Manyanimalpopulationsfacingthreats

　　Aworldwidestudyhasfoundthatalmosttwenty-fivepercentofwildmammalsareindangerofpermanentlydisappearing.Scientificresearchersconsideredallknownmammalpopulations.Theresearcherssaypermanentdisappearancethreatensatleastonethousandonehundredforty-onespeciesorgroupsofanimals.Mammalsaretheclosestrelativestohumanbeings.

　　Theresearchersareblaminglossofhabitat,orlivingspace,andhuntingforthreatenedlandmammals.Theysaywatermammalssuffermorefrompollution,beinghitbyshipsandcaughtinfishingnets.

　　Onethousandsevenhundredexpertsworkedonthestudy.Theyarefromonehundredthirtycountries.TheirfindingswerereportedattheWorldConservationConferenceoftheInternationalUnionforConservationofNatureinBarcelona,Spain.

　　ThereportwaspresentedinconnectionwiththeRedListofThreatenedSpecies.TheWorldConservationConferenceannouncestheRedListeachyear.Thelistcontainsalmostfortyfivethousandanimalsandplants.Ofthose,almostseventeenthousand,oraboutthirtyeightpercent,arethreatenedwithextinction.

　　SomescientistssaythereportprovidesevidencethatEarth'swildlifeisgoingthroughwidespreadextinction.Thelastsuchperiodmayhavetakenplacemillionsofyearsago,whendinosaursbecameextinct.

　　JanSchipperledthewritingofthereport.HedirectstheI.U.C.N.'sprogramthatobservesanimalpopulationsworldwide.

　　MisterSchippersaysuptothirtysixpercentofmammalscouldbefacingextinction.Hesaysthisistruebecausenotmuchinformationexistsaboutsomespecies.Atleastseventy-sixmammalshavepermanentlydisappearedsincefifteenhundred.

　　ThedirectorgeneraloftheI.U.C.N.,JuliaMarton-Lefevre,sayshumanactivitycouldcauselossofhundredsofspecies.Shesaysthatisafrighteningsignofwhatishappeningtohabitats.Still,thereportsaidhumaneffortsalsocouldhelpsavesomespecies.MizMarton-Lefevreiscallingforactiontomakethathappen.

　　Forstudypurposes,theI.U.C.N.dividesanimalsintogroups.Thescientistscallanimalsthathavedisappeared,oralmostdisappeared,extinctornearlyextinct.Afrog-likecreaturecalledHoldridge'stoadwasdeclaredextinct.ItlivedonlyinCostaRica.

　　Otherdivisionsdependontheamountofthreattheanimalsface.Theanimalsinmostdangerareconsideredcriticallyendangered.

　　Forexample,theIberianlynxiscalledcriticallyendangered.Asfewaseighty-fouradultmembersofthelarge,cat-likeanimalsremainalive.

　　TheRedListidentifiesthesecondmostthreatenedanimalsasendangered.ThescientistsnamedaSoutheastAsiananimal,thefishingcat,asamongtheendangered.Partofthefishingcat'swetlandhabitatnolongerexists.

　　AnewstudysuggeststhelastwoollymammothsinSiberiawerenativetoNorthAmerica.ScientistshadbelievedthesemammothscamefromEuropeorAsia.

　　Thestudyinvolvedgeneticevidencefromtheremainsoftheancientanimal.WoollyMammothsshareanancestorwithmodern-dayelephants.Themammothisrecognizableforitslonghairandlargetusks.

　　Woollymammothsdisappearedthousandsofyearsago,afterEarth'smostrecenticeage.Butmammothswereabletosurviveforthousandsofyears.Duringthisperiod,theyslowlychangedtoliveinex