African antelopes ‘at risk of extinction’

ANTELOPES are at risk of extinction as they are hunted for meat, a disturbing report warned yesterday.

The annual Red List of Threatened Species said five species of African antelope – the giant eland, mountain reedbuck, Heuglin’s gazelle, southern leche and grey rhebok – could be wiped out, as do a staggering 8 billion ash trees in the United States.

David Mallon, of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which produced the report, said: ‘ Antelopes have been declining as human populations continue to grow, clearing land for agriculture, unsustainably harvesting bushmeat, expanding their settlements and building new roads.’

The report also said billions of ash trees could be wiped out by the emerald borer beetle, which arrived in the US from Asia in the 1990s via shipping pallets. Experts at Kew Gardens in London have warned there is a ‘real chance’ the beetle could turn up in the UK.