Three Exotic Birds Face Extinction
An Ethiopian lark, a Galapagos finch and a newly discovered Colombian hummingbird have been placed on the world’s most endangered species list, an environmental group announced on Thursday.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature stated that the Sidamo lark might be Africa’s first bird extinction as the Ethiopian savanna is damaged by farmland and overgrazing.
"This is a species that is absolutely on the edge," stated spokesman Martin Fowlie for the British group BirdLife International, whose research concludes what birds are on the list.
The Sidamo lark is considered "critically endangered," along with the medium tree-finch in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands and the gorgeted puffleg, a Colombian mountain bird.
The puffleg was found in 2005, but only has 3,000 acres of habitat left in the forests of the Pinche mountain range, which are under threat from development.
"Cocaine production is the main threat," Fowlie told The Associated Press, noting that 25 pufflegs have ever been sighted. The sum of the entire puffleg population, he said, "is likely to be incredibly small."
However, several other species have a reason to be optimistic.
New Zealand’s Chatham petrel is endangered instead of gravely endangered, mainly because of conservation.
The Mauritius fody is also no longer facing extinction after a group was transported to an offshore island without predators, as Brazil’s Lear’s macaw’s population has enlarged fourfold as a result of partnership between government authorities, environmentalists and locals.
"In global terms, things continue to get worse," said Leon Bennun, science and policy chief at BirdLife. "But there are some real conservation success stories this year to give us hope and point the way forward."
A total of 1,227 species were labeled as threatened by extinction.
Even though a several exotic birds are becoming scarcer, the conservation group also said that many common species like North America’s chimney swift are also in decline.
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Image Credit: Wikipedia
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