Devils lead extinction-threat list
October 07, 2008 12:00am
ALMOST 800 Australian plants and animals are listed as threatened, an international audit says.
In its latest Red List of threatened species, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said 16,928 were now threatened with extinction and 3246 were considered critically endangered.
Jane Goodall, of Gorillas in the Mist fame, who will address a Red List briefing in Adelaide today, said it was a tragedy.
The world-renowned biologist made the comment while visiting a new chimpanzee enclosure at Adelaide's Monarto Zoo yesterday.
In Australia, 788 plants and animals are threatened including 57 mammals, 44 bird species, 38 reptiles and 48 amphibians.
Among the most endangered are Tasmanian devils with numbers suffering a 60 per cent fall over the past 10 years because of the contagious cancer, Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
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