Scientists warn once-common species are disappearing faster than they can be counted as North America’s ash trees join IUCN’s list of endangered species due to threat of an invasive beetle

Native ash trees, abundant across North America, are on the brink of extinction as an invasive beetle ravages forests, according to the new red list of threatened species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Once-common ash trees and antelope added to red list of endangered species – in pictures Read more

The list now includes more than 25,000 species at risk of extinction and the scientists warn that species, such as the American ashes and five African antelopes, that were thought to be safe, are now disappearing faster than they can be counted.

The new red list declares the Christmas Island Pipistrelle bat extinct, but also reports that conservation efforts have improved the prospects for snow leopards and the Rodrigues flying fox from Mauritius.

In July, scientists reported that a “biological annihilation” of wildlife in recent decades means a sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is under way and is more severe than previously feared. Half of all animals on the planet have been lost in the past 40 years, due to the destruction of wild areas, hunting and pollution as the human population grows.

“Our activities as humans are pushing species to the brink so fast that it’s impossible for conservationists to assess the declines in real time,” said Inger Andersen, IUCN director general. “Even those species that we thought were abundant and safe – such as antelopes in Africa or ash trees in the US – now face an imminent threat of extinction.”

“Conservation action does work, conserving the forests, savannas and other biomes that we depend on for our survival, [but] it is simply not a high-enough funding priority,” she said. “Our planet needs urgent, global action, guided by the red list data, to ensure species’ survival and our own sustainable future.”

The six most common ash tree species in North America, representing nine billion trees, have entered the red list for the first time, with five assessed as being in the most at-risk category of critically endangered. They are being destroyed by the fast-spreading emerald ash borer beetle, which arrived in Michigan from Asia in the late 1990s in infested shipping pallets.

The beetle has already killed tens of millions of trees and can wipe out a whole forest in six years. Climate change is also helping the alien invader enter new areas that were previously too cold. One of the affected species, the once-plentiful white ash is one of the most valuable timber trees in North America, used for making furniture, baseball bats and hockey sticks.

Earth's sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn Read more

Ash trees are a key member of North American forests, providing habitat and food for birds, squirrels and important pollinators such as butterflies and moths. “Their decline, which is likely to affect over 80% of the trees, will dramatically change the composition of both wild and urban forests,” said Murphy Westwood, member of the IUCN Global Tree Specialist Group who led the assessment. Millions of tiny parasitic wasps were released in 24 US states in May 2016 to try to combat the beetle.

In Africa, five species of antelope previously thought to be safe are declining drastically, including the world’s largest antelope, the giant eland. It is now classed as vulnerable, with no more that 14,000 left.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Africa’s giant eland antelope, previously thought to be safe, is now classed as vulnerable. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

“Antelopes have been declining as human populations continue to grow, clearing land for agriculture, unsustainably harvesting bushmeat, expanding their settlements, extracting resources and building new roads,” said David Mallon, from the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Antelope Specialist Group.

While more than 150 new endangered species have been added to the new Red List, the prospects of some have improved. New data on the snow leopard of the high mountains of central Asia has moved it from the endangered to vulnerable category.

“To be considered ‘endangered’, there must be fewer than 2,500 mature snow leopards and they must be experiencing a high rate of decline. Both are now considered extremely unlikely, which is the good news,” said Tom McCarthy, from wild cat conservation group Panthera and a member of the IUCN assessment team. “But it does not mean that snow leopards are ‘safe’ or that now is a time to celebrate. The species still faces ‘a high risk of extinction in the wild’ and is likely still declining – just not at the rate previously thought.”

The flying fox that lives on the Mauritian island of Rodrigues has also moved categories, from critically endangered to endangered. The improvement follows reforestation programmes and better legal protection and enforcement against hunting.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Christmas Island pipistrelle bat is now classed as extinct. Photograph: Lindy Lumsden/Courtesy of IUCN

But the pipistrelle bat found only on Australia’s Christmas Island has been declared extinct. Just one was left in August 2009, and it disappeared later that month, with no trace since despite extensive searches. The reasons for extinction are unclear, but may have been a combination of predation by introduced rats and cats and the impacts of supercolonies of invasive yellow crazy ants on the insects the bat ate.

Overall the IUCN Red List now contains 87,967 species, of which 25,062 are endangered.