One in eight bird species is threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In the latest update of the IUCN's Red List of threatened species, 190 birds are designated "critically endangered"; eight of those were added this year. Sixteen other bird species were also moved to a higher level of threat on the list, while only two found their prospects improved. "Species are being hit by the double whammy of habitat loss and climate change," says Stuart Butchart of BirdLife International, which helped compile the list. The most endangered feathered fauna include the Mallee emuwren, of which only about 100 are left in the wild, and the Floreana mockingbird, which is hanging on with a population of 60. To save them, says Butchart, we need "broad-scale climate-change mitigation measures" and a change in "society's values and lifestyles." Full-on societal change? That's for the birds.
source: Agence France-Presse, BBC News, Bloomberg, Reuters
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Comments
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caniscandida Posted 2:41 am
20 May 2008
I like this hopeful note at the end of the AFP article:
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The rare pieces of good news offered by the IUCN were attributed to two successful conservation programmes.
The first involved the Marquesan Imperial-pigeon (Ducula galeata), whose signature call is a "deep bellow waah-waah, like the mooing of a cow," according to BirdLife.
The species, which is a native of French Polynesia, is doing well under a translocation programme which has shifted breeding pairs to a new home.
The other is the little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii). Individuals have been moved out of New Zealand's South Island to new territories and are slowly reproducing.
"This goes to show not only that conservation action works but that it is vital if we are to prevent the extinction of these and other species," Butchart said.
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I hope I get to meet some day one of those Marquesan Imperial pigeons, not only in order to hear it moo like a cow, but because the genus name "Ducula" is adorable.
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Dragon Posted 3:33 am
20 May 2008
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enki Posted 3:49 am
20 May 2008
World Wildlife Fund: http://www.wwf.org.uk/filelibrary/pdf/2010_and_beyond.pdf ...
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erniecaldwell Posted 4:34 am
20 May 2008
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