endangered species

The most thorough assessment of land and marine mammals in 12 years, just published in Science, says that a quarter of the world's wild mammal species are at risk of extinction.

It took nearly 2,000 experts in more than 100 countries five years to complete the research. In other words: this one's big, and ought to be paid some serious attention.

While land mammals are most threatened by habitat loss and hunting, marine mammals are more in danger from bycatch, ship strikes and pollution.

I read a piece over at Dot Earth that discussed two very different takes on the issue of threatened, endangered or extinct species. Wilson’s Law, coined by Edward Wilson, a writer and biologist, says, in essence, “If you save the living environment and the biodiversity that we have left, you will also automatically save the physical environment, too.” In other words, we must work to save the Earth's physical environment, as well as its many species.