Global animal population down by more than half since 1970: report

By

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Next time you go for a nature walk, you might have a little less to look at.

A new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns the world’s animal population has plummeted in the last half century.

The report says we’ve lost more than half the planet’s wildlife population since 1970. Freshwater species have been hit the hardest, with a 76 per cent decline since then.

“We are cutting trees faster than they can re-grow, we are catching fish faster than they can reproduce, and we are emitting more CO2 than the forests and oceans can absorb. So we are on a total unsustainable path,” says Marco Lambertini with the WWF.

The average 52 per cent decline was much bigger than previously reported, partly because earlier studies had relied more on readily available information from North America and Europe. The same report two years ago put the decline at 28 per cent between 1970 and 2008.

“The planet has never been more aware of the problems and the solutions. We’ve never been able to engage so many people across the world all over the world, developing economies, emerging economies,” says Lambertini.

The latest study analyzed data from about 10,000 populations of over 3,038 vertebrate species.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today