Up to 1/3 of World's Wildlife Wiped Out Since 1970
by Jarrett Martineau | May 16, 2008 at 01:27 am | 1092 views | 36 comments
These statistics are almost impossible to believe. We've lost more than a quarter, and possibly up to a third, of the world's wildlife in the past 40 years alone.
At a current extinction rate of 1% per year, that means all wildlife on earth could be gone in less than one hundred years.
Add climate change into the mix and we could, effectively, be looking at the end of biodiversity on the planet.
What a frightening thought.
Between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London.
Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says.
Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says.
Pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting are blamed.
The WWF is calling on governments meeting in Bonn to honour their commitments to put in place effective protected areas for wildlife and to adopt a target to achieve net annual zero deforestation by 2020.
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Comments (36)
at 18:32 on May 16th, 2008
I love photographing nature. This little gosling is one of 11 and it resides at the Calgary Zoo
njchow82 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 18:49 on May 16th, 2008
Sadly man will act too late to save many of our wildlife species that are threatened with extinction.
at 19:44 on May 16th, 2008
Breeding pair, I am lucky in my area still some birdlife even after many years of drought.
lncptrs has contributed a photo to this story.
at 21:44 on May 16th, 2008
"Add climate change into the mix and we could, effectively, be looking at the end of biodiversity on the planet."
That's a very arrogant, human-centric view of the situation. We are certainly in the midst of the largest extinction crisis this planet has seen in the last 65 million years. The effects of these extinctions is unknown, but it won't cause the end of biodiversity. Changes, yes. The end? No. That's not to say that we shouldn't do everything possible to reduce these changes.
"These statistics are almost impossible to believe."
They're impossible to believe because they're not true. Those statistics are misleading. Of the 1400 species in the survey, 1/4 to 1/3 are believed to be extinct. That's very different to saying that 1/4 to 1/3 of all the millions of species on this planet have become extinct since 1970.
I'm passionate about conservation, but I don't think misrepresenting the truth is the correct way to engage others in this. News organisations need to be trustworthy.
Stewart
at 22:04 on May 16th, 2008
Colourful flatworms are commonly seen on Singapore's living reefs and shores. Although highly urbanised, Singapore still has lots of wild places. For more, see http://www.wildsingapore.com/
wildsingapore has contributed a photo to this story.
at 23:16 on May 16th, 2008
It was just a flock of Cockatoos I came across while driving. They were feeding on the seeds of a Liquidamber tree on the side of the road.
Kounelli has contributed a photo to this story.
at 01:30 on May 17th, 2008
Its amazing how a baby monkey looks. It has so many wrinkles, they loose them as they grow old and we gain them as we grow old. :)
ajit_satam has contributed a photo to this story.
at 02:02 on May 17th, 2008
The feral Mink, introduced from the USA for the fur trade and then 'released' by animal rights activists into the English countryside.
Now it has almost wiped out the water shrew and other native aquatic mammals.
DrSlippers has contributed a photo to this story.
at 03:58 on May 17th, 2008
shot in the Türkenschanzpark in Vienna
Diavie has contributed a photo to this story.
at 04:24 on May 17th, 2008
Even in face of these hart braking statistics this baby bird was incredibly trusting. Peering at me ingenuously out of his bright newborn eyes he gave me the impression of having no idea how the self interest of our species is decimating his wold and kin.
Mr. FM has contributed a photo to this story.
at 04:30 on May 17th, 2008
Thank you Jarrett Martineau for writing this shattering story. Dispite my interest in the topic I had never heard that it was quite this bad before.
at 04:30 on May 17th, 2008
These photos were taken at my local Country Park in Nottingham. UK. Although there always seems to be an abundance of wildlife, we are increasingly seeing non-native species appearing, the latest is a Black Swan & Mandarin Duck. Whether this is to do with Climate Changes, who knows!
Angelicus73 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 04:47 on May 17th, 2008
Coot taken in Dublins Phoenix Park.
ard_an_ri has contributed a photo to this story.
at 05:03 on May 17th, 2008
A coot chick on its way for feeding time. (The Netherlands)
tway76 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 05:22 on May 17th, 2008
Jarrett Martineau, this is so sad...
at 07:36 on May 18th, 2008
This is due to the greed of us human animals.
How can we ever expect to win the race to save the animals?
at 05:32 on May 17th, 2008
Shot in Monterey bay, California basking in the sun.
Dan Valentine has contributed a photo to this story.
at 06:00 on May 17th, 2008
This is a boar, seen in a wild life resort in the Bavarian Forest, Germany.
Travelawyer has contributed a photo to this story.
at 07:27 on May 17th, 2008
Sadly, I can see this well in the bird population in Iceland, especially those who eat sandeel and other small fishes.
Gísli Baldur has contributed a photo to this story.
at 09:31 on May 17th, 2008
We were photographing on the Masai Mara, Kenya Africa and came across this breeding pair of lions. This was taken during one of rest period in between one of the several couplations that we witnessed.
Picture Taker 2 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 09:45 on May 17th, 2008
As an amateur photographer it is getting harder all the time to find animals, birds or snakes in the wild. I spend a lot of time in Florida and New York walking in the wild looking for that perfect shot.
greyhound dad has contributed a photo to this story.
at 10:11 on May 17th, 2008
These pictures begged to be taken.
My husband and I have been taking nature pictures in various locations both wild and not so wild.
Greyhoundmom has contributed a photo to this story.
at 10:16 on May 17th, 2008
Life is fragile we must protect it to the best of our ability.
at 10:49 on May 17th, 2008
A couple of sunbathing seals at the North Carolina Zoo.
aubsglamola has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:21 on May 17th, 2008
My photo from The Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary is a sad testament to wildlife in the Southern California area. There was 20 year building moratorium in my particular area
and when the 20 years was up some years ago the place was overrun with new tract homes & stores. Used to be able to see coyotes trotting down the street, racoons in trees, possums waddling about, and the occasional odor of skunk letting someones dog know who is boss and with a good set of binoculars a mountain lion. Now with the exception of some birds, its house cats & pet dogs.
at 15:46 on May 17th, 2008
We saw a family of deer at Bear Park in Colorado Springs while walking on Mother's Day. They were not bothered by our presence in the slightest and at one point we were only about 10 feet away from them, separated by a creek.
BlakeSarahKennySam has contributed a photo to this story.