Thousands of species on edge of oblivion

The common hippo is a surprise addition to the list of species facing extinction. Picture / Kenny Rodger

More than 26,000 species of animals, birds, plants and fish will this week be added to the list of those in serious danger of extinction.

Thousands of species, including the common hippopotamus, are to be added or moved up the so-called "red list" drawn up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Around 20 per cent of sharks are in increasing danger of extinction, the study says.

The giant devil ray, similar to a manta ray, is often accidentally caught in nets intended for tuna and other fish.

David Sims, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association Laboratory at Plymouth, said that one of the main problems with sharks and rays was that they bore live young so that they reproduced more slowly.

"Global fisheries are having a massive effect on population. Some of the nets they use could engulf St Paul's Cathedral," he said.

The new research by the IUCN is the result of two years' work by scientists all over the world and adds to the picture revealed in the union's last report in 2004 which said that 15,589 species faced extinction - 7266 animals and 8323 plants and lichens.

While the latest analysis confirms the plight of the polar bear - because climate change threatens its Arctic habitat - more surprising was the threat to the common hippo, sought-after by poachers for the ivory in its teeth.

One of the creatures predicted to die out is the Yangtze River dolphin or Baiji. It is thought that just 30 remain and that the chances of breeding-age pairs meeting is extremely low.

Chris Butler-Stroud of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said the animal was effectively extinct.

The endangered species in the 2004 report included a third of amphibians and half of all fresh water turtles.

At least 15 species had died out over the previous two decades and a further 12 survived only in captivity.

Many more, however, are thought to have become extinct without having been recorded.

A conservative approach to declaring species lost means that others not yet formally classed as extinct have probably died out.

Among 3330 species newly assessed as threatened in 2004 were the fabulous green sphinx moth, from the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, and the African begonia from Cameroon.

Most of the new additions in 2004 were amphibians, joining the red list after the Global Amphibian Assessment that revealed that one in three species of frog, toad, newt and salamander was under threat.

The Jambato toad from Ecuador, the golden toad from Costa Rica and the kama'o bird from Hawaii were among the species declared extinct over the past two decades.

Between 1.6 million and 1.9 million species are known to science, but the total is usually estimated at between 10 million and 30 million - and many of those described and classified are poorly understood.

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