Endangered species

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An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. An endangered species is usually a taxonomic species, but may be another evolutionary significant unit. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006. (Note: the IUCN groups all threatened species for their summary purposes.) Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.

For more information about Endangered species, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with endangered species

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Sylvia atricapilla (Blackcap)

By feeding the birds, you could change their evolutionary fate

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 5

Feeding birds in winter is a most innocent human activity, but it can nonetheless have profound effects on the evolutionary future of a species, and those changes can be seen in the very near term. That's ...


Handout photo from the World Wildlife Fund in Malaysia shows a pangolin climbing a tree

Malaysian authorities rescue 130 pangolins

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Malaysian wildlife authorities said they have rescued 130 pangolins and arrested two men attempting to smuggle the protected species, destined to be sold to restaurants and medicine shops.


Abundance of a look-alike species clouds population status of a million dollar fish

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

The prized white marlin, sought by anglers in million dollar prize tournaments and captured incidentally in commercial fisheries, is among the most overfished marine species under international management and the subject ...





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Turtles' Christmas journey tracked by scientists

Turtles' Christmas journey tracked by scientists

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The journeys of two marine turtles around the world's oceans will be available to view online this Christmas, thanks to a new research project launched by the University of Exeter.


Kew botanists discover more than 250 new plant species in 250th anniversary year

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Giant rainforest trees, rare and beautiful orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant are among more than 250 new plant and fungi species discovered and described by botanists from ...


French scientist Herwan Amire shows two pink winkle in Xelha's Cove,  south of Cancun

Mexico's conch shells yield clues into effects of warming

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Divers plumb the turquoise depths of ocean waters some 100 kilometers south of this vacation paradise, in search of the distinctive queen conch shell prized by vacationers and souvenir-seekers.


African leaf-eating monkeys are 'likely to be wiped out' by climate change

African leaf-eating monkeys are 'likely to be wiped out' by climate change

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (7) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Monkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of global warming, according to new research published this week.


Zoning the ocean may help endangered whales to recover

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scientists in Scotland, Canada and the US have proposed a new method to identify priority areas for whale conservation. The team's findings, published in Animal Conservation, suggest that even small protected areas, identi ...


Even at sublethal levels, pesticides may slow the recovery of wild salmon populations

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Biologists determined that short-term, seasonal exposure to pesticides in rivers and basins may limit the growth and size of wild salmon populations. In addition to the widespread deterioration of salmon habitats, these findings ...


Climate Wizard makes large databases of climate information visual, accessible

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (12) | comments 12

A Web tool that generates color maps of projected temperature and precipitation changes using 16 of the world's most prominent climate-change models is being used to consider such things as habitat shifts that will affect ...


Species distribution models are of only limited value for predicting future mammal distributions

Species distribution models are of only limited value for predicting future mammal distributions

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Species distribution models are of only limited use in predicting the future distribution of mammals. This is the finding of a study of the climate niches of 140 indigenous European mammals.


Chinese experts say there are only about 1,600 wild pandas in China

Panda genome resembles dog: Chinese media

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (9) | comments 1

A detailed genome map of the giant panda completed by Chinese scientists has shown that the notoriously shy animal is genetically similar to the dog, state media reported Sunday.


A picture taken in October 2004 shows Fatu (C) at the Dvur Kralove zoo, East Bohemia

Endangered rhinos return to wild

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A Czech zoo is to transfer four endangered Northern White rhinos to a Kenyan reserve in a last-ditch attempt to ensure the survival of the species.



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