Red List - 12,259 Animal & Plant Species Threatened With Extinction

[hatrack]

EDIT

That's what conservationists are having to do in South Africa, where the riverine rabbit is on the brink of extinction. With fewer than 250 breeding pairs left, the riverine rabbit could soon join the long-departed wooly mammoth among the ranks of vanished creatures.

The bunnies aren't the only ones facing extinction. According to the 2003 Red List of Threatened Species released Tuesday by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the variegated spider monkey, the tiny Galapagos snail, and the Mekong giant catfish are also fighting for their future. The turtlelike Seychelles fresh water terrapin lost its battle this year and is gone forever.

Two Hawaiian plants — the flowering Clermonteia peleane and the palmlike Cyanea superba — both critically endangered last year, are now extinct in the wild. Eight other species were added to the extinct in the wild list, including an earthworm from Tasmania, Australia, last seen in 1971.

There are 12,259 known plants and animal species threatened with extinction, falling into the critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable categories, said the IUCN. Last year the number was at 11,167, but the Gland, Switzerland–based organization said it is difficult to compare the numbers because new species are being discovered and others change categories."

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/news/2003-11-18/s_10500.asp

[blindpig]

1. does anybody really care?

to me, this is our species ultimate crime. what we do to our conspecifics is bad enough, exterminating another species, directly or otherwise, is a crime against the gods. the poor of the 3rd world might be excused, they're just trying to survive. persons living 1st world lifestyles, be they the elite of Peru or Joe/Jane Sixpack are driving this trend with our piggish consumption. Not to mention the refusal to deal with the fact our species numbers way beyond the earth's carrying capacity{probably 1-2 billion}.