Some species could be wiped out faster than feared
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Scientists are now warning that endangered species could become extinct 100 times faster than previously thought. Their findings, presented in the journal Nature, say that up until now, we have dramatically underestimated the speed at which some will disappear. The Guardian has details:
The findings...suggest that animals such as the western gorilla, the Sumatran tiger and Malayan sun bear, the smallest of the bear family, may become extinct much sooner than conservationists had feared. Ecologists Brett Melbourne, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Alan Hastings at the University of California, Davis said conservation organisations should use updated extinction models to urgently re-evaluate the risks to wildlife. ‘Some species could have months instead of years left, while other species that haven’t even been identified as under threat yet should be listed as endangered,’ said Melbourne. The warning has particular implications for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles an annual ‘red list’ of endangered species. Last year the list upgraded western gorillas to critically endangered, after populations of a subspecies were found to have been badly affected by Ebola virus and the commercial trade in bushmeat. The Yangtze river dolphin was listed as critically endangered, but could possibly be already extinct.