A quarter of mammals face extinction

sea-maid submitted, created time 3 months 3 days (www.nature.com)

This article covers one of the most, possibly the most, comprehensive studies of endangered animals in human history. Previous efforts have had to limit themselves to only better-known or better-studied species, but this one covers marine and obscure mammals as well.

"One in four of the world's mammal species is threatened with extinction, according to the first comprehensive survey of this class of animal. Populations are declining in half of all mammal species, with some experiencing an extreme decline. Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) numbers have plummeted by 60%" since 1998

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: hunting deforestation habitat loss pollution conservation environmentalism zoology mammals endangered species extinction

New evidence implicates humans in prehistoric animal extinctions

sea-maid submitted, created time 4 months 4 weeks (www.eurekalert.org)

Research led by UK and Australian scientists sheds new light on the role that our ancestors played in the extinction of Australia's prehistoric animals. Their study suggests that the mass extinction of Tasmania's large prehistoric animals was the result of human hunting, and not climate change as previously believed.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: hunting climate change Tasmania megafauna Australia prehistoric humans prehistoric animals extinctions prehistoric animal extinctions

Endangered condors will need more than numbers

Darkfrog submitted, created time 5 months 2 days (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

Although the U.S. condor rescue program has managed to prevent the extinction of the California condor, the program has hit a wall. About 10% of adult condors released into the wild die, often because of the lead they ingest from eating prey killed by human hunters. The population is not self-sustaining.

Saving the condors will not require banning hunting, however. Biologists here agree that it is the lead shot that is the problem. An increase in hunting in places where condors live would actually be good for the scavenging birds.

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: condor hunting conservation endangered species environmentalism