Business and Biodiversity Initiative

The IUCN Red List of threatened Species has been updated, and the results are sobering.

The results reveal 21 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of all known amphibians, 12 percent of all known birds, and 28 percent of reptiles, 37 percent of freshwater fishes, 70 percent of plants, 35 percent of invertebrates assessed so far are under threat.

Apparently the results could be even worse than the numbers indicate, as funding shortages have prevented the surveys from being as comprehensive as possible. "We need an assessment of all reptiles to understand the severity of the situation but we don't have the $2-3 million to carry it out," said Simon Stuart, Chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission in a statement.

According to Craig Hilton-Taylor, "These results are just the tip of the iceberg. We have only managed to assess 47,663 species so far; there are many more millions out there which could be under serious threat,"

The full press release is here.

The Guardian also has a related picture show about endangered species, fitting called 'the naughties: a decade of lost species', here.