By Susan Milius
Between a fifth and a generous third of the world’s mammal species now face the threat of extinction, according to the first comprehensive review since 1996.
Now 1,139 species rank in the most imperiled categories, the conservation monitoring organization IUCN reported October 6 at its World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Data from more than 1,700 experts went into this five-year review of the conservation status of all known wild mammals for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the main global scorecard for extinction risk.