Wildlife populations have shrunk by 73% in 50 years: Report

Wildlife populations have shrunk by 73% in 50 years: Report


The recently published Living Planet Report documents a dramatic loss of wildlife over the last 50 years, from 1970 to 2020. Overall, monitored wildlife populations shrank by 73%, with the sharpest declines observed in Latin America. To compile the report, researchers with the U.K. conservation charity Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and WWF looked at more than 5,000 species of amphibians, mammals, birds, fish and reptiles worldwide. The researchers found a 76% decline in wildlife populations in Africa and a 60% decrease in Asia and the Pacific. North America and Europe fared better, with declines of 39% and 35%, respectively. The latter regions’ less dramatic declines can be attributed to the fact that Europe and North America were already largely developed before 1970, the benchmark year of the study, by when “large-scale impacts on nature were already apparent,” the researchers note. The most concerning regional decline was found in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 95% of monitored wildlife populations have shrunk in size. “There are a lot of threats in the region with the loss of habitat, and climate change is making things worse, especially for particular taxonomic groups, such as amphibians. It’s just a very biodiverse region where a lot of change can happen as a result of these threats,” Stefanie Deinet, joint manager of the Living Planet Index Project with ZSL, told Mongabay by phone. Several factors contribute to the alarming loss of wildlife; habitat loss, largely driven by agriculture, is the most frequently cited. Invasive species, overexploitation, disease,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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