Trapped on island habitats made smaller by rising seas, Indonesia’s Komodo dragons were on Saturday listed as “endangered,” in an update of the wildlife Red List for Threatened Species that also warned overfishing threatens nearly two in five sharks with extinction.
About 28 percent of the 138,000 species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are now at risk of vanishing in the wild forever, as the destructive effects of human activity on the natural world worsen.
The most comprehensive survey of sharks and rays ever undertaken revealed that 37 percent of 1,200 species evaluated are now classified as directly threatened with extinction, falling into one of three categories: “vulnerable,” “endangered” or “critically endangered.”
Photo: AFP
That is one-third more species at risk than only seven years ago, said Nicholas Dulvy, a professor of marine biodiversity and conservation at Simon Fraser University and lead author of a study published on Monday last week underpinning the Red List assessment.
“The conservation status of the group as a whole continues to deteriorate, and overall risk of extinction is rising at an alarming rate,” he said.
However, the latest update of the Red List also highlights the potential for restoration, with four commercially fished tuna species pulling back from a slide toward extinction after a decade of efforts to curb over-exploitation.
The most spectacular recovery was seen in Atlantic bluefin tuna, which leapt from “endangered” across three categories to the safe zone of “least concern.”
The species — a mainstay of high-end sushi in Japan — was last assessed in 2011.
Komodo dragons — the largest living lizards — are found only in the World Heritage-listed Komodo National Park and neighboring Flores island.
The species “is increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change,” as rising sea levels are expected to shrink its tiny habitat at least 30 percent over the next 45 years, the IUCN said.
“The idea that these prehistoric animals have moved one step closer to extinction due in part to climate change is terrifying,” said Andrew Terry, conservation director at the Zoological Society of London.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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