The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species update reveals that not only are 33 lemur species critically endangered, but 103 of the surviving lemur species are now threatened with extinction. This substantial decline is largely due to illegal hunting and deforestation of their habitats, such as slash and burn agriculture and logging for fuel wood and charcoal, in Madagascar.
Also, from today's update: the IUCN Red List has now assessed more than 120,000 species, with an exact number coming in at 120,372. Of this number, 32,441 are threatened with extinction.
The update also reveals that the North Atlantic Right Whale has now been classified from Endangered to Critically Endangered. The total population appears to have declined by 15% since 2011, largely due to decreased reproduction rate and increased death rates by vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Climate change also seems to be a catalyst in the endangerment of these whales - warmer waters pushing their food sources further north during the summer where these whales are more susceptible to boat entanglements and vessel strikes.
Species are assessed using the Species Information Service Toolkit, an application built in partnership with Solertium and IUCN. You can read more about today's release on the IUCN website.
