http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6680777.stm
Worries for at-risk bird species
Tuesday, 22 May 2007, 13:44 GMT 14:44 UK
More birds than ever are threatened with extinction, according to the
latest evaluation by the conservation group BirdLife International.
Its annual assessment of population sizes, trends and ranges for all
10,000 species worldwide indicates that 1,221 now have an Endangered
status.
The data will be fed into the IUCN Red List, which documents the status
of the planet's flora and fauna.
BirdLife says conservation efforts must be redoubled to reverse the
declines.
"There are two sides to this story: whilst conservation efforts have
been successful in recovering some species, there are more and more
species slipping towards extinction. The challenge becomes greater each
year," commented Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's global species
programme co-ordinator
"But where efforts, resources and political will are directed, species
can recover. Conservation works," he said. "We just need much more of
it in order to turn back the tide of impending extinctions."
BirdLife says the overall conservation status of the world's birds has
deteriorated steadily since 1988, when they were first comprehensively
assessed. Now, more than a fifth (22%) of the planet's birds are
described as being at increased risk of extinction.
"Lowlights" this year include the waved albatross ( Diomedea irrorata
), which breeds only in the Galapagos Islands.
It has been categorised as Critically Endangered, which under the
internationally accepted definitions of the IUCN Red List means the
bird is now at extreme high risk of disappearing.
Like all the albatross species it has suffered terribly with the
expansion of commercial long-line fishing, in which birds attracted to
bait are hooked and pulled under water to drown.
The 2007 Red List, compiled by the World Conservation Union (IUCN),
will be released in September.
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