Andaman Smoothhound, Himalayan Fritillary among 29 new threatened species in India 

The data shared by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has analyzed 239 new species in India. Of these, 29 species including White-cheeked Dancing Frog, Andaman Smoothhound shark and Yellow Himalayan Fritillary are threatened.

RH Desk

December 13

White-cheeked Dancing Frog, Andaman Smoothhound shark and Yellow Himalayan Fritillary are among 29 new species that are under threat, International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List has said in it’s latest update.

The latest update which was released last week has warned that a barrage of threats including illegal and unsustainable fishing, pollution, climate change and diseases is destroying sea species such as the Andaman Smoothhound shark.

The IUCN Red List unveiled on Friday is a critical indicator of the health of the state of the world’s biodiversity. Over 15,000 scientists and experts from around the world are part of the IUCN Commission.They found 1,355 of over 9,472 species of plants, animals, and fungi across India’s land, freshwater, and seas assessed for the Red List are considered to be under threat, classed as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable to extinction.

While the data shared by IUCN, has analyzed 239 new species in India, which have entered the list, of these, 29 are threatened.

Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General, at the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), said, “Today’s IUCN Red List update reveals a perfect storm of unsustainable human activity decimating marine life around the globe. As the world looks to the ongoing UN biodiversity conference to set the course for nature recovery, we simply cannot afford to fail.”

Delegates from 196 countries, have gathered in Canada for a two-week conference from December 7-19, to adopt the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

“We urgently need to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises, with profound changes to our economic systems, or we risk losing the crucial benefits the oceans provide us with,” Bruno sai.

According to IUCN, the white-cheeked Dancing Frog (Micrixalus candidus), which has entered the Red List as endangered, is only known from a small range with an extent of occurrence of 167 square kilometers (km2) in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, a biodiversity hotspot.

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