Hilton-Taylor of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) refers to the “huge” gap in biodiversity data as a copy of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We’ve lost a lot of valuable time in terms of oversight,” he says.
Nevertherless, on July 9, IUCN covered its ever-changing red list among the 120,000 threatened species. Over 32,000 species are currently endangered; among them, European hamsters, North Atlantic South whales and multiple species of lemur are newly listed as critically endangered.
European hamsters have been added to a list of critically endangered animals. They are among the new additions to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) “Red List”.
The European hamster is a larger relative than the Syrian or dwarf hamsters, which are widely kept as pets.
Human impact on hamster habitats as the cause of the species’ to decline is being investigated. The number of European hamsters has dropped by 75% across France’s Alsace, Germany and Eastern Europe. This is because of the female hamsters is now producing fewer children than before.
The IUCN says that in the 20th century, a female hamster produced an average of 20 baby hamsters a year, but now this has dropped to five or six a year. However, that’s a significant change from the 2016 species final assessment, which listed the European hamster as a “minimum concern” at the bottom end of the red list scale.
The specialists believe that if they do nothing, they will become extinct in the next 30 years.
“It’s really unusual,” says Hilton-Taylor, chief of the Red List Unit. Industrial development, monoculture (monoculture), global warming and light pollution are all being investigated as potential causes, the report said.
The North Atlantic South Whale is one step away from extinction
The North Atlantic South Whale (Ibulena glacialis) has been moved from endangered to critically according to the IUCN Red List. It is estimated that less than 250 adults were estimated to be alive by the end of 2018, and since 2011 the total population has fallen by approximately 15%.
This decline was due to entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes and an increase in the number of deaths due and lower fertility rates compared to the previous years.
Between 2012 and 2016, 26 of the 30 deaths in the North Atlantic South Whale occurred as a result of the entanglement. The remaining deaths were caused by human deaths and serious injuries.
Climate change exacerbates the threats to North Atlantic South whales. According to Hilton Taylor, rising sea temperatures due to climate change could push their krill food supply into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the summer where there is a greater risk of accidental encounters with ships and crawling into crab-pot ropes.
One third of the Lemur species are on the brink of extinction
IUCN has named 33 critically endangered species of lemurs, of which 103 of 107 species of leumer threatened with extinction due to the deforestation and hunting in Madagascar. As a result of the escalation of human pressure, 13 species of leumers have been relegated to highly threatened groups.
Among them newly listed critically endangered lists are erreaux’s Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) and Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur (Microcebus berthae), the world’s smallest primates, both of them are previously listed as endangered.
These species are declining significantly as forest habitats continue to be destroyed by cutting down and burning agriculture, as well as cutting timber for charcoal and fuel wood and hunting continues to threaten Verreaux’s Sifaka.
Cover Photo : CNN
