Conservation study shows lemurs, whales nearing extinction

Nearly all of Magascar's much-loved lemurs are under threat, and almost one-third are just one step away from extinction, largely due to deforestation and hunting on giant island off eastern Africa, conservationists said Thursday.

International Union for Conservation of Nature, updating its “red list” of threatened species, said lemurs are increasingly imperiled — a key finding in a bro warning about impacts of human activity on fauna and flora across globe.

Swiss-based conservancy also warns that rth Atlantic Right Whales are nearing extinction: t only are y increasingly ensnared in fishing gear but y’re colliding more with ships, possibly a result of climate change that drives ir migratory patterns rthward into shipping lanes.

“red list” highlights plight of some 6,000 species that are in most danger, but also tes that of 120,000 species of plants, animals and fungi assessed, more than a quarter are threatened with extinction.

“It just helps underline fact that we are moving into a sixth extinction era. It is all due to human activities,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, he of IUCN red list in a video interview from Cambridge, England. He cited human impacts like introduction of species to places where y don’t belong; overuse of species; clearing of forests to make way for agriculture; urbanization; pollution; “and of course, climate change.”

red list breaks down threatened species into vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered categories, last involving those closest to extinction. Some 33 of species of lemurs, which live only in Magascar, are critically endangered — and 98 percent are threatened.

“We w have less than 10 percent of original forest in Magascar left. So naturally, this has a huge impact on species that are dependent on those forests, like lemurs,” Hilton-Taylor said, alluding to “slash and burn” agriculture re. He said more lemur species are being hunted for ir meat, too.

He recommended efforts to help improve farmers' livelihoods so y can avoid forest-depleting agricultural techniques.

IUCN also said fewer than 250 mature rth Atlantic Right Whales were believed to be alive in 2018, marking a 15-percent drop since 2011. Nearly all of 30 confirmed human-caused deaths or serious injuries to whales between 2012 and 2016 were due to entanglement.

Hilton-Taylor said whales' reproduction rates are falling, and cited a ory that warming sea temperatures could be driving whales rthward into shipping lanes of Gulf of St Lawrence in rrn hemisphere summer.

He said Canian and U.S. governments have presented recovery plans for whales, such as by warning ships when creatures are present in area and devising fishing systems that run a lower risk of entanglement.

Overall, Hilton-Taylor said, report suggested COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated a pause from usually frenetic ecomic and human activity that impacts wildlife.

“We need to take a hard, long, hard look at ourselves,” he said, saying species can be saved. “This is our opportunity to really transform society.”