Half of mammals are in decline, study finds

[IDemo]

MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 48 minutes ago

BARCELONA, Spain - One in two mammal species on Earth are in decline and at least one in four are at risk of disappearing forever, according to a scientific survey released Monday and whose sponsors described the trend as an "extinction crisis" in the making.

"Mammals are declining faster than we thought," said Jan Schipper, lead author of a companion study being published this week in the journal Science.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature released the data compiled by 1,700 experts in 130 countries, adding that the numbers could be even worse given that data was lacking for hundreds of mammal species.

"The reality is that the number of threatened mammals could be as high as 36 percent," Schipper said in a statement released by the IUCN at a gathering in Barcelona.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26979274/

[The Blue Flower]

1. I'd include humans in the threatened category these days

nt

[LeftinOH]

2. Rats will inherit the Earth....n/t