The European Union should halt the rapid extinction of plant and animal species by 2020 because it will cost less than trying to repair the damage once it is done, Europe's environment chief said on Tuesday.
Worldwide, species extinction rates are between 100 and 1,000 times the natural rate, the European Commission said in its latest biodiversity strategy.
An Indian poultry breed, called Kadaknath is native to Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh.
The breed is famous for its black meat known for its quality, texture and flavour.
Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia.
Around 20 species of indigenous fish have become extinct over the last 10 years for use of current nets, insecticides and chemical fertilisers and depletion of habitats, researchers say.
Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world’s vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: on average, 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth as much again in the absence of these.
Biodiversity within inland water ecosystems in the Eastern Himalaya region is both highly diverse and of great regional importance to livelihoods and economies. However, development activities are not always compatible with the conservation of this diversity, and the ecosystem requirements of biodiversity are frequently not considered in the development planning process.
The Gangetic dolphin, which at one point of time existed in large numbers in the Brahmaputra river and its other tributaries, is facing the threat of extinction owing to alleged government apathy to protect and preserve this aquatic species.
With just 3,200 left in the wild, tigers could become extinct within a decade unless countries step up efforts to halt poaching and deforestation, wildlife experts told a "tiger summit" in Russia this week.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao join world leaders on Tuesday to endorse a pledge to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.
