Two-thirds of wild animals may go extinct by 2020, warns report

Alarm bells:A male Asiatic lion looks out from his enclosure at London Zoo on Thursday.— Photo: AP

Global wildlife populations have fallen by 58 per cent since 1970, a report says.

The Living Planet assessment by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suggests that if the trend continues that decline could reach two-thirds among vertebrates by 2020.

The figures suggest that animals living in lakes, rivers and wetlands are suffering the biggest losses.

Human activity, including habitat loss, wildlife trade, pollution and climate change contributed to the declines.

Dr. Mike Barrett. head of science and policy at WWF, said: “It’s pretty clear under ‘business as usual’ we will see continued declines in these wildlife populations. But I think now we’ve reached a point where there isn’t really any excuse to let this carry on.” However, the methodology of the report has been criticised.

The Living Planet Report is published every two years and aims to provide an assessment of the state of the world’s wildlife.

This analysis looked at 3,700 different species of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles — about 6 per cent of the total number of vertebrate species in the world.

The team collected data from peer-reviewed studies, government statistics and surveys collated by conservation groups and NGOs. Any species with population data going back to 1970, with two or more time points (to show trends) was included in the study. The researchers then analysed how the population sizes had changed over time.

Some of this information was weighted to take into account the groups of animals that had a great deal of data (there are many records on Arctic and near Arctic birds, for example) or very little data (tropical amphibians, for example). The report authors said this was to make sure a surplus of information about declines in some animals did not skew the overall picture.

The last report, published in 2014, estimated that the world’s wildlife populations had halved over the last 40 years.

The researchers conclude that vertebrate populations are declining by an average of 2% each year. — The New York Times News Service