Bye bye birdie
Birds at risk reach record high
A record number of bird species are now listed as threatened with extinction, a global assessment has revealed.
The IUCN Red List evaluation considered 1,227, or 12%, of all known bird species to be at risk, with 192 species described as Critically Endangered.
The main threats affecting bird numbers continued to be agriculture, logging and invasive species, the report said.
However, it added that where conservation measures had been put in place, bird populations had recovered.
“It is extremely worrying that the number of Critically Endangered birds on the IUCN Red List continues to increase, despite successful conservation initiatives around the world,” said Simon Stuart, chairman of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. </em>
