Rapid Pace of Species Extinctions Mounts to a 'Crisis'
GLAND, Switzerland, November 3, 2009 (ENS) - Nearly one-third of all known species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction, finds the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, in the most recent update of its authoritative Red List of Threatened Species™ issued today.
The updated assessment shows that 17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction.