賈慶文

September 12, 2007—The western lowland gorilla is one of many new additions to the World Conservation Union (IUCN)s 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, which was made public today. Since 2006, the annual assessment of the planets imperiled wildlife has grown by more than a thousand species and now totals 41,415.

Many great apes end up on the list, as their habitat is continually under threat from human activities. Western lowland gorilla populations in central Africa have collapsed due to the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus. And in Indonesia, orang-utans are critically endangered because of forest logging and clearing land for palm oil plantations.

The baiji, or Chinese river dolphin—deemed “functionally extinct” by a team of scientists in December, 2006—was downgraded from “endangered” to “critically endangered (possibly extinct)” on the IUCNs 2007 Red List, released today.

Populations of the light blue-gray animal, which lives in Chinas polluted Yangtze River, have plummeted over the last 30 years. A possible sighting in August 2007 is currently being investigated by Chinese scientists, but even if one or two dolphins are found, the baiji is almost certainly doomed. “Freshwater dolphins are very vulnerable, because rivers tend to be heavily used by humans and there is nowhere else for the dolphins to go,” Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer, told National Geographic News.

The Egyptian vulture, a new addition to IUCNs 2007 Red List, has declined along with many other vulture species. Five species of vulture, including the Egyptian, have been reclassified to a higher threat level since 2006. Asian vultures have declined rapidly over the last eight years due to the use of a livestock drug called diclofenac.

African vultures are struggling due to habitat loss, a lack of food, and collisions with power lines. The scavengers are also being killed by insecticide-laden carcasses, which have been deliberately baited to poison livestock predators such as hyenas.

Mexicos Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake has been classified as critically endangered on the 2007 IUCN Red List. The snake, found on just one island, sports highly desirable patterned skin that has made it a collectors item for hunters.

New reptile surveys are revealing the fragile nature of many reptile populations. For instance, a major survey of North American reptiles has bumped up the regions Red List reptile species to a total of 738. The main culprit behind their decline is habitat loss due to expanding cities. “Unlike birds and mammals, we havent assessed all the reptiles on the planet,” Pollock added.

The Banggai cardinal fishs popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List. In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago of Indonesia.

Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fishs decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats. Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates. “We need to protect the worlds biodiversity in order to ensure a sustainable future for all of us,” said Caroline Pollock.

Reptiles such as the gharial are becoming more prominent on the IUCNs Red List each year. Despite its fearsome appearance and lengths of up to 19 feet (6 meters), the Indian gharial is not a man-eater and prefers to eat fish.

Its long, thin snout, which makes it easily distinguishable from a crocodile, also allows it to quickly capture fish. Habitat loss and poaching is driving the animal toward extinction.

For the first time, corals were added to the 2007 Red List. A recent scientific survey on the Galápagos Archipelago has added ten corals to the list, including the Floreana coral.

In the 1980s, frequent El Nino weather patterns—which made ocean temperatures fluctuate—likely led to the poor state of the Galápagos corals. Some scientists worry that global warming may make El Nino events more regular and prevent corals from recovering. Until recently, scientists had not properly assessed the health of the worlds tropical corals. Scientists estimate that human activities—such as pollution, global warming, and sedimentation—could kill 30 percent of reefs in the next three decades. Coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, for example, are vanishing faster than rain forests.

2007年9月12日——西部低地大猩猩是眾多被新增加到國際保護自然與自然資源保護聯(lián)合會2007年度受到威脅物種紅色清單中的一種動物，該清單于今天宣布。自從2006年以來，地球上處于危險中的野生動植物的年度評估已經(jīng)增長了1000多個物種，現(xiàn)在達到了41415個物種。

很多巨大的無尾猿都出現(xiàn)在該清單上，因為它們的棲息地不斷處于來自人類的活動威脅下。由于商業(yè)性的叢林肉食貿(mào)易和埃博拉病毒，在中部非洲的西部低地大猩猩的數(shù)量已經(jīng)銳減。在印度尼西亞，因為種植棕櫚樹而進行的森林砍伐和清理土地使得猩猩處于嚴(yán)重的危險之中。

白鰭豚又被稱做中國江豚——2006年一個科學(xué)家組成的小組認(rèn)為它們已“從機能上滅絕”——在今天發(fā)布的國際保護自然與自然資源聯(lián)合會的紅色清單上，它們已經(jīng)從“瀕臨滅絕”降級到了“臨界滅絕（可能已經(jīng)滅絕）”

這種生活在中國遭受污染的長江中的淡藍(lán)灰色動物的數(shù)量在過去30年里直線下降。中國科學(xué)家正在對2007年8月一次可能的發(fā)現(xiàn)進行調(diào)查，但即使發(fā)現(xiàn)一兩只白鰭豚，這種動物幾乎必定會滅絕?！暗喾浅Ｈ菀自馐芄?，因為河流往往被人類繁忙地使用著，因此它們無處安身，”一位名叫卡羅琳·波洛克的紅色清單計劃官員對《國家地理新聞》的記者說。

埃及禿鷲是2007年一個新增加到國際保護自然與自然資源聯(lián)合會2007年度紅色清單中的一種動物，它已經(jīng)與眾多其他種類的禿鷲數(shù)量一同下降。自從2006年以來，5種禿鷲包括埃及禿鷲已被重新確定為一種處于高度危險中的動物。在過去8年中由于使用被稱做雙氯芬酸鈉的家畜藥品，亞洲禿鷲的數(shù)量在迅速下降。

由于失去棲息地、缺少食物和與高壓輸電線路發(fā)生碰撞，非洲禿鷲現(xiàn)在處境艱難。這些食腐動物也會因食用那些含有殺蟲劑的畜體而喪生，這些畜體是被故意用來當(dāng)作誘餌來毒殺那些捕食家畜像鬣狗這樣的食肉動物的。

墨西哥的圣卡塔利娜島響尾蛇在2007年國際保護自然與自然資源聯(lián)合會的紅色清單上被確定為臨界滅絕的動物。這種被發(fā)現(xiàn)只生存在一個島嶼上的蛇身上的圖案非常悅?cè)诵囊?，因而這使它成為獵人捕殺的珍品。

新的爬行動物調(diào)查顯示很多爬行動物天生脆弱。例如，在北美進行的一次大規(guī)模調(diào)查中，爬行動物在這一地區(qū)爬行動物紅色清單中的總數(shù)已經(jīng)達到738個。它們數(shù)量下降背后的主要原因是由于城市擴大而導(dǎo)致的棲息地喪失。“與鳥兒和哺乳動物不一樣，我們無法統(tǒng)計出地球上所有的爬行動物，”波洛克說。

作為家庭養(yǎng)魚池中的寵物，印尼邦蓋梳蘿魚的名聲使得它進入2007年國際保護自然與自然資源聯(lián)合會的紅色清單。在野生狀態(tài)中，人們只在印度尼西亞邦蓋群島發(fā)現(xiàn)過這種斑紋魚。

像水族貿(mào)易這樣的人類壓力是這種魚數(shù)量下降的主要原因，棲息地喪失和氣候變化也會帶來重大威脅。全世界的魚類庫存在急劇下降，原因是過度捕撈和水族貿(mào)易?？茖W(xué)家估計目前的滅絕率至少要比自然滅絕率高100-1000倍?！盀榱舜_保我們所有人有一個持續(xù)的未來，我們需要保護世界的生物多樣性，”卡羅琳·波洛克說。

每年在國際保護自然與自然資源聯(lián)合會的紅色清單上，像大鱷魚這樣的爬行動物正變得更瀕臨滅絕。盡管它外表可怕，長度達到19英尺（6米），印度鱷不是食人魚，它喜歡吃魚。

它有長而細(xì)的嘴，這使得人們很容易將它同一般鱷魚區(qū)分開來，同時還使它能夠迅速地捕到魚兒。棲息地的喪失和偷獵正將這種動物推向滅絕的境地。

珊瑚第一次被增加進入2007年紅色清單。最近一項在加拉帕戈斯群島進行的科學(xué)調(diào)查已經(jīng)將10種珊瑚增加到清單中，其中包括弗洛雷阿納珊瑚。

在20世紀(jì)80年代，經(jīng)常發(fā)生的厄爾尼諾氣候現(xiàn)象——使得海洋溫度波動不?！赡軙?dǎo)致加拉帕戈斯群島的珊瑚處于糟糕狀態(tài)。一些科學(xué)家擔(dān)心全球變暖或許會使厄爾尼諾現(xiàn)象更經(jīng)常并阻止珊瑚重新恢復(fù)。直到最近，科學(xué)家還沒有完全評估出全世界熱帶珊瑚的健康狀況?？茖W(xué)家估計人類活動——如污染、全球變暖和沉降——在未來30年中會殺死30%的珊瑚礁。例如，印度和太平洋上的珊瑚礁現(xiàn)在消失的速度比熱帶雨林還要快。