International Conservation Forum bringing people and ideas together

NEW YORK October 26, 2010, 09:19 pm ET

On average, 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians are taking a significant step toward extinction each year, a huge new analysis says.

But if not for conservation efforts, the march would be even faster, researchers reported Tuesday.

In a July 11, 2008 file photo, a trio of humpback whales break the surface of the water as they work together in a group behavior known as "bubble feeding" off the coast of Cape Cod near Provincetown, Mass. Efforts to save endangered animals are making a measureable difference, even as a fifth of the world's backboned species _ mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes _ are threatened with extinction, a huge new analysis says.

Efforts to save endangered animals are making a difference, even as about 1 in 5 of the world’s backboned species — mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish — are threatened with extinction, according to a study published online in the journal Science.

The report was released as delegates from more than 190 nations meet at a United Nations conference in Nagoya, Japan, to set 20 measurable targets to combat the loss of many diverse species. (more…)

We must work together to conserve species at risk, protect threatened habitats and address global threats. By working together, we can find long-term solutions that benefit both people and nature.

A species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species can be loosely defined as a group of individual organisms that have very similar appearance, anatomy, physiology and genetics.

What WWF is trying to do is to make sure that those species that we have the least of are not lost forever – we’ve already lost too many as it is. (more…)