IUCN Report Warns of Extinction Risk for 1 in 4 Mammals

by Stephanie Ernst · 2008-10-07 15:22:00 UTC
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Silvery gibbon--critically endangered

The animals pay for our mistakes. Over and over and over again. Our insistence on eating the flesh and reproductive secretions of one set of them is contributing enormously to global warming, and the global warming that we are causing (along with loads of other environmental destruction) via our diet and other behaviors is threatening to wipe out a slew of species. These warnings have been coming for some time, and this week the International Union for the Conservation of Nature is warning us again:

1 in 4 mammals at risk of extinction, scientists say

"We estimate that one in four species is threatened with extinction and that the population of one in two is declining," the researchers said in a report to be published Friday in the journal Science. The findings were being released Monday at the IUCN meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

And that's just the mammals. You don't even want to know the dire situation faced by amphibian species, for example—but I'll give you a hint anyway: Jane Goodall is calling the current state of affairs "Armageddon for frogs."

green and golden bell frog

Environmental concerns and animal advocacy go hand in hand, now more than ever. If you're an animal advocate but not yet a greenie, you better get on board—and soon. The animals don't have the luxury of time.

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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