Study: World's Wildlife More at Risk Than Realized
2022-08-09
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1New research published last week in the publication Communications Biology suggests the world's wildlife may be in more trouble than scientists have so far reported.
2Scientists have examined the status of more than 147,000 plants and animals.
3But there are thousands of species that scientists still do not know enough about to judge their health and safety.
4As a result, those species have not been included in the listing of threatened or endangered species.
5The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updates that list each year.
6Among those underexamined species is the orca whale, the fairy armadillo of Argentina, and 200 bat species around the world.
7In some cases, the lack of data itself is a warning sign.
8It suggests the species may be hard to find because its population has decreased, said a team of international scientists.
9They used data on environmental conditions and human threats to map the possibility of species death among those they examined.
10Then, the team looked at the 7,699 underexamined species.
11They estimated that about 56 percent were facing conditions that likely put the species at risk of dying out, or extinction, said the study.
12The IUCN lists about 28 percent of species around the world as "threatened."
13There are millions more plant and animal species that the IUCN has never looked at.
14Scientists estimate 1 million of them are threatened with extinction, said a 2019 report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
15Jan Borgelt is a writer of the report and an ecologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
16He said of the endangered and threatened "data deficient" plants and animals, many are species that live in small areas far from human population centers.
17He added many are in central Africa, Madagascar, and southern Asia.
18The state of nature "could be worse than we realize if these predictions are true," he said.
19The study said the worst off are likely an underexamined kind of animal called amphibians, with 85 percent estimated to be threatened.
20Governments often aim to protect species named by the IUCN as threatened or endangered.
21Pamela Gonzalez del Pliego is an ecologist at the University of Évora in Portugal who was not involved in the research.
22She said, studies such as this "highlight where conservation resources should be allocated."
23I'm Gregory Stachel.
1New research published last week in the publication Communications Biology suggests the world's wildlife may be in more trouble than scientists have so far reported. 2Scientists have examined the status of more than 147,000 plants and animals. But there are thousands of species that scientists still do not know enough about to judge their health and safety. As a result, those species have not been included in the listing of threatened or endangered species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) updates that list each year. 3Among those underexamined species is the orca whale, the fairy armadillo of Argentina, and 200 bat species around the world. 4In some cases, the lack of data itself is a warning sign. It suggests the species may be hard to find because its population has decreased, said a team of international scientists. They used data on environmental conditions and human threats to map the possibility of species death among those they examined. 5Then, the team looked at the 7,699 underexamined species. They estimated that about 56 percent were facing conditions that likely put the species at risk of dying out, or extinction, said the study. 6The IUCN lists about 28 percent of species around the world as "threatened." 7There are millions more plant and animal species that the IUCN has never looked at. Scientists estimate 1 million of them are threatened with extinction, said a 2019 report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. 8Jan Borgelt is a writer of the report and an ecologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He said of the endangered and threatened "data deficient" plants and animals, many are species that live in small areas far from human population centers. He added many are in central Africa, Madagascar, and southern Asia. 9The state of nature "could be worse than we realize if these predictions are true," he said. 10The study said the worst off are likely an underexamined kind of animal called amphibians, with 85 percent estimated to be threatened. 11Governments often aim to protect species named by the IUCN as threatened or endangered. 12Pamela Gonzalez del Pliego is an ecologist at the University of Évora in Portugal who was not involved in the research. She said, studies such as this "highlight where conservation resources should be allocated." 13I'm Gregory Stachel. 14Gloria Dickie reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 15_______________________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17status - n. the current state of someone or something 18species - n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants 19deficient - adj. not having enough of something that is important or necessary 20allocate - v. to divide and give out (something) for a special reason or to particular people or companies 21_______________________________________________________________________ 22What do you think of animal conservation? 23We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 24Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.