is one giant leap forward towards extinction. This is just a small window on the global losses taking place.'

Southeast Asia is losing most wildlife thanks to the expansion of agriculture, the logging and burning of forests and over-hunting. Species are also threatened by the invasion of alien species from other countries.

The report showed that extinction rates had exceeded the normal background rates by two or three orders of magnitude over the last 40 years.

However, without action from conservationists, the situation would have been far worse - with 20 per cent more species moving into a more threatened category.

Sixty four species had seen an improvement in their status as a result of work to help protect them and their habitat.

'This paper is proof that conservation is working. Now we have to scale-up our efforts to match the unprecedented threats faced by the natural world,' said Prof Jonathan Baillie, Director of Conservation Programmes at the Zoological Society of London.

A separate report by the Zoological Society of London warned that common animals were also declining.

The Evolution Lost report said populations of mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish species had declined on average by 30 per cent in the past 40 years.

Over the past decades, land mammal populations are estimated to have declined by a quarter, marine fish by a fifth and freshwater fish by up to 65 per cent.

The report also warned that entire 'lineages' of species such as marine turtles and pandas are on the brink of being lost - with no similar species able to fill the ecological niches or functions they inhabit.