A catastrophic 73 percent decline has been spotted in the average size of monitored wildlife populations in 50 years from 1970 to 2020, said a World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) report released on Thursday.
According to the Living Planet Report 2024, which runs statistical analysis of more than 5,000 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish, populations of various wildlife are decreasing sharply from elephants in tropical forests to hawksbill turtles off the Great Barrier Reef.
The steepest declines in monitored wildlife populations were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, by 95, 76 and 60 percent respectively.
Habitat loss and degradation, driven primarily by the human food system, is the most reported threat to wildlife populations around the world, followed by over-exploitation, invasive species, disease, climate change and pollution.
Mike Barrett, the report's lead author and WWF chief scientific adviser, said that the human beings, particularly through the way of producing and consuming food, are increasingly damaging natural habitat.
The report warns that the reducing natural resources and climate change are driving the world to an irreversible tipping points.
The catastrophic consequences of losing some of the most precious ecosystems around the world, such as the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs, would be felt by people and nature around the world.
Some populations have stabilized or increased due to effective conservation efforts over the past few years. However isolated successes are not enough, the report noted.
Wildlife population plummets 73 percent in 50 years: WWF report
