One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70 per cent of the world’s assessed plants on the 2007 IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Red List are in jeopardy. There are now 41,415 species on the list and 16,306 of them are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a further 65 are only found in captivity or in cultivation. India and Nepal’s crocodile, the Gharial is among the species facing crisis with threats from habitat degradation. Its population has declined by 58 per cent. The usual suspects are the dams, irrigation projects, sand mining and artificial embankments which have reduced its habitat to 2 per cent of its former range.

Among the disheartening news is that the Western Gorilla has moved from endangered to critically endangered, after the discovery that the main subspecies, the Western Lowland Gorilla  has been decimated by the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus. Corals too have been added to the IUCN Red List for the very first time with ten species entering the list. This year the total number of birds on the IUCN Red List is 9,956 with 1,217 listed as threatened. Vultures in Africa and Asia have declined, with five species reclassified on the IUCN Red List. In Asia, the Red-headed Vulture moved from near threatened to critically endangered. Use of livestock drug diclofenac is seen as the main reason. There are now 12,043 plants on the IUCN Red List, with 8,447 listed as threatened. The near extinction of the freshwater dolphin found in Yangtze River with the most likely cause cited as the use of fishing nets with hooks has been the latest discovery.

Most threatened birds, mammals and amphibians are located on the tropical continents. These are the places experiencing exploding human population which inevitably leads to habitat destruction and degradation of the ecosystem. Invasive species that pose a threat, owing to increasing travel between continents, and hunting also contribute to extinctions. There are also the worries of climate change causing damage to natural climes conducive to species. While there is some awareness on the need to check the loss of biodiversity, not enough is being done. Unless our planners and developers get the message that development cannot be at the cost of other species, the list will keep growing larger.