European hamsters may be wiped out in just 30 years
EUROPEAN hamsters are now critically endangered and could be extinct within 30 years, conservationists have warned.
The rodents, a different species from pet hamsters, were once abundant across Europe and Russia but have suffered severe population declines, leaving them one step from extinction.
Mothers now give birth to just five or six pups a year compared with more than 20 in the 20th century, research shows. It is not clear what is causing the fall, but experts said monoculture crops, industrial development, global warming and light pollution are being investigated as possible causes.
The warning comes in the latest 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.
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 habitat to 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
‘At the heart of this crisis is a dire need for alternative livelihoods to replace the unsustainable use of wildlife’
hunting for bushmeat and the loss of their habitat among the major threats.
The North Atlantic right whale has gone from endangered to critically endangered, with estimates of fewer than 250 whales remaining. They are suffering entanglement with fishing gear, being hit by vessels, and lower reproduction rate.
Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN acting director-general, said: “At the heart of this crisis is a dire need for alternative, sustainable livelihoods to replace the current reliance on deforestation and unsustainable use of wildlife.”