Over 21% of reptile species at risk of extinction

FRANCE: At least one in five reptile species are threatened with extinction, including more than half of turtles and crocodiles, according to the first major global assessment of the world’s so-called cold-blooded creatures.

Catastrophic declines in biodiversity across the world are increasingly seen as a threat to life on Earth — and as important as the interrelated menace of climate change.

Threats to other creatures have been well documented. More than 40 percent of amphibians, 25 percent of mammals and 13 percent of birds could face extinction.

But until now, researchers did not have a comprehensive picture of the proportion of reptiles at risk.

In a new global assessment, published in the journal Nature, researchers assessed 10,196 reptile species and evaluated them using criteria from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.

They found that at least 1,829 — 21 percent — were either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

“It’s just overwhelming the number of species that we see as being threatened,” said co-author Neil Cox, who manages the IUCN-Conservation International Biodiversity Assessment Unit and co-led the study.

“Now we know the threats facing each reptile species, the global community can take the next step… and invest in turning around the often too under-appreciated and severe biodiversity crisis.”

Crocodiles and turtles were found to be among the most at-risk species, with around 58 percent and 50 percent of those assessed found to be under threat respectively. Cox said this was often down to “over-exploitation and persecution”.

Crocodiles are killed for their meat and to remove them from human settlements, he said, while turtles are targeted by the pet trade and used for traditional medicine.

Another well-known species at risk is the fearsome king cobra, the world’s largest venomous snake. It can grow to around five metres long, feasting on other snakes in forests across a huge area from India to Southeast Asia.

Almost 200 countries are currently locked in global biodiversity talks to try to safeguard nature, including a key milestone of 30 percent of Earth’s surface protected by 2030.

– THE BANGKOK POST