Future of Mammals

Researchers who have just completed the most exhaustive study ever undertaken on the future of mammals have seen the future and it does not look good. In fact, according to the report, one in every four of the world's mammals are thought to be in danger.

"It's a critical time in the conservation of mammals," notes Andrew Derocher, a leading Canadian polar-bear expert and biologist at the University of Alberta, and one of the researchers. "We really are on a tipping point in terms of species loss."

The root of the problems: humans. Habitat loss and hunting are seen as the main culprits for land species; chemical pollution, fishing nets, and climate change are some of the dangers that marine species face.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature led the team of researchers (over 1700 contributed to the findings) and while they did not have conclusive data on all species of mammals, there were 188 who made the "critically endangered" list. Among these are the baiji, a freshwater dolphin from China's Yangtze River that is actually so rare it is considered "on the edge of extinction or possibly extinct."

The most threatened species are in South and Southeast Asia in areas like the Western Ghats in India where wild elephants and mongooses are in a critical zone.

I would be remiss if I did not remind you of a certain candidate's passion for hunting, especially from helicopters, some of the very mammals whose existence is challenged as well as her arguments to NOT place polar bears on the endangered species list.

According to Professor Durocher, future human societies will "marvel that we were so short sighted that we didn't do something in time." Need I say more?