European hamster endangered

European hamsters are now critically endangered and could go extinct within 30 years without action to save them, conservationists have warned.

The rodents, a different species from hamsters commonly kept as pets, were once abundant across Europe and Russia but have suffered severe population declines across their range, leaving the species one step away from extinction.

The warning comes in the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species, which also highlights a worsening situation for Madagascar’s lemurs.

A third of lemurs, which are found only in the African island nation, are now critically endangered – judged to be at the highest risk of extinction – and almost all species are under threat.

Among 13 species which have seen their conservation status worsen in the latest update to the Red List is Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, the smallest primate in the world, which is now critically endangered.

It has suffered loss of its forest home to slash-and-burn agriculture and logging for charcoal and wood fuel.

The update also shows more than half of all primate species in the rest of Africa are under threat, including all 17 species of red colobus monkey, with hunting for bushmeat and the loss of their habitat among the major threats they face.

IUCN acting director-general Dr Grethel Aguilar said: “This IUCN Red List update exposes the true scale of threats faced by primates across Africa.”