Despite conservation efforts, the European bison and many other animals could go extinct in the course of 2021.
Year after year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) feeds its Red List, which lists the species that are in danger of becoming extinct. Currently, 35 thousand different species are threatened, which corresponds to 28% of all animals evaluated to date that may become extinct.
This list serves, in the words of the organization, as a barometer of life, since the loss of biodiversity is one of the most important dangers that we face today.
With this registry, you can have more control over threatened species, and in this way, you can design strategies to recover them. Here are some that run this risk in 2021:
Freshwater dolphins
One more member joins the IUCN Red List: freshwater dolphins, which inhabit the waters of the Amazon, the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) has seriously reduced its population in the aquifer system due to mortality derived from fishing.
Caught between incidental nets, poisoned by river pollution, or hunted illegally, various species of dolphins quickly lose their lives. To help the dolphins recover, the organization suggests avoiding the use of these fishing techniques, so that they do not fall prey to them.
Angonoka tortoise
Also known by its scientific name, Astrochelys yniphora, this reptile typically inhabits Madagascar. Despite being in their natural habitat, there are barely 400 specimens left in the northeast of the African island.
For this reason, it is positioned as one of the critically endangered species, according to the Red List. The illegal sale of their eggs, as well as indiscriminate fishing and logging, are the main threats to the persistence of these giant tortoises.
Java rhino
The IUCN registry estimates that there are only 50 Java rhinos left. Located in Indonesia, these animals are victims of poaching for the illegal sale of their horns. To this day, the material is used in traditional Asian medicine as a cure for hangovers, fevers, and in some cases, cancer.
Southern bluefin tuna
Thunnus maccoyi inhabits the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, and is another species that appears on the Red List as a critically endangered species.
This condition stems from indiscriminate fishing. The organization warns that the population has decreased by 85% in less than four decades, so if this exploitation continues, it could disappear completely.
Red-faced lemur
This species native to Madagascar has been on the Red List since 2008, under the category of critically endangered. The Prolemur simus has decreased by almost 80% of its total population, in a period of 30 years, due to the excessive cutting of bamboo in the area.
Mining is also a major factor in the destruction of their habitat. Currently, only 500 specimens are registered, many of which are in captivity.
European bison, an example of conservation
The European bison survived in captivity in the early 20th century. Sometime later, it was reintroduced into nature in the 1950s, between Poland, Belarus, and Russia.
Today, there are 47 herds in the wild and the IUCN considers the recovery of this species to be an example of conservation. The problem is that they are very separated from each other, confined in forests that are not very optimal for their development.
Currently, the species is highly dependent on the conservation efforts that have been carried out so far. The most successful of these is the relocation of certain specimens to more open habitats, where human hands cannot destroy the trees among which they live.