National Geographic Society

Wildlife is under serious threat across the planet, despite the commitment by world leaders to reverse the trend of biodiversity loss by 2010, according to a detailed analysis of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Asian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus). Threat category Endangered

Photo © Jean-Christophe Vié

The IUCN assessment, which is published every four years, has been released just before the deadline governments set themselves to evaluate how successful they were in achieving the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss.

Deadline will not be met

The IUCN report, "Wildlife in a Changing World," shows the 2010 target will not be met, the organization said in a statement today.

"It's time to recognize that nature is the largest company on Earth working for the benefit of 100 percent of humankind--and it's doing it for free.

"Governments should put as much effort, if not more, into saving nature as they do into saving economic and financial sectors."

IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network. Based in Switzerland, it is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.

Its report analyzes 44,838 species on the IUCN Red List and presents results by groups of species, geographical regions, and different habitats, such as marine, freshwater and terrestrial.

The Red List is the most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of species. It is based on an objective system of assessing the risk of extinction for a species. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable are collectively described as threatened.     

"A minimum of 16,928 species are threatened with extinction."

The updated list shows 869 species are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, and this figure rises to 1,159 if the 290 Critically Endangered species tagged as Possibly Extinct are included, IUCN said.

"Overall, a minimum of 16,928 species are threatened with extinction."

Considering that only 2.7 percent of the 1.8 million described species have been analyzed, this number is a gross underestimate, IUCN added. "But it does provide a useful snapshot of what is happening to all forms of life on Earth."

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex). Threat category Vulnerable  (

The Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) was named for Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine and the organization famous for its "Playboy Bunny" hostesses.

Rosanna Tursi, a master's student and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Central Florida, is using population genetics to aid in the conservation of the rabbits, which were declared endangered in 1990, according to a UCF news release. It is estimated that there are less than 300 of the Hefneri rabbits left in the wild.

Photo of "Playboy Bunny" Sylvilagus palustris hefneri courtesy Rosanna Tursi

Hefneri, the most recently recognized subspecies of the marsh rabbit, is small with short, dark brown fur and a grayish-white belly.

"Discovered in 1984, the subspecies was named in honor of Hefner after his organization donated money to support fieldwork on the rabbits," UCF says in a news release.

"Hefneri live in an island environment and are dependent on specific grasses and plants for feeding, nesting and shelter. Population growth and development in the [Florida] Lower Keys has led to the death of the bunnies at the hands of vehicles or domestic animals. Their natural habitat also is being destroyed."

"The loss of genetic diversity can have long-term repercussions by affecting the evolutionary potential of the species," Tursi said.

Photo courtesy Rosanna Tursi

UCF Assistant Professor Eric Hoffman and Philip Hughes, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in Big Pine Key, landed a grant to study the bunnies, the university release says. "Tursi joined the team and is conducting fieldwork this summer in the Everglades and Florida Keys. The USFWS is interested in Tursi's finding because it wants to prevent the bunnies' from becoming extinct."

Plans to Relocate the Bunnies

The FWS hopes to identify rabbits from the most genetically diverse populations, relocate them and create a new population in a habitat where the bunnies are less likely to be disturbed, the university added.

The project was a perfect thesis subject for Tursi, who earned a degree in Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biotechnology from Florida Atlantic University before enrolling at UCF, the university added.

"Nature and conservation of wildlife have always been my passion, and I wanted to use my molecular and genetic knowledge to help endangered species," Tursi said.

Hoffman said Tursi's work could certainly help keep the species viable.

"Our hope is to both characterize the amount of diversity in the Keys populations and determine which rabbit populations would provide the best rabbits to found new translocated populations set up by the USFWS," Hoffman said.

Tursi is currently working with another marsh rabbit subspecies, Sylvilagus palustris paludicola, which is native to South Florida and the Everglades.

"She is using hair follicles gathered from mainland rabbits to extract DNA," UCF says. "Once sample collection is finished, Tursi will conduct DNA analysis and compare the diversities of the paludicola and hefneri over the next four or five months."

The most complete map of the Earth's terrain, showing highly detailed elevations for more than nine tenths of the planet's surface, has been released for free public use.

NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry (METI) released the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) to the worldwide public yesterday.

1,300,000 Images

The GDEM was created by processing and stereo-correlating 1,300,000 optical images, covering Earth's land surface between 83 degrees North and 83 degrees South latitudes, according to a news statement about the map.

The GDEM is produced with 30-meter (98-feet) postings, and is formatted as 23,000 one-by-one-degree tiles. It is available for download from NASA's Earth Observing System data archive and Japan's Ground Data System.

Los Angeles Basin Image: The Los Angeles Basin is bordered on the north by the San Gabriel Mountains. Other smaller basins are separated by smaller mountain ranges, like the Verdugo Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains.

Death Valley Image: Death Valley, California, has the lowest point in North America, Badwater at 85.5 meters (282 feet) below sea level. It is also the driest and hottest location in North America.

Located in eastern California and western Nevada, Death Valley forms part of Death Valley National Park. The region is characterized by deep valleys and high mountain ranges, located in the large Basin and Range province of the western United States. This view looks towards the northwest.

Furnace Creek ranch in the right foreground is the only place on the valley floor where vegetation grows year-round due to water channeled through Furnace Creek.

Himalayan Glaciers in Bhutan Image: In the Bhutan Himalayas, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer data have revealed significant spatial variability in glacier flow, such that the glacier velocities in the end zones on the south side exhibit significantly lower velocities (9 to 18 meters, or 30 to 60 feet per year), versus much higher flow velocities on the north side (18 to 183 meters, or 60 to 600 feet per year).

The higher velocity for the northern glaciers suggests that the southern glaciers have substantially stagnated ice. This view looks towards the northwest.

All images and captions courtesy NASA/METI