Endangered Species List Grows
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) surveyed a total of 47,677 animals and plants for this year's "Red List" of endangered species, determining that 17,291 of them are threatened with extinction. More than one in five of all known mammals, over a quarter of reptiles and 70 percent of plants are under threat, according to the survey, which featured over 2,800 new species compared with 2008
Panay Monitor Lizard
Red List Ranking: Endangered.
The rare Panay Monitor Lizard lives in large trees in primary lowland tropical moist forest in Panay, Philippines.
The species feeds on fruit and the loss and degradation of lowland forest habitat through conversion of land for agricultural use and logging operations is a threat to this lizard.
Panay Monitor Lizard
Red List Ranking: Endangered.
The species found in Panay, Philippines is hunted by humans for food and overhunting is a serious threat to the remaining population.
Kihansi Spray Toad
Red List Ranking: Extinct in the Wild
The Kihansi Spray Toad was known only from the Kihansi Falls in Tanzania, where it was formerly abundant. However, after 2003 the population dramatically declined, and in January 2004 only three toads could be found, with just two males heard calling.
The decline of this species was caused by the construction of a dam upstream of the falls in 2000 for the Lower Kihansi Hydropower Project. This removed 90 percent of the water flow, which hugely reduced the volume of spray and altered the vegetation.
In 2003, the fungal disease chytridiomycosis was confirmed in dead Kihansi Spray Toads, and this disease was probably responsible for the final population crash.
Rabbs Fringe-Limbed Treefrog
Red List Ranking: Critically Endangered
Rabb's Fringe-limbed Treefrog is known only from central Panama, where it occurs in tropical forest canopy.
In 2006, the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was reported in the area where this species is known to occur. Since then, only one individual has been heard calling. There is also some ongoing forest clearing within the species' range for the development of luxury holiday homes, although this potential threat has not yet reached critical levels.
This treefrog is one of several species collected for captive breeding efforts, however so far attempts at captive breeding have not produced positive results
