Red List: Wars of man rotten animals - Spiegel Online

England / Berlin – They are known as forest giraffes and particularly threatened: okapi are according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) on the threshold of extinction. The number of Okapia johnstoni has shrunk sharply, said the IUCN in an update of the relevant international Red List of endangered species in Gland, Switzerland with.

-based, especially in the Congo okapi are chestnut-brown to almost black and thighs like zebra striped white cross. The armed conflict in the African country and illegal mining have the habitat of the animals severely limited. There would also be poachers.

only at the beginning of the 20th Okapi century discovered applies in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a national symbol – it also adorns some banknotes. “In order to ensure the survival of the okapi, the government must be supported in efforts to end the civil war and the fight against poverty,” urged IUCN expert Noëlle Kümpel. The Okapi is now “critically endangered” on the Red List as.

DPA

Okapi in the Berlin Zoo: victims of the civil war in the Congo

Are at greater risk, according to the World Conservation Union, almost 200 bird species, including most recently, the occurring in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa mirror Rail (Sarothrura ayresi). Something has improved, however, the situation of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the California island gray fox (Urocyon littoralis) and two species of albatrosses (Black-/ Thalassarche melanophrys and Schwarzfußalbatros / Phoebastria nigripes).

“This update of the Red List shows some fantastic achievements in the conservation of animal species, of which we have to learn for the future,” was Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Global Species Programme, quoted. The message total he pointed out gloomily: “Although in some species improvement has been noted, there are with every update a significantly greater number of endangered species The world urgently needs to do more to prevent this devastating trend..”

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