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LOST FOREVER?
source: http://intranet.iucn.org/
webfiles/doc/SSC/RedList/
redlistcatsenglish.pdf
www.acapworldwide.com/animal.htm
www.fao.org/DOCREP/004/V1430E/
V1430E04.htm
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If your grand parents were here now, they would probably feel a little bit disoriented, discovering fruits never seen before (thanks to the globalisation), and others (those of their childhood) totally disappeared from family’s meals…
- 114 plant and animal species became extinct or went missing during the 20 years in the United States alone;
- 50 years ago there were 8 subspecies of tiger, but 3 are now extinct. Today, all five remaining subspecies are endangered. The total number left in the world could be as low as 5,000;
- the Asian bear species i.e. Asiatic black bear, sun bear, sloth bear and the brown bear in Russia, are under the greatest threat. For example, Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula had about 11,000 brown bears in 1991, but only 4,000 by 1993;
- the plant genetic diversity used in agriculture (the crops that feed us and their wild relatives) is being lost at an alarming rate. Just 9 crops (wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum/millet, potato, sweet potato/yam, sugar cane and soybean) account for over 75% of the plant kingdom's contribution to human dietary energy. In the developing world, crop genetic diversity enables farmers to select crops suited to ecological needs and cultural traditions. Without this diversity, options for long-term sustainability are lost.
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