The number of endangered species increases

2002/10/08 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biologia
• Zoologia
• Ingurumena

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published a new list of endangered animal and plant species.

In the list of animals there are 11,167 species, 121 more than in the last publication two years ago. According to the organization, the most threatened species are three: saiga, lince and camello.

Saiga (Saiga tatarica) is an Asian antelope. In the last decade it has suffered a spectacular fall: In 1993 it was estimated that there were a million wild saigas and currently no more than 50,000. It is hunted for its meats and branches.

The camel (Camelus ferus) is about to disappear by the hunt that is suffering. It is hunted because it competes with camels domesticated by food and water, and also as sport.

The third species is the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardina). In the case of this species, the main cause of danger of extinction is the fragmentation of habitats caused by agricultural and industrial development. Currently, there are only isolated populations in the southwest of Spain and Portugal.

Although they are not at the beginning of the list, it is worth mentioning the case of primates. According to the IUCN, one in three species of primates is in danger of extinction. A total of 195 species have been included, 75 more than in 2000. 45% are Asian species.

As for the plants, there are 5,714 species in the list. However, they affirm that this data is not entirely true, since they estimate that the plants that have evaluated to create the list only represent 4% of the total number of species present on Earth. Therefore, it is possible that in the coming years the list of threatened plant species will be considerably extended.