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phenomena and natural catastrophes were primarily responsible for the extinction of species. But today, the equation seems to be mismatched – the major cause of the extinction is primarily

due to human actions.

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THE number of species inhabiting the Earth is mindboggling. About 8.7

million (give or take 1.3 million) is the new, estimated total number of species on Earth – with 6.5 million species on land and 2.2 million in oceans. Announced by the Census of Marine Life of the University of Rhode Island, the fi gure is based on a new analytical technique.

But nature springs its own surprises. New species are often being discovered by naturalists and scientists in their quest to uncover the wonders of the planet. However, human-induced pressures such as habitat destruction, overexploitation, introduction of invasive species, global warming and environmental pollution have put many species under great stress, pushing a huge number even to the edge of extinction.

Today’s rate of extinction or loss of species is said to be like the burning of a library even before cataloguing the books that it has. Species extinction takes place naturally too but the species extinction currently exceeds the background rates by two to four orders of magnitude. Some say that this amounts to the sixth mega-extinction of life on Earth. In other words, the world could be facing a global extinction crisis.

The Earth has already seen fi ve mega-extinctions in the past. However, in the earlier extinction history natural

Sixth Mega ExtinctionMany studies are hypothesizing that the rate of extinction of the species is hundred times greater than what it used to be. Many conservationists claim that the current trend in the loss of species due to

The loss of species due to human actions is regrettable. We need to realise that EXTINCTION is FOREVER.

FIVE MEGA EXTINCTIONS• The Phanerozoic eon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion—a period during which nearly every phylum of mul cellular organisms fi rst appeared.

• The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses classifi ed as mass ex nc on events.

• In the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life.

• The Permian–Triassic ex nc on event, 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years.

• The most recent, the Cretaceous–Ter ary ex nc on event, occurred 65 million years ago, and has o en a racted more a en on than

others because it resulted in the ex nc on of the dinosaurs.

In 1980 the last 17 red wolves were placed in an intense recovery programme and the species was declared extinct in the wild.

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habitat destruction and overexploitation of the resources or wildlife by humans is akin to events like natural catastrophes that wiped out species millions of years ago.

Under a “natural” rate of extinction, two species go extinct per 10,000 species every 100 years. However, 477 vertebrates have gone extinct since 1900, rather than the nine that would be expected at natural rates. Hence, it is a frightening world that we are living in today and we could be entering an era of human-induced mass extinctions.

IUCN Red List: Relevance and NeedIt has always been diffi cult to measure changes in the status of threatened species in an objective and scientifi cally rigorous way. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) through the publication of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has been preparing and updating for more than fi ve decades the status of species and other taxa in order to

MAYANGLAMBAM OJIT KUMAR SINGH

highlight those threatened with extinction and thus promoting their conservation. It is the most objective and authoritative listing of species that are globally at risk of extinction.

At the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2004 (COP-7; 9-20 February 2004; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), the members called for the development of a Red List indicator as one of the indicators to assess reduction in the current rate of biodiversity extinction at the global, regional and national level. This global species assessment applies the Red List data to calculate a Red List Index. The Red List Index combines global representativeness with a fi ne ecological resolution to provide information on changes in relative aggregate extinction risk across entire taxonomic groups. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is one attempt to increase the world’s store of knowledge about biological resources before they are lost.

The rigour and the objectivity of the IUCN Red List are fundamentally

MAYANGLAMBAM OJIT KMAYANGLAMBAM OJIT K

Habitat loss and exploitation through unsustainable levels of hunting have been the primary cause of the loss of Lemur species population.

li ht th th t d ith ti ti

Excessive demand for rhino horn and other products for Chinese and allied medicine systems is a problem that affects all rhino species.

visible in its preparation of the Red List Categories and the criteria that were developed for the fi rst time in 1994 and revised in 2001. There are nine categories: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, Data Defi cient and Not Evaluated.

Every species will fall into one of these categories. Quantitative criteria have been developed for Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable and any of the species falling into one of these three categories shall be called as the threatened species.

How Many Species are Threatened?Species assessed as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU) are referred to as “threatened” species. Reporting the proportion of threatened species on the IUCN Red List is complicated by the fact that not all species groups have been fully evaluated, and also by the fact that some species have so little information available that they can only be assessed as Data Defi cient (DD).

Providing information about the status of biodiversity is a critical fi rst step in highlighting the severity of the problem and encouraging the societies and all the stakeholders to begin to assume accountability for their actions. Even though the IUCN Red List may not have

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NUMBER OF ANIMAL AND PLANT SPECIES IN EACH IUCN RED LIST CATEGORY OF INDIA (Source: IUCN Red List version 2015)

Organisms EX EW Subtotal CR EN VU Subtotal NT LR/cd DD LC Total

Animals 0 0 0 75 204 377 656 340 2 767 3,306 5,071

Plants 6 2 8 75 172 138 385 40 1 71 886 1,391

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direct legal authority to order formation of rules and regulations of countries to safeguard the species but it provides the insights into the most authentic reasons for the loss of species and the need for conserving them.

E.O. Wilson in Vanishing Before Our Eyes (2000) for the fi rst time used the term the “Hundred Heartbeat Club”. Hundred Heartbeat Club refers to species that “literally have fewer than 100 hearts beating on our planet”, meaning these species are represented today by 100 or less than 100 individuals in the world or more especially in their natural habitats.

There are many reasons such as biological, economic, social, political, religious, cultural, accidental, natural, poaching, deforestation and many more that cause the shrinking of animal populations pushing them to the brink of extinction from their habitats. Here are some examples of the animals that could be considered members of the “100 Heartbeat Club” or may soon be included if action(s) are not taken today.

Giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantean): Giant ibis is mostly dark with naked greyish head and upper neck. It is found mainly in marshes, pools, wide rivers and seasonal water-meadows in open, predominantly deciduous, lowland forests, although it seems to be dependent on soft mud around seasonal pools (trapaengs).

Its diet comprises a variety of invertebrates, crustaceans, eels, small amphibians and reptiles. Females almost always lay two eggs per clutch in the wet season.

It has a patchy distribution across Cambodia and some areas of high density exist in the Northern Plains, including Preah Vihear Protected Forest and Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (with 30-40 nests monitored annually and 24 pairs monitored in 2014).

This beautiful species has seen decline in its number as a result of hunting and egg collecting, wetland drainage for agriculture and deforestation. Habitat conversions by large-scale economic land concessions in recent times and clearance of extensive areas of lowland dry forests where the species occur

Red wolf (Canis rufus): Red wolves are critically endangered crepuscular species and are estimated to be only about 100 individuals that live in the wild today. Once it was found all throughout the southeastern region of the United States in swamps, forests, wetlands, and bushland environments.

The species was becoming increasingly dispersed and population numbers were dwindling so fast that in 1980 the last 17 red wolves were placed in an intense recovery programme and the species was declared extinct in the wild. However, the species was reintroduced into the wild in 1987 and the red wolf now inhabits a fi ve-county range in North Carolina.

Human activities such as clearing woodlands to make room for agriculture, trapping and shooting the red wolves have been the major causes of the loss of this beautiful animal. According to the IUCN hybridization with Coyotes is also an important threat to the species’ persistence in the wild today.

Red Wolf (Photo credit: www.biodiversitywarriors.wikispaces.com )

Giant ibis (Photo Credit: budgetbirders.com)

EX : Extinct; EW : Extinct in the Wild; CR : Critically Endangered; EN : Endangered; VU : Vulnerable; NT : Near Threatened; LC : Least Concern; DD : Data Defi cient

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for conversion to agro-industrial uses including rubber, cassava, wood pulp and teak plantations are serious threats to existence of the species these days. Moreover, the human population is increasing within the range of this species mostly through immigration from other provinces in Cambodia, resulting in more infrastructure and development projects that contribute to forest loss.

The species has already been listed as Critically Endangered and hunting of the species is prohibited in Cambodia

since 1994. A 10-year Giant Ibis National Action Plan was published in 2015, which aims to stabilize the Giant Ibis population by 2025.

Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus): According to IUCN the species is listed as Critically Endangered. As there are less than 50 mature and no subpopulations greater than 50 individuals the species is experiencing a continuing decline and the time to save it is running out. It now occurs in two protected areas: Ujung Kulon National Park on Java and the Cat Loc part (Dong

Nai province) of the Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. The Javan rhino is smaller than the Indian rhinoceros, and is close in size to the black rhinoceros. It is the largest animal in Java and the second-largest animal in Indonesia after the Asian elephant.

The cause of population decline is mainly attributable to the excessive demand for rhino horn and other products for Chinese and allied medicine systems, a problem that affects all rhino species. The horns have been a traded commodity for more than 2,000 years in China where they are believed to have healing properties. Surveys of the rhinoceros horn black market have determined that Asian rhinoceros horn fetches a price as high as $30,000 per kg, three times the value of African rhinoceros horn. Smaller size of the Javan rhinoceros population is also threatening as it may lead to inbreeding making them even more genetically eroded, weaker and also expose them to extinction.

As a conservation measure it is legally protected in all range states today. A Rhino Protection Unit (RPU) has been established for the protection of this species in Java. Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus): Also known by names such as Hainan Crested Gibbon, Hainan Black Gibbon, Hainan Black Crested Gibbon, Hainan gibbon is listed by IUCN as Critically Endangered because of an observed decline of at least 80% over the past 45 years (three generations) due primarily to hunting and habitat loss. It is also

EXTINCTION – KEY FINDINGS*The Risk of Ex nc on is best known for the Vertebrates, in par cular the Amphibians, Birds and Mammals.*21% of the world’s fl ora is threatened.*Humans have been the main cause of ex nc on since 1500 AD with Invasive Alien Species, Habitat Loss, and Over-exploita on being the main causal factors.*Most Threatened species occur in the Tropics, especially in the mountains and the islands.* In the marine realm, the “Coral Triangle” of the western Pacifi c and eastern Indian Ocean holds the most threatened species in most taxa.*Agricultural and forestry ac vi es are the key drivers of habitat loss aff ec ng birds.*People and threatened species are o en concentrated in the same areas.*Species can be saved from ex nc on and this requires a combina on of sound research, careful coordina on of eff orts and intensive management.

Javan Rhinoceros (Photo Credit: WWF Indonesia)

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COVER STORYThis species occurs in Madagascar’s

far northern regions, north of the Irodo River, where it is now believed to be restricted to the extremely limited remaining patches of forest near the villages of Madirobe and Ankarongana in the Sahafary region. According to the IUCN report, currently there are only about 50 remaining individuals of this species. Habitat loss and exploitation through unsustainable levels of hunting have been the primary cause of the loss of this species population.

Sportive lemur is so named due to the boxing-like stance assumed by the lemur when threatened. The individuals communicate in an interesting manner through chemical communication in the form of latrine behaviour to mark territory, as well as vocal communication (calls).

This is a species on the verge of extinction from the surface of the Earth and is in need of special attention. This could include a last-ditch effort to save a piece of its remaining habitat. It will also be a good option to undertake a captive breeding program, although members of the genus Lepilemur have always proven diffi cult to keep in zoos and in other ex-situ conservation sites.

Great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps): The Great Indian bustard is a large bird (92-122 cm) with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich-like appearance. This bird is among the heaviest of the fl ying birds. It is a brown-and-white bustard with black crown and wing markings. It

experiencing a continuing decline because its population size is less than 50 mature individuals.

The species is endemic to Hainan Island, China and is reported to be currently confi ned to the Bawangling Nature Reserve on the western side of the island of Hainan.

This diurnal, arboreal, and mostly frugivorous species is considered an umbrella species for the Hainan Island which means that status of the Hainan gibbon is a marker for the health and stability of its ecosystem. Alterations in the characteristics of the Hainan ecosystem that negatively affect the gibbons are indicative of negative impact on other species as well.

The Hainan black-crested gibbon is under grave threat of extinction today. Habitat loss is the primary cause in the decline of the Hainan gibbon. It is said that over 25% of the Hainan gibbon’s habitat has been reduced due to illegal pulp paper plantation growers besides the presence of the pressure from hunting.

This rarest primate species is currently vulnerable to being eliminated by a single major storm or epidemic. The species is also threatened from problems intrinsic to extremely small population size such as inbreeding effects, poor mate-choice, and human or natural disaster. Prevention of illegal trading, poaching, habitat loss by increasing and better equipped patrols of the present habitats to dissuade illegal loggers is needed seriously. Reverting lowland plantations and farms back into habitable forests for gibbons by specifi cally planting plant species they require for survival, such as fi gs and myrtle and more especially educating the residents of the island on the importance of the Hainan gibbon are some logical steps that must taken up to provide a safer world for this animal.

Northern Sportive lemur (Lepilemur septentrionalis): This lemur species is endemic to Madagascar and as a result of severe ecological and human pressures the lemur is classifi ed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN Red List.

Hainan Gibbon (Photo credit: www.savemenow.eu)

Northern Sportive Lemur (Photo Credit: www.iucnredlist.org)

A Rhino Protection Unit (RPU) has been established for the protection of this species in Java.

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BUSTARD PRESENCE IN INDIA (Compiled from IUCN report)

Area Year Number DetectedThar desert 2012 89 2014 38Madhya Pradesh 2015 AbsentMaharashtra 2015 15 Kachchh 2012 Fewer than 20Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu 2015 Completely disappeared

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produces booming moans during display and barking or bellowing sounds when alarmed.

The Great Indian bustard inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrubs, bushes and low intensity cultivation in fl at or gently undulating terrain. The birds congregate in traditional grassland patches which are less disturbed to breed during mid-summer and monsoon. It nests in open ground, laying only one clutch (consisting of one and very rarely two eggs) every year.

When the name of the “national bird” of India was under consideration, the great Indian bustard was a proposed candidate (strongly supported by the Indian ornithologist Salim Ali) but dropped in favour of the Indian peafowl may be because of the potential for being misspelt as the Great Indian Bastard!

The species was once common on the dry plains of the Indian subcontinent. Today the bustard is restricted to isolated pockets in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (shared with Pakistan).

This majestic species is listed as Critically Endangered because it has an extremely small population that has

undergone an extremely rapid decline owing to a multitude of threats including habitat loss and degradation, hunting and direct disturbance. It now requires an urgent acceleration in targeted conservation actions in order to prevent it from becoming functionally extinct within a few decades.

Historically, rampant hunting for sport and food precipitated its decline, accelerated by vehicular access to remote areas. High intensity poaching is said to be still continuing in Pakistan. Some poaching continues in India as well.

Several promising programmes have been initiated by many agencies in recent times for the conservation of this bird species. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change led an initiative to prepare species recovery programmes in 2012 for three species of bustards – the great Indian bustard, the Bengal fl orican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) and the lesser fl orican (Sypheotides indicus). On World Environment Day 2013, the state of Rajasthan initiated the “Project Great Indian Bustard” by identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas as well as providing secure breeding enclosures in areas outside protected areas.

In India it is legally protected and there are severe penalties for killing it. Protected areas have been specifi cally established for this species such as Sonkhaliya-Sorson, Lala-Naliya, Gaga-Bhatiya, Karera, Ghatigaon, Nanaj and Ranibennur. Rehabilitation of grasslands has benefi ted the species in some areas. Grassland restoration through tree removal has taken place at the GIB Sanctuary in Maharashtra and work is planned for the Rollapadu GIB Sanctuary.

Humans should introspect on the manner their actions are resulting in declining populations and even extinction of several species. It is the youth today who need to especially bring about a change in attitude and work towards reducing the negative impact of human actions on species. If we do not step up to help fi ght the extinction of the world’s amazingly beautiful and lovingly diverse wildlife, humanity will also be irreparably affected.

It is worth remembering a quote by a polar bear scientist Steve Amstrup, “Although many people would like to think of humans as observers of ecology, we are really participants in it, and the changes in the ecosystem are going to affect us.”

Mr Mayanglambam Ojit Kumar Singh is Assistant Professor in Zoology, Ramjas College, Delhi University, Delhi-110007; Email: ojit102005@yahoo.co.in

Great Indian Bustard (Photo Credit: www.cpreecenvis.nic.in)Great Indian Bustard (Photo Credit: WWF-India)