Over 17,000 species threatened by extinction

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009

Over 17,000 species threatened by extinction
By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press Writer

GENEVA (AP) - A rare Panamanian tree frog, a rodent from Madagascar and two lizards found only in the Philippines are among over 17,000 species threatened with extinction, a leading environmental group said Tuesday.

The Rabb's fringe-limbed tree frog, only discovered four years ago, is one of 1,895 amphibian species that could soon disappear from the wild because of deforestation and infection, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said.

The Switzerland-based group surveyed 47,677 animals and plants for this year's "Red List" of endangered species, determining that 17,291 of them are at risk of extinction.

More than one in five of all known mammals, over a quarter of reptiles and 70 percent of plants are under threat, according to the survey, which featured over 2,800 new species compared with 2008.

"These results are just the tip of the iceberg," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, who manages the list. He said many more species that have yet to be assessed could also be under serious threat.



Read more: http://news.corporate.findlaw.com/ap/other/1501/11-03-2...

[hatrack]

1. Nothing to see here! Move along! Shiny object! Balloon Boy! Celebrity breasts! Big Game! TV!

Ticktickticktickticktickticktick . . .

[Vehl]

2. once gone we can't see them again:(

Entire species are dying away..thanks to our lifestyle...each one of them as valid as the human species..

what would some Extraterrestrial being think about us if they look at this? are we not one of the most cruelest of species...

[onehandle]

3. Our time will come. nt

[The Stranger]

9. Not soon enough, I fear.

[damntexdem]

4. All species are threatened with extinction.

In particular, the human species is threatened with extinction. And it is the species at fault for this one.

[Solitaire]

5. I'd like to add another...

the American wild horse. This extinction will be due to the BLM ignoring the law, i.e., "The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971", which protects our horses.

For anyone at all interested, the BLM is destroying all of our wild horses by rounding them up, holding them in pens and/or sterilizing and releasing them. All at our expense, I might add, when this is all against the law.

For information and on how to help: www.thecloudfoundation.org and http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/artic...

[treygoba66]

8. Those native horses?

As a conservation biologist/educator, I find it hard to work
up sympathy for the plight of a weedy non-native organism. 

[Thothmes]

10. Those horses are not native to North or Sourt America Continents

They were brought here by Europeans. The native horse populations may have been extinct on this continent a long time before the humans arrived.

[defendandprotect]

6. k i c k

[defendandprotect]

7. Patriarchy/Captialism is suidical -- and a threat to all of nature, including humans -- !!!

[Uncle Joe]

11. Each one of those extinctions is a thread pulled from our own fabric of life.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[Vidar]

12. More evidence we're killing off the planet. Recommended.