２００７年最濒临灭绝的动物公布

贾庆文

September 12, 2007—The western lowland gorilla is one of many new additions to the World Conservation Union (IUCN)s 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, which was made public today. Since 2006, the annual assessment of the planets imperiled wildlife has grown by more than a thousand species and now totals 41,415.

Many great apes end up on the list, as their habitat is continually under threat from human activities. Western lowland gorilla populations in central Africa have collapsed due to the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus. And in Indonesia, orang-utans are critically endangered because of forest logging and clearing land for palm oil plantations.

The baiji, or Chinese river dolphin—deemed “functionally extinct” by a team of scientists in December, 2006—was downgraded from “endangered” to “critically endangered (possibly extinct)” on the IUCNs 2007 Red List, released today.

Populations of the light blue-gray animal, which lives in Chinas polluted Yangtze River, have plummeted over the last 30 years. A possible sighting in August 2007 is currently being investigated by Chinese scientists, but even if one or two dolphins are found, the baiji is almost certainly doomed. “Freshwater dolphins are very vulnerable, because rivers tend to be heavily used by humans and there is nowhere else for the dolphins to go,” Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer, told National Geographic News.

The Egyptian vulture, a new addition to IUCNs 2007 Red List, has declined along with many other vulture species. Five species of vulture, including the Egyptian, have been reclassified to a higher threat level since 2006. Asian vultures have declined rapidly over the last eight years due to the use of a livestock drug called diclofenac.

African vultures are struggling due to habitat loss, a lack of food, and collisions with power lines. The scavengers are also being killed by insecticide-laden carcasses, which have been deliberately baited to poison livestock predators such as hyenas.

Mexicos Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake has been classified as critically endangered on the 2007 IUCN Red List. The snake, found on just one island, sports highly desirable patterned skin that has made it a collectors item for hunters.

New reptile surveys are revealing the fragile nature of many reptile populations. For instance, a major survey of North American reptiles has bumped up the regions Red List reptile species to a total of 738. The main culprit behind their decline is habitat loss due to expanding cities. “Unlike birds and mammals, we havent assessed all the reptiles on the planet,” Pollock added.

The Banggai cardinal fishs popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List. In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago of Indonesia.

Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fishs decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats. Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates. “We need to protect the worlds biodiversity in order to ensure a sustainable future for all of us,” said Caroline Pollock.

Reptiles such as the gharial are becoming more prominent on the IUCNs Red List each year. Despite its fearsome appearance and lengths of up to 19 feet (6 meters), the Indian gharial is not a man-eater and prefers to eat fish.

Its long, thin snout, which makes it easily distinguishable from a crocodile, also allows it to quickly capture fish. Habitat loss and poaching is driving the animal toward extinction.

For the first time, corals were added to the 2007 Red List. A recent scientific survey on the Galápagos Archipelago has added ten corals to the list, including the Floreana coral.

In the 1980s, frequent El Nino weather patterns—which made ocean temperatures fluctuate—likely led to the poor state of the Galápagos corals. Some scientists worry that global warming may make El Nino events more regular and prevent corals from recovering. Until recently, scientists had not properly assessed the health of the worlds tropical corals. Scientists estimate that human activities—such as pollution, global warming, and sedimentation—could kill 30 percent of reefs in the next three decades. Coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, for example, are vanishing faster than rain forests.

2007年9月12日——西部低地大猩猩是众多被新增加到国际保护自然与自然资源保护联合会2007年度受到威胁物种红色清单中的一种动物，该清单于今天宣布。自从2006年以来，地球上处于危险中的野生动植物的年度评估已经增长了1000多个物种，现在达到了41415个物种。

很多巨大的无尾猿都出现在该清单上，因为它们的栖息地不断处于来自人类的活动威胁下。由于商业性的丛林肉食贸易和埃博拉病毒，在中部非洲的西部低地大猩猩的数量已经锐减。在印度尼西亚，因为种植棕榈树而进行的森林砍伐和清理土地使得猩猩处于严重的危险之中。

白鳍豚又被称做中国江豚——2006年一个科学家组成的小组认为它们已“从机能上灭绝”——在今天发布的国际保护自然与自然资源联合会的红色清单上，它们已经从“濒临灭绝”降级到了“临界灭绝（可能已经灭绝）”

这种生活在中国遭受污染的长江中的淡蓝灰色动物的数量在过去30年里直线下降。中国科学家正在对2007年8月一次可能的发现进行调查，但即使发现一两只白鳍豚，这种动物几乎必定会灭绝。“淡水豚非常容易遭受攻击，因为河流往往被人类繁忙地使用着，因此它们无处安身，”一位名叫卡罗琳·波洛克的红色清单计划官员对《国家地理新闻》的记者说。

埃及秃鹫是2007年一个新增加到国际保护自然与自然资源联合会2007年度红色清单中的一种动物，它已经与众多其他种类的秃鹫数量一同下降。自从2006年以来，5种秃鹫包括埃及秃鹫已被重新确定为一种处于高度危险中的动物。……