Red alert
Life on Earth under serious threat
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List is the world’s most comprehensive source of information on the conservation status of animals and plants. It’s a useful indicator of the state of the world’s biodiversity – a barometer of life. Over 105,000 species have been assessed and the results are disturbing with more than 28,000 threatened with extinction – 25 per cent of mammals, 40 per cent of amphibians, 34 per cent of conifers, 14 per cent of birds, 30 per cent of sharks and rays and 33 per cent of reef-building corals – all living under threat. Clearing land for grazing or growing animal feed and overexploitation (hunting and fishing) are by far the most prevalent threats.
IUCN. 2019. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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