On the Brink

By ANDREA DORFMAN

Take a close look at the species on this page. It may be the last time you see them. Scientists have long warned that animals and plants are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the IUCN Red List, a closely watched assessment of the health of the remaining species released by the World Conservation Union last week, the crisis may be even more acute than everybody feared. Of the 18,276 organisms investigated, 11,046--including 24% of mammals and 12% of birds--are threatened with extinction.

The Red List uses various criteria--such as population size, rate of decline and geographic distribution--to determine which species are most at risk. The overall picture is no less bleak than the one described by the previous list, issued four years ago, and the outlook for certain groups is especially grim. The number of critically endangered primates has risen 50%, largely as a result of habitat loss and the demand for "bush meat." The number of critically endangered freshwater turtles, prized in Southeast Asia for food and medicines, has more than doubled. Among birds, the number of threatened albatrosses jumped from three to 16, owing to long-line fishing. Even more alarming, say environmentalists, is that the Red List comprises just a fraction of the world's 1.75 million known species--let alone the millions more that have yet to be discovered.

--By Andrea Dorfman