Biodiversity crisis: quarter of UK’s mammals at risk of extinction, first official Red List for coun
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One quarter of the UK’s native mammals are classified as being at ‘imminent risk of extinction’ and conservationists are calling for urgent action to save them, as the first official Red List for British mammals has been published.
The new list was put together by the Mammal Society and has received authorisation from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It reveals 11 of the 47 mammals native to Britain are on the brink of extinction, while a further five species are classified as ‘near threatened’.
Among those species listed as being at risk of extinction in Britain are the water vole, hedgehog, hazel dormouse, wildcat and the grey long-eared bat.
The European wolf is already extinct in the UK.
The reasons for the declines vary between species, the researchers said.
Many animals such as the wildcat, pine marten, and beaver have been subjected to extensive historical persecution.
For bats and the hazel dormouse, habitat loss is the main threat, while the wa...
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