Editing Holocene extinction (section)

==Contemporary extinction==
{{Further|Biodiversity loss|Human impact on the environment}}

===History===
[[File:Susa group, mountain gorilla.jpg|thumb|There are roughly 880 [[mountain gorillas]] remaining. 60% of [[primate]] species face an anthropogenically driven extinction crisis and 75% have declining populations.<ref name="primates"/>]]

Contemporary [[human overpopulation]]<ref name="Cafaro2022"/><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Crist|editor1-first=Eileen|editor2-last=Cafaro |editor2-first=Philip |date=2012|title=Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heOrAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |isbn=978-0820343853}}</ref> and continued [[population growth]], along with [[economic growth]] and per-capita [[Overconsumption|consumption]] growth, prominently in the past two centuries, are regarded as the underlying causes of extinction.<ref name="PimmJenkins"/><ref name=ceballos/><ref name=Ceballos-Ehrlich-2017-05>{{cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3=Dirzo |first3=Rodolfo|date=23 May 2017|title=Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|PNAS]] |volume=114|issue=30|pages=E6089–E6096 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1704949114|quote=Much less frequently mentioned are, however, the ultimate drivers of those immediate causes of biotic destruction, namely, human overpopulation and continued population growth, and overconsumption, especially by the rich. These drivers, all of which trace to the fiction that perpetual growth can occur on a finite planet, are themselves increasing rapidly|pmc=5544311 |pmid=28696295|bibcode=2017PNAS..114E6089C |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Stokstad"/><ref name="Bradshaw2021"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Cafaro|first1=Philip|date=2022 |title=Reducing Human Numbers and the Size of our Economies is Necessary to Avoid a Mass Extinction and Share Earth Justly with Other Species|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359182950|journal=Philosophia|volume=50 |issue= 5|pages=2263–2282 |doi=10.1007/s11406-022-00497-w|s2cid=247433264 |access-date=|quote=Conservation biologists agree that humanity is on the verge of causing a mass extinction and that its primary driver is our immense and rapidly expanding global economy.}}</ref> [[Inger Andersen (environmentalist)|Inger Andersen]], the executive director of the [[United Nations Environment Programme]], stated that "we need to understand that the more people there are, the more we put the Earth under heavy pressure. As far as biodiversity is concerned, we are at war with nature."<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenfield|first=Patrick |date=December 6, 2022|title='We are at war with nature': UN environment chief warns of biodiversity apocalypse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/06/cop-15-un-chief-biodiversity-apocalypse|work=The Guardian|location= |access-date=January 14, 2023|quote='We’ve just welcomed the 8 billionth member of the human race on this planet. That’s a wonderful birth of a baby, of course. But we need to understand that the more people there are, the more we put the Earth under heavy pressure. As far as biodiversity is concerned, we are at war with nature. We need to make peace with nature. Because nature is what sustains everything on Earth … the science is unequivocal.' – Inger Andersen}}</ref>

Some scholars assert that the emergence of [[capitalism]] as the dominant economic system has accelerated ecological exploitation and destruction,<ref name="Hickel">{{cite book|last=Hickel |first=Jason|author-link=Jason Hickel|title=Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World|year=2021 |publisher=Windmill Books|pages=39–40|isbn=978-1786091215|quote=It was only with the rise of capitalism over the past few hundred years, and the breathtaking acceleration of industrialization from the 1950s, that on a planetary scale things began to tip out of balance.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Foster |first=John Bellamy |author-link=John Bellamy Foster |date=2022 |title=Capitalism in the Anthropocene: Ecological Ruin or Ecological Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wY5IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7 |publisher=[[Monthly Review Press]] |page=1 |isbn=978-1583679746 |quote=The advent of the Anthropocene coincided with a planetary rift, as the human economy under capitalism heedlessly crossed, or began to cross, Earth System boundaries, fouling its own nest and threatening the destruction of the planet as a safe home for humanity. |access-date=2022-11-07 |archive-date=2022-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109191015/https://books.google.com/books?id=wY5IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=affluent/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Derber|first1=Charles |author-link1=Charles Derber|last2=Moodliar |first2=Suren |date=2023 |title=Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It|url= |location= |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page= |isbn=978-1032512587}}</ref> and has also exacerbated mass species extinction.<ref name="Dawson">{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Ashley|url=http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/extinction-by-ashley-dawson/|title=Extinction: A Radical History|date=2016|publisher=[[OR Books]]|isbn=978-1-944869-01-4|pages=41, 100–101|author-link=Ashley Dawson|access-date=2016-08-20|archive-date=2016-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917203814/http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/extinction-by-ashley-dawson/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[CUNY]] professor [[David Harvey]], for example, posits that the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] era "happens to be the era of the fastest mass extinction of species in the Earth's recent history".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Harvey|first=David|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-9780199283279?cc=us&lang=en&|title=A Brief History of Neoliberalism|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0199283279|page=173|author-link=David Harvey (geographer)|access-date=2018-08-06|archive-date=2021-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128055913/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-brief-history-of-neoliberalism-9780199283279?cc=us&lang=en&|url-status=live}}</ref> Ecologist [[William E. Rees]] concludes that the "neoliberal paradigm contributes significantly to planetary unraveling" by treating the economy and the ecosphere as totally separate systems, and by neglecting the latter.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=William E.|author-link=William E. Rees|date=2020|title=Ecological economics for humanity's plague phase|url=http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/limits/rees_2020.pdf|journal=[[Ecological Economics (journal)|Ecological Economics]]|volume=169|issue=|pages=106519|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106519|bibcode=2020EcoEc.16906519R|s2cid=209502532|access-date=|archive-date=2023-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525163729/http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/limits/rees_2020.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Major lobbying organizations representing corporations in the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and paper, mining, and oil and gas industries, including the [[United States Chamber of Commerce]], have been pushing back against legislation that could address the extinction crisis. A 2022 report by the climate think tank InfluenceMap stated that "although industry associations, especially in the US, appear reluctant to discuss the biodiversity crisis, they are clearly engaged on a wide range of policies with significant impacts on biodiversity loss."<ref>{{cite news |last=Weston|first=Phoebe |date=October 24, 2022 |title=Business groups block action that could help tackle biodiversity crisis, report finds|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/24/business-groups-block-action-that-could-help-tackle-biodiversity-crisis-aoe|work=The Guardian |access-date=October 25, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Giraffe koure niger 2006.jpg|left|thumb|As of 2023, giraffe populations have been driven to extinction in seven countries.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated-->  |date=July 5, 2023 |title=Why is the giraffe facing a silent extinction?|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2023/7/5/why-is-the-giraffe-facing-a-silent-extinction|work=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |location= |access-date=July 7, 2023}}</ref>]]

The loss of animal species from ecological communities, [[defaunation]], is primarily driven by human activity.<ref name="dirzo" /> This has resulted in [[empty forest]]s, ecological communities depleted of large vertebrates.<ref name="SpecialIssue" /><ref name="primack2014">{{Cite book|title=Essentials of Conservation Biology|last=Primack|first=Richard|publisher=Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers|year=2014 |isbn=978-1-605-35289-3 |location=Sunderland, MA|pages=217–245}}</ref> This is not to be confused with extinction, as it includes both the disappearance of species and declines in abundance.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tracking and combatting our current mass extinction|website=Ars Technica|date=2014-07-25|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/tracking-and-combatting-our-current-mass-extinction/|access-date=2015-11-30|archive-date=2019-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412033742/https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/07/tracking-and-combatting-our-current-mass-extinction/|url-status=live}}</ref> Defaunation effects were first implied at the Symposium of Plant-Animal Interactions at the University of Campinas, Brazil in 1988 in the context of [[Neotropical realm|Neotropical forests]].<ref name="eco and evo" /> Since then, the term has gained broader usage in conservation biology as a global phenomenon.<ref name="dirzo" /><ref name="eco and evo">{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo|first1=R.|last2=Galetti|first2=M.|year=2013|title=Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Living in a Defaunated World|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2013.04.020|journal=[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]]|volume=163|pages=1–6|bibcode=2013BCons.163....1G }}</ref>

[[Big cat]] populations have severely declined over the last half-century and could face extinction in the following decades. According to 2011 [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] estimates: lions are down to 25,000, from 450,000; [[leopards]] are down to 50,000, from 750,000; cheetahs are down to 12,000, from 45,000; tigers are down to 3,000 in the wild, from 50,000.<ref name="bigcats">{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/story/2011-10-28/lions-tigers-extinction/50958540/1 |title=Lions, tigers, big cats may face extinction in 20 years |first=Dan |last=Vergano |website=USA Today |date=October 28, 2011 |access-date=2017-08-29 |archive-date=2016-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414184112/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/story/2011-10-28/lions-tigers-extinction/50958540/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> A December 2016 study by the Zoological Society of London, [[Panthera Corporation]] and [[Wildlife Conservation Society]] showed that cheetahs are far closer to extinction than previously thought, with only 7,100 remaining in the wild, existing within only 9% of their historic range.<ref name="Visser">{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cheetahs-endangered-panthera-report_us_585c47d2e4b0eb586485d3e0|title=Cheetahs Are Far Closer To Extinction Than We Realized|first=Nick|last=Visser|date=December 27, 2016|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-date=December 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228013707/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cheetahs-endangered-panthera-report_us_585c47d2e4b0eb586485d3e0|url-status=live}}</ref> Human pressures are to blame for the cheetah population crash, including prey loss due to overhunting by people, retaliatory killing from farmers, habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.<ref>{{cite journal|display-authors=20|first1=Sarah M. |last1=Duranta |first2=Nicholas |last2=Mitchell |first3=Rosemary |last3=Groom |first4=Nathalie |last4=Pettorelli |first5=Audrey |last5=Ipavec |first6=Andrew P. |last6=Jacobson |first7=Rosie |last7=Woodroffe |first8=Monika |last8=Böhm |first9=Luke T. B. |last9=Hunter |first10=Matthew S. |last10=Becker |first11=Femke |last11=Broekhuis |first12=Sultana |last12=Bashir |first13=Leah |last13=Andresen |first14=Ortwin |last14=Aschenborn |first15=Mohammed |last15=Beddiaf |first16=Farid |last16=Belbachir |first17=Amel |last17=Belbachir-Bazi |first18=Ali |last18=Berbash |first19=Iracelma |last19=Brandao de Matos Machado |first20=Christine |last20=Breitenmoser |first21=Monica |last21=Chege |first22=Deon |last22=Cilliers |first23=Harriet |last23=Davies-Mostert |first24=Amy J. |last24=Dickman |first25=Fabiano |last25=Ezekiel |first26=Mohammad S. |last26=Farhadinia |first27=Paul |last27=Funston |first28=Philipp |last28=Henschel |first29=Jane |last29=Horgan |first30=Hans H.|last30=de Iongh |first31=Houman |last31=Jowkar |first32=Rebecca |last32=Klein |first33=Peter Andrew |last33=Lindsey |first34=Laurie |last34=Marker |first35=Kelly |last35=Marnewick |first36=Joerg |last36=Melzheimera |first37=Johnathan |last37=Merkle |first38=Jassiel |last38=M'sokab |first39=Maurus |last39=Msuhac |first40=Helen |last40=O'Neill |first41=Megan |last41=Parker |first42=Gianetta |last42=Purchase |first43=Samaila |last43=Sahailou |first44=Yohanna |last44=Saidu |first45=Abdoulkarim |last45=Samna |first46=Anne |last46=Schmidt-Küntze |first47=Eda |last47=Selebatso |first48=Etotépé A. |last48=Sogbohossou |first49=Alaaeldin |last49=Soultan |first50=Emma |last50=Stone |first51=Esther |last51=van der Meer |first52=Rudie |last52=van Vuuren |first53=Mary |last53=Wykstra |first54=Kim |last54=Young-Overto |year=2016 |title=The global decline of cheetah ''Acinonyx jubatus'' and what it means for conservation|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=114|issue=3|pages=1–6 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1611122114|pmid=28028225|pmc=5255576|doi-access=free}}</ref> Populations of [[brown bear]]s have  experienced similar population decline.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Albrecht |first1=Jörg |last2=Bartoń |first2=Kamil A. |last3=Selva |first3=Nuria |last4=Sommer |first4=Robert S. |last5=Swenson |first5=Jon E. |last6=Bischof |first6=Richard |date=4 September 2017 |title=Humans and climate change drove the Holocene decline of the brown bear |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=10399 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-10772-6 |pmid=28871202 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5583342 |bibcode=2017NatSR...710399A }}</ref>

The term [[pollinator decline]] refers to the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide beginning at the end of the twentieth century, and continuing into the present day.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kluser |first1=S. |last2=Peduzzi |first2=P. |year=2007 |url=http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:32258/ATTACHMENT01 |title=Global pollinator decline: a literature review}}</ref> Pollinators, which are necessary for 75% of food crops, are declining globally in both abundance and diversity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dirzo|first=Rodolfo|author2=Young, Hillary S.|author3=Galetti, Mauro|author4=Ceballos, Gerardo|author5=Isaac, Nick J. B.|author6=Collen, Ben|title=Defaunation in the Anthropocene|journal=Science|date=2014|volume=345|issue=6195|pages=401–406|doi=10.1126/science.1251817|pmid=25061202|bibcode=2014Sci...345..401D|s2cid=206555761|url=http://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|access-date=December 16, 2016|archive-date=May 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511160501/https://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2017 study led by [[Radboud University Nijmegen|Radboud University's]] Hans de Kroon indicated that the biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the previous 25 years.  Participating researcher Dave Goulson of [[Sussex University]] stated that their study suggested that humans are making large parts of the planet uninhabitable for wildlife. Goulson characterized the situation as an approaching "ecological Armageddon", adding that "if we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse."<ref>{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |title=Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 October 2017 |access-date=18 October 2017 |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711061707/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2019 study found that over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sánchez-Bayo |first1=Francisco |last2=Wyckhuys |first2=Kris A.G. |date=April 2019 |title=Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=232 |issue= |pages=8–27 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020 |bibcode=2019BCons.232....8S |s2cid=91685233}}</ref> The most significant drivers in the [[Decline in insect populations|decline of insect populations]] are associated with [[intensive farming]] practices, along with pesticide use and climate change.<ref>{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=October 30, 2019|title='Alarming' loss of insects and spiders recorded|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50226367|work=BBC|access-date=November 2, 2019|archive-date=November 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103000750/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50226367|url-status=live}}</ref> The world's insect population decreases by around 1 to 2% per year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Sophie|date=January 12, 2021|title=Scientists warn the world's insects are undergoing "death by a thousand cuts"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/insects-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=January 12, 2021|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209142025/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/insects-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Ringtailed Lemurs in Berenty.jpg|left|thumb|The [[ring-tailed lemur]], one of the more than 120 unique species of mammals only found on [[Madagascar]] threatened with extinction.<ref>{{cite news |last= Weston|first=Phoebe|date=January 10, 2023 |title=Madagascar's unique wildlife faces imminent wave of extinction, say scientists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/madagascar-unique-wildlife-extinction-aoe|work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=January 12, 2023}}</ref>]]

{{blockquote|text=We have driven the rate of biological extinction, the permanent loss of species, up several hundred times beyond its historical levels, and are threatened with the loss of a majority of all species by the end of the 21st century.|source=[[Peter H. Raven|Peter Raven]], former president of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (AAAS), in the foreword to their publication ''AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlas.aaas.org/|title=Atlas of Population and Environment|publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science|AAAS]] |year=2000|access-date=2008-02-12|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309092803/http://atlas.aaas.org/|archive-date=2011-03-09}}</ref>}}

[[File:Northern White Rhinoceros Angalifu.jpg|thumb|[[Angalifu (rhinoceros)|Angalifu]], a male [[northern white rhinoceros]] at the [[San Diego Zoo Safari Park]] (died December 2014).<ref>{{cite news|title=A northern white rhino has died. There are now five left in the entire world |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/12/15/a-northern-white-rhino-has-died-there-are-now-five-left-in-the-entire-world/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=15 December 2014}}</ref> [[Sudan (rhinoceros)|Sudan]], the last male of the subspecies died on March 19, 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43468066|title=Northern white rhino: Last male Sudan dies in Kenya|date=March 20, 2018|work=British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>]]
Various species are predicted to [[List of critically endangered species|become extinct in the near future]],<ref>{{Cite web|author1=Douglas Main|date=2013-11-22|title=7 Iconic Animals Humans Are Driving to Extinction|url=https://www.livescience.com/41421-animals-threatened-with-extinction.html|access-date=2023-01-06|website=livescience.com|language=en|archive-date=2023-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106233208/https://www.livescience.com/41421-animals-threatened-with-extinction.html|url-status=live}}</ref> among them some species of [[rhinoceros]],<ref>{{cite web|date=October 25, 2011|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2011/10/25/poachers-drive-javan-rhino-to-extinction-in-vietnam/|title=Poachers Drive Javan Rhino to Extinction in Vietnam [Updated]|first=John R.|last=Platt|work=Scientific American|access-date=February 13, 2012|archive-date=November 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117035006/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2011/10/25/poachers-drive-javan-rhino-to-extinction-in-vietnam/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Inus|first=Kristy|date=April 18, 2019|title=Sumatran rhinos extinct in the wild|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/18/sumatran-rhinos-extinct-in-the-wild/|work=The Star Online|access-date=April 26, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426225059/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/18/sumatran-rhinos-extinct-in-the-wild/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[primate]]s,<ref name="primates">{{cite journal |display-authors=20 |last1=Estrada |first1=Alejandro |last2=Garber |first2=Paul A. |last3=Rylands |first3=Anthony B. |last4=Roos |first4=Christian |last5=Fernandez-Duque |first5=Eduardo |last6=Di Fiore |first6=Anthony |last7=Anne-Isola Nekaris |first7=K. |last8=Nijman |first8=Vincent |last9=Heymann |first9=Eckhard W. |last10=Lambert |first10=Joanna E. |last11=Rovero |first11=Francesco |last12=Barelli |first12=Claudia |last13=Setchell |first13=Joanna M. |last14=Gillespie |first14=Thomas R. |last15=Mittermeier |first15=Russell A. |last16=Arregoitia |first16=Luis Verde |last17=de Guinea |first17=Miguel |last18=Gouveia |first18=Sidney |last19=Dobrovolski |first19=Ricardo |last20=Shanee |first20=Sam |last21=Shanee |first21=Noga |last22=Boyle |first22=Sarah A. |last23=Fuentes |first23=Agustin |last24=MacKinnon |first24=Katherine C. |last25=Amato |first25=Katherine R. |last26=Meyer |first26=Andreas L. S. |last27=Wich |first27=Serge |last28=Sussman |first28=Robert W. |last29=Pan |first29=Ruliang |last30=Kone |first30=Inza |last31=Li |first31=Baoguo |date=January 18, 2017|title=Impending extinction crisis of the world's primates: Why primates matter |journal=[[Science Advances]]|volume=3|issue=1|pages= e1600946|doi= 10.1126/sciadv.1600946|pmc=5242557 |pmid=28116351 |bibcode=2017SciA....3E0946E}}</ref> and [[pangolin]]s.<ref>{{cite news|website=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 14, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html|archive-date=2022-01-11 |title=Pangolins: why this cute prehistoric mammal is facing extinction|first=Martin|last=Fletcher |date=January 31, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Others, including several species of giraffe, are considered "[[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]]" and are experiencing significant population declines from anthropogenic impacts including hunting, deforestation and conflict.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 8, 2016|title=Giraffes facing extinction after devastating decline, experts warn|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/giraffe-red-list-vulnerable-species-extinction|first=Damian|last=Carrington|access-date=December 8, 2016|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813122004/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/giraffe-red-list-vulnerable-species-extinction|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="suttergiraffe">{{cite news|last=Sutter|first=John D.|date=December 12, 2016|title=Imagine a world without giraffes|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/world/sutter-giraffe-extinction/|access-date=2022-11-10|archive-date=2020-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301173025/https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/world/sutter-giraffe-extinction/|url-status=live}}</ref> Hunting alone threatens bird and mammalian populations around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction|title=People are hunting primates, bats, and other mammals to extinction|first=Elizabeth|last=Pennisi|author-link=Elizabeth Pennisi|date=October 18, 2016|website=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|access-date=November 21, 2016|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020025827/https://www.science.org/content/article/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=William J.|last1=Ripple|first2=Katharine |last2=Abernethy|first3=Matthew G. |last3=Betts |first4=Guillaume |last4=Chapron |first5=Rodolfo |last5=Dirzo |first6=Mauro |last6=Galetti |first7=Taal |last7=Levi |first8=Peter A. |last8=Lindsey |first9=David W. |last9=Macdonald |first10=Brian |last10=Machovina |first11=Thomas M. |last11=Newsome |first12=Carlos A. |last12=Peres |first13=Arian D. |last13=Wallach |first14=Christopher |last14=Wolf |first15=Hillary |last15=Young |year=2016 |title=Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world's mammals |journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=3|issue=10|pages=1–16 |doi=10.1098/rsos.160498 |pmid=27853564 |pmc=5098989 |bibcode=2016RSOS....360498R}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Benítez-López |first1=A.|last2=Alkemade |first2=R.|last3=Schipper|first3=A. M.|last4=Ingram|first4=D. J.|last5=Verweij |first5=P. A.|last6=Eikelboom |first6=J. A. J.|last7= Huijbregts|first7=M. A. J. |date=April 14, 2017 |title=The impact of hunting on tropical mammal and bird populations|journal=Science|volume=356 |issue=6334|pages=180–183 |doi=10.1126/science.aaj1891 |pmid=28408600|bibcode=2017Sci...356..180B |hdl=1874/349694 |s2cid=19603093 |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10058583/|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The direct killing of [[megafauna]] for meat and body parts is the primary driver of their destruction, with 70% of the 362 megafauna species in decline as of 2019.<ref>{{cite news|last=Milman|first=Oliver|date=February 6, 2019|title=The killing of large species is pushing them towards extinction, study finds|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/the-killing-of-large-species-is-pushing-them-towards-extinction-study-finds|work=The Guardian|access-date=February 8, 2019|archive-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207231757/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/the-killing-of-large-species-is-pushing-them-towards-extinction-study-finds|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ripple |first1=William J. |last2=Wolf |first2=Christopher |last3=Newsome |first3=Thomas M. |last4=Betts |first4=Matthew G. |last5=Ceballos |first5=Gerardo |last6=Courchamp |first6=Franck |last7=Hayward |first7=Matt W. |last8=Van Valkenburgh |first8=Blaire |last9=Wallach |first9=Arian D. |last10=Worm |first10=Boris |year=2019|title=Are we eating the world's megafauna to extinction?|journal=Conservation Letters|volume=12|issue=3|at=e12627 |doi=10.1111/conl.12627|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019ConL...12E2627R }}</ref> Mammals in particular have suffered such severe losses as the result of human activity (mainly during the [[Quaternary extinction event]], but partly during the Holocene) that it could take several million years for them to recover.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilcox |first=Christie |date=October 17, 2018|title=Human-caused extinctions have set mammals back millions of years |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/millions-of-years-mammal-evolution-lost-news?user.testname=none|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507003831/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/millions-of-years-mammal-evolution-lost-news?user.testname=none|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2021|work=National Geographic|access-date=March 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=October 15, 2018 |title=It Will Take Millions of Years for Mammals to Recover From Us |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/mammals-will-need-millions-years-recover-us/573031/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=November 1, 2018 |archive-date=November 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103060503/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/mammals-will-need-millions-years-recover-us/573031/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Contemporary assessments have discovered that roughly 41% of amphibians, 25% of mammals, 21% of reptiles and 14% of birds are threatened with extinction, which could disrupt ecosystems on a global scale and eliminate billions of years of [[phylogenetic diversity]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Green |first=Graeme |date=April 27, 2022 |title=One in five reptiles faces extinction in what would be a 'devastating' blow |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/27/one-in-five-reptiles-face-extinction-in-devastating-blow-to-biodiversity-aoe |access-date=May 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Neil |last2=Young |first2=Bruce E. |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods |journal=Nature |volume=605 |issue=7909 |pages=285–290 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-04664-7 |doi-access=free|pmid=35477765|pmc=9095493|bibcode=2022Natur.605..285C }}</ref> 189 countries, which are signatory to the [[Convention on Biological Diversity]] (Rio Accord),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbd.int/history/|title=History of the Convention|publisher=Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity|access-date=9 January 2017|archive-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204141616/https://www.cbd.int/history/|url-status=live}}</ref> have committed to preparing a [[Biodiversity Action Plan]], a first step at identifying specific [[endangered species]] and habitats, country by country{{Update inline|date=March 2022}}.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Glowka|first1=Lyle |first2=Françoise|last2=Burhenne-Guilmin|first3=Hugh |last3=Synge|first4=Jeffrey A.|last4=McNeely |first5=Lothar|last5=Gündling|title=IUCN environmental policy and law paper |series=Guide to the Convention on Biodiversity|year=1994|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature |isbn=978-2-8317-0222-3}}</ref>
{{blockquote|text=For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we face a global mass extinction of wildlife. We ignore the decline of other species at our peril—for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the world that sustains us.|source=Mike Barrett, director of science and policy at WWF's UK branch<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/60-percent-global-wildlife-species-wiped-161027151043413.html|title=60 percent of global wildlife species wiped out|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]|date=28 October 2016|access-date=9 January 2017|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805105147/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/60-percent-global-wildlife-species-wiped-161027151043413.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

A 2023 study published in ''[[Current Biology]]'' concluded that current biodiversity loss rates could reach a tipping point and inevitably trigger a total ecosystem collapse.<ref>{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=February 24, 2023|title=Ecosystem collapse 'inevitable' unless wildlife losses reversed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/ecosystem-collapse-wildlife-losses-permian-triassic-mass-extinction-study|work=The Guardian|location=|access-date=February 25, 2023|quote=The researchers concluded: 'A biodiversity crash may be the harbinger of a more devastating ecosystem collapse.'|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225022431/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/24/ecosystem-collapse-wildlife-losses-permian-triassic-mass-extinction-study|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Recent extinction===
{{See also|IUCN Red List extinct in the wild species|List of endangered species|List of critically endangered species}}
[[File:Share of species threatened with extinction, OWID.svg|thumb|Share of species threatened with extinction as of 2019.]]
Recent extinctions are more directly attributable to human influences, whereas prehistoric extinctions can be attributed to other factors.<ref name=dirzo/><ref name=ceballos/> The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) characterizes 'recent' extinction as those that have occurred past the cut-off point of 1500,<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Diana O.|last1=Fisher |first2=Simon P. |last2=Blomberg|year=2011|title=Correlates of rediscovery and the detectability of extinction in mammals|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=278 |issue=1708|pages=1090–1097 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1579|pmc=3049027|pmid=20880890}}</ref> and at least 875 plant and animal species have gone extinct since that time and 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Extinction continues apace|url=http://www.iucn.org/?4143/Extinction-crisis-continues-apace|publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature|date=3 November 2009|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729102308/http://iucn.org/?4143%2FExtinction-crisis-continues-apace|url-status=live}}</ref> Some species, such as the [[Père David's deer]]<ref>{{cite iucn |author=Jiang, Z. |author2=Harris, R.B.|date=2016|title=''Elaphurus davidianus''|volume=2016|page=e.T7121A22159785 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T7121A22159785.en|access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> and the [[Hawaiian crow]],<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn|author=BirdLife International|date=2016|title=''Corvus hawaiiensis''|volume=2016|page=e.T22706052A94048187|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706052A94048187.en}}</ref> are extinct in the wild, and survive solely in captive populations. Other populations are only [[Local extinction|locally extinct]] (extirpated), still existent elsewhere, but reduced in distribution,<ref name=mckinney2013>{{cite book|chapter-url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=hBntufCOxAsC|page=318}}|first1=Michael L.|last1=McKinney |first2=Robert|last2=Schoch|first3=Logan|last3=Yonavjak|year=2013|title=Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions|edition=5th |chapter=Conserving Biological Resources|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-1-4496-6139-7|url=https://archive.org/details/environmentalsci0000mcki_y4n3|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|75–77}} as with the extinction of [[gray whale]]s in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of marine mammals|page=404|year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-373553-9 |author1=Perrin, William F. |author2=Würsig, Bernd G. |author3-link=JGM "Hans" Thewissen|author3=JGM "Hans" Thewissen}}</ref> and of the [[leatherback sea turtle]] in Malaysia.<ref>{{cite book|first1=James R.|last1=Spotila |first2=Pilar S.|last2=Tomillo |year=2015|title=The Leatherback Turtle: Biology and Conservation|publisher=Johns Hopkins University |page=210|isbn=978-1-4214-1708-0|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=3Vu8CgAAQBAJ|page=210}}}}</ref>

Since the Late Pleistocene, humans (together with other factors) have been rapidly driving the largest vertebrate animals towards extinction, and in the process interrupting a 66-million-year-old feature of ecosystems, the relationship between diet and body mass, which researchers suggest could have unpredictable consequences.<ref>{{cite news |last=Druker |first=Simon |date=April 21, 2022 |title=Study: Humans interrupting 66-million-year-old relationship among animals |work=UPI |url=https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |access-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424032434/https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/04/21/humans-interupting-66-million-year-relationship-eliminating-large-animals/7651650562988/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=Rob |last2=Gearty |first2=William |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=Anthropogenic disruptions to longstanding patterns of trophic-size structure in vertebrates |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=684–692 |doi=10.1038/s41559-022-01726-x |pmid=35449460 |bibcode=2022NatEE...6..684C |s2cid=248323833 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |archive-date=2022-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026100706/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10148482/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2019 study published in ''[[Nature Communications]]'' found that rapid biodiversity loss is impacting larger mammals and birds to a much greater extent than smaller ones, with the body mass of such animals expected to shrink by 25% over the next century. Another 2019 study published in ''[[Biology Letters]]'' found that extinction rates are perhaps much higher than previously estimated, in particular for bird species.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mooers|first=Arne|date=January 16, 2020|url=https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|title=Bird species are facing extinction hundreds of times faster than previously thought|website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304194047/https://theconversation.com/bird-species-are-facing-extinction-hundreds-of-times-faster-than-previously-thought-129134|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2019 ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'' lists the primary causes of contemporary extinctions in descending order: (1) changes in land and sea use (primarily agriculture and overfishing respectively); (2) direct exploitation of organisms such as hunting; (3) anthropogenic climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species spread by human trade.<ref name="Stokstad"/> This report, along with the 2020 ''[[Living Planet Report]]'' by the WWF, both project that climate change will be the leading cause in the next several decades.<ref name="Stokstad"/><ref name="Lewis2020"/>

A June 2020 study published in ''[[PNAS]]'' posits that the contemporary extinction crisis "may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible" and that its acceleration "is certain because of the still fast growth in human numbers and consumption rates." The study found that more than 500 [[vertebrate]] species are poised to be lost in the next two decades.<ref name="Ceballos2020">{{cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3= Raven|first3=Peter H.|date=June 1, 2020|title=Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction|journal=[[PNAS]]|volume=117|issue=24|pages=13596–13602|doi=10.1073/pnas.1922686117|doi-access=free|pmid=32482862|pmc=7306750|bibcode=2020PNAS..11713596C}}</ref>

===Habitat destruction===
{{See also|Habitat destruction|Deforestation|Environmental impact of agriculture|}}
{{Pie chart
|caption='''[[Biomass (ecology)|Biomass]] of [[mammal]]s on Earth as of 2018'''<ref name="Carrington2018"/><ref name="Biomass2018"/> 
|label1 =Livestock, mostly cattle and pigs
|value1 =60|color1=blue
|label2 =Humans
|value2 =36|color2=red
|label3 =[[Wildlife|Wild mammals]]
|value3 =4|color3=green
}}Humans both create and destroy [[Crop cultivation|crop cultivar]] and [[domesticated animal]] varieties. Advances in transportation and [[industrial farming]] has led to [[monoculture]] and the extinction of many cultivars. The use of certain plants and animals for food has also resulted in their extinction, including [[Silphium (antiquity)|silphium]] and the [[passenger pigeon]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Torres|first=Luisa|date=September 23, 2019|title=When We Love Our Food So Much That It Goes Extinct|work=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/09/23/763404243/when-we-love-our-food-so-much-that-it-goes-extinct|access-date=October 10, 2019|archive-date=December 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203225303/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/09/23/763404243/when-we-love-our-food-so-much-that-it-goes-extinct|url-status=live}}</ref> It was estimated in 2012 that 13% of Earth's ice-free land surface is used as row-crop agricultural sites, 26% used as pastures, and 4% urban-industrial areas.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hooke|first1=R. LeB.|last2=Martin-Duque|first2=J. F.|last3=Pedraza|first3=J.|year=2012|title=Land transformation by humans: A review|journal=GSA Today|volume=22|issue=12|pages=4–10|doi=10.1130/GSAT151A.1|bibcode=2012GSAT...12l...4H|s2cid=120172847|url=https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/20528/1/Hooke_et_al_2012_GSAToday.pdf|access-date=2024-02-14|archive-date=2023-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111130455/https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/20528/1/Hooke_et_al_2012_GSAToday.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2019, ''[[Nature Climate Change]]'' published a study by ecologists from [[Yale University]], who found that over the next half century, human land use will reduce the habitats of 1,700 species by up to 50%, pushing them closer to extinction.<ref>{{cite news|last=Reints|first=Renae|date=March 6, 2019|title=1,700 Species Will Likely Go Extinct Due to Human Land Use, Study Says|work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]|url=http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study|access-date=March 11, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224211954/http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Walter Jetz|last2=Powers|first2=Ryan P.|date=4 March 2019|title=Global habitat loss and extinction risk of terrestrial vertebrates under future land-use-change scenarios |journal=Nature Climate Change|volume=9|issue=4|pages=323–329|bibcode=2019NatCC...9..323P |doi=10.1038/s41558-019-0406-z|s2cid=92315899}}</ref> That same month ''[[PLOS Biology]]'' published a similar study drawing on work at the [[University of Queensland]], which found that "more than 1,200 species globally face threats to their survival in more than 90% of their habitat and will almost certainly face extinction without conservation intervention".<ref>{{cite web|last=Cox|first=Lisa|date=12 March 2019|title='Almost certain extinction': 1,200 species under severe threat across world |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/13/almost-certain-extinction-1200-species-under-severe-threat-across-world|access-date=13 March 2019|website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Venter |first1=Oscar|last2=Atkinson|first2=Scott C.|last3=Possingham|first3=Hugh P. |last4=O’Bryan|first4=Christopher J.|last5=Marco|first5=Moreno Di|last6=Watson|first6=James E. M. |last7=Allan|first7=James R.|date=12 March 2019 |title=Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates|journal=PLOS Biology|volume=17|issue=3|pages=e3000158|pmc=6413901|pmid=30860989 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000158 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Since 1970, the populations of [[Fish migration|migratory]] freshwater fish have declined by 76%, according to research published by the [[Zoological Society of London]] in July 2020. Overall, around one in three freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction due to human-driven habitat degradation and overfishing.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=July 28, 2020|title=Migratory river fish populations down 76% since 1970: study|work=[[Agence France-Presse]]|url=https://news.yahoo.com/migratory-river-fish-populations-down-76-since-1970-163127702.html|access-date=July 28, 2020|archive-date=October 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006200828/https://news.yahoo.com/migratory-river-fish-populations-down-76-since-1970-163127702.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Malayasia iko 2002169.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|Satellite image of rainforest converted to [[oil palm]] plantations.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=40139 |title=Deforestation in Malaysian Borneo|year= 2009|publisher= NASA|access-date=7 April 2010}}</ref>]]
Some scientists and academics assert that [[Intensive animal farming|industrial agriculture]] and the growing demand for [[Environmental impact of meat production|meat]] is contributing to significant global [[biodiversity loss]] as this is a significant driver of [[deforestation]] and habitat destruction; species-rich habitats, such as the [[Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest|Amazon region]] and [[Deforestation in Indonesia|Indonesia]]<ref name="Foster">{{cite news|title=A Grim Portrait of Palm Oil Emissions|last1=Foster|first1=Joanna M.|url=http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/a-grim-portrait-of-palm-oil-emissions/|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 May 2012|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-date=16 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116051501/http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/a-grim-portrait-of-palm-oil-emissions/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rosenthal NYT">{{cite news|title=Once a Dream Fuel, Palm Oil May Be an Eco-Nightmare|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Elisabeth|date=31 January 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=e653a375e67e8e49&ex=1327899600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-date=9 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909052053/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31biofuel.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=e653a375e67e8e49&ex=1327899600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> being converted to agriculture.<ref name="Zalasiewicz2015" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/meat-eaters-may-speed-worldwide-species-extinction-study-warns|title=Meat-eaters may speed worldwide species extinction, study warns|first=Virginia|last=Morell|date=August 11, 2015|website=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220105327/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/08/meat-eaters-may-speed-worldwide-species-extinction-study-warns|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Machovina">{{cite journal |first1=B.|last1=Machovina|first2=K. J. |last2=Feeley|first3=W. J.|last3=Ripple|year=2015|title=Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption|journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]]|volume=536|pages=419–431|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.022 |pmid=26231772|bibcode=2015ScTEn.536..419M}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=Ian|date=August 26, 2017|title=Industrial farming is driving the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, says leading academic|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-life-on-earth-farming-industrial-agriculture-professor-raj-patel-a7914616.html|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=September 4, 2017|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605200144/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mass-extinction-life-on-earth-farming-industrial-agriculture-professor-raj-patel-a7914616.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Devlin|first=Hannah|date=July 19, 2018|title=Rising global meat consumption 'will devastate environment'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/rising-global-meat-consumption-will-devastate-environment|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 22, 2018|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009022501/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/rising-global-meat-consumption-will-devastate-environment|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2017 study by the [[World Wildlife Fund]] (WWF) found that 60% of biodiversity loss can be attributed to the vast scale of feed crop cultivation required to rear tens of billions of farm animals.<ref name="Smithers">{{cite news|last=Smithers|first=Rebecca|date=5 October 2017|title=Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303143952/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet|url-status=live}}</ref> Moreover, a 2006 report by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) of the United Nations, ''[[Livestock's Long Shadow]]'', also found that the livestock sector is a "leading player" in biodiversity loss.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Steinfeld|first1=Henning|last2=Gerber|first2=Pierre|last3=Wassenaar|first3=Tom|last4=Castel|first4=Vincent|last5=Rosales|first5=Mauricio|last6=de Haan|first6=Cees|date=2006|title=Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/climatechange/doc/FAO%20report%20executive%20summary.pdf|publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]]|isbn=978-92-5-105571-7|page=xxiii|access-date=2017-05-14|archive-date=2019-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210012108/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/climatechange/doc/FAO%20report%20executive%20summary.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> More recently, in 2019, the [[IPBES]] ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'' attributed much of this ecological destruction to agriculture and fishing, with the meat and dairy industries having a very significant impact.<ref name="BBCIPBES2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783|title=Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction'|last=McGrath|first=Matt|work=[[BBC]]|date=6 May 2019|access-date=3 August 2021|quote=Pushing all this forward, though, are increased demands for food from a growing global population and specifically our growing appetite for meat and fish.|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630044916/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48169783|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 1970s food production has soared to feed a growing human population and bolster economic growth, but at a huge price to the environment and other species. The report says some 25% of the Earth's ice-free land is used for cattle grazing.<ref name="Watts2019">{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=May 6, 2019|title=Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|work=The Guardian|access-date=May 16, 2019|archive-date=October 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023205125/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2020 study published in ''[[Nature Communications]]'' warned that human impacts from housing, industrial agriculture and in particular meat consumption are wiping out a combined 50&nbsp;billion years of Earth's evolutionary history (defined as phylogenetic diversity{{efn|Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is the sum of the phylogenetic branch lengths in years connecting a set of species to each other across their phylogenetic tree, and measures their collective contribution to the tree of life.}}) and driving to extinction some of the "most unique animals on the planet," among them the [[Aye-aye]] lemur, the [[Chinese crocodile lizard]] and the [[pangolin]].<ref name="Woodyatt" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=May 26, 2020|title='Billions of years of evolutionary history' under threat|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52808103|work=BBC|access-date=October 5, 2020|quote=The researchers calculated the amount of evolutionary history—branches on the tree of life—that are currently threatened with extinction, using extinction risk data for more than 25,000 species. They found a combined 50 billion years of evolutionary heritage, at least, were under threat from human impacts such as urban development, deforestation and road building.|archive-date=January 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130162357/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52808103|url-status=live}}</ref> Said lead author Rikki Gumbs:

{{blockquote|text=We know from all the data we have for threatened species, that the biggest threats are agriculture expansion and the global demand for meat. Pasture land, and the clearing of rainforests for production of soy, for me, are the largest drivers—and the direct consumption of animals.<ref name="Woodyatt">{{cite news|last=Woodyatt|first=Amy|date=May 26, 2020|title=Human activity threatens billions of years of evolutionary history, researchers warn|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/world/species-loss-evolution-climate-scn-intl-scli/index.html|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=May 27, 2020|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526114959/https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/world/species-loss-evolution-climate-scn-intl-scli/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}

Urbanization has also been cited as a significant driver of biodiversity loss, particularly of plant life. A 1999 study of local plant extirpations in Great Britain found that urbanization contributed at least as much to local plant extinction as did agriculture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Ken |last2=Jones |first2=Allan |date=February 1999 |title=Human Population Density and Prediction of Local Plant Extinction in Britain |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641578 |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=185–189 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.97353.x |jstor=2641578 |bibcode=1999ConBi..13..185T |s2cid=84308784 |access-date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106003641/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641578 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Climate change ===
{{Main|Extinction risk from climate change|Ocean acidification}}
[[File:Bramble-cay-melomys.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Bramble Cay melomys]] were declared extinct in June 2016. This is the first recorded mammalian extinction due to [[Human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]] climate change.<ref>{{cite news|last=Slezak|first=Michael|date=14 June 2016|title=Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/14/first-case-emerges-of-mammal-species-wiped-out-by-human-induced-climate-change|access-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> ]]
[[Climate change]] is expected to be a major [[Extinction risk from climate change|driver of extinctions]] from the 21st century.<ref name="Stokstad" /> Rising levels of carbon dioxide are resulting in influx of this gas into the ocean, increasing its acidity. Marine organisms which possess [[seashell|calcium carbonate shells]] or [[exoskeleton]]s experience physiological pressure as the carbonate reacts with acid. For example, this is already resulting in [[coral bleaching]] on various [[coral reef]]s worldwide, which provide valuable habitat and maintain a high biodiversity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Xuefei |last2=D'Olivo |first2=Juan Pablo |last3=Wei |first3=Gangjian |last4=McCulloch |first4=Malcolm |date=15 August 2019 |title=Anthropogenic ocean warming and acidification recorded by Sr/Ca, Li/Mg, δ11B and B/Ca in Porites coral from the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219301816 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=528 |pages=50–59 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.04.033 |bibcode=2019PPP...528...50C |s2cid=155148474 |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206125754/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219301816 |url-status=live }}</ref> Marine [[Gastropoda|gastropods]], [[Bivalvia|bivalves]], and other invertebrates are also affected, as are the organisms that feed on them.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-07|title=Plastics in the Ocean|website=Ocean Conservancy|url=https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/|access-date=2021-02-06|archive-date=2021-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220103735/https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=oceanconservancy.org is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=May 2022}} Some studies have suggested that it is not climate change that is driving the current extinction crisis, but the demands of contemporary human civilization on nature.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ketcham|first=Christopher|date=December 3, 2022|title=Addressing Climate Change Will Not "Save the Planet"|url=https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/|work=[[The Intercept]]|location=|access-date=December 6, 2022|quote=When it comes to effects on wildlife, climate change is more like a mule, slow and plodding. Yes, a warmed atmosphere is projected to be a significant factor in the extinction crisis in future decades, but what’s destroying species today is habitat fragmentation and loss, overhunting and overexploitation, agricultural expansion, pollution, and industrial development. It isn’t climate change that caused a 69 percent loss in total wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018, according to a World Wildlife Fund study published this year. The cause is too many people demanding too much from ecosystems, or human overshoot of the biophysical carrying capacity of the Earth.|archive-date=February 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218153423/https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Caro|first1=Tim |last2=Rowe|first2=Zeke |display-authors=etal.|date=2022 |title=An inconvenient misconception: Climate change is not the principal driver of biodiversity loss|journal=[[Conservation Letters]]|volume= 15|issue=3|pages=e12868|doi=10.1111/conl.12868|s2cid=246172852 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022ConL...15E2868C }}</ref> However, a rise in average global temperatures greater than 5.2&nbsp;°C is projected to cause a mass extinction similar to the "Big Five" mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic, even without other anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Haijun |last2=Kemp |first2=David B. |last3=Tian |first3=Li |last4=Chu |first4=Daoliang |last5=Song |first5=Huyue |last6=Dai |first6=Xu |date=4 August 2021 |title=Thresholds of temperature change for mass extinctions |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=4694 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-25019-2 |pmid=34349121 |pmc=8338942 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.4694S }}</ref>

===Overexploitation===
{{See also|Species affected by poaching|Overfishing}}
[[File:Vaquita4 Olson NOAA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[vaquita]], the world's most endangered marine mammal, was reduced to 30 individuals as of February 2017. They are often killed by commercial fishing nets.<ref>{{cite news|first=Virginia|last=Morell|title=World's most endangered marine mammal down to 30 individuals|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-most-endangered-marine-mammal-down-30-individuals|work=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|date=February 1, 2017|access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref> As of March 2019, only 10 remain, according to The International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita.<ref>{{cite news|date= March 15, 2019|title=World's most endangered marine mammal is now down to 10 animals|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2196694-worlds-most-endangered-marine-mammal-is-now-down-to-10-animals/|work=New Scientist|access-date=March 16, 2019}}</ref>]]
[[File:Northwest Atlantic cod biomass.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|left|The [[collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery]] as a result of [[overfishing]], and subsequent recovery.]]
Overhunting can reduce the local population of [[game (hunting)|game animals]] by more than half, as well as reducing population density, and may lead to extinction for some species.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Redford|first=K. H.|year=1992|title=The empty forest|journal=BioScience|volume=42|issue=6|pages=412–422|url=http://www.dse.ufpb.br/alexandre/Redford%201992%20-The%20empty%20forest.pdf|doi=10.2307/1311860|jstor=1311860|access-date=2017-01-10|archive-date=2021-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228092214/http://www.dse.ufpb.br/alexandre/Redford%201992%20-The%20empty%20forest.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Populations located nearer to villages are significantly more at risk of depletion.<ref name=peres2006>{{cite book|last1=Peres|first1=Carlos A.|first2=Hilton S.|last2=Nascimento|title=Human Exploitation and Biodiversity Conservation |chapter=Impact of Game Hunting by the Kayapo´ of South-eastern Amazonia: Implications for Wildlife Conservation in Tropical Forest Indigenous Reserves|series=Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation|volume=3|issue=8|year=2006 |pages=287–313|isbn=978-1-4020-5283-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Altrichter|first1=M. |last2=Boaglio|first2=G.|title=Distribution and Relative Abundance of Peccaries in the Argentine Chaco: Associations with Human Factors|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=116|issue=2|year=2004|pages=217–225|doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00192-7|bibcode=2004BCons.116..217A }}</ref> Several conservationist organizations, among them [[IFAW]] and [[HSUS]], assert that [[Trophy hunting|trophy hunters]], particularly from the United States, are playing a significant role in the decline of giraffes, which they refer to as a "silent extinction".<ref>{{cite news|last=Milman|first=Oliver|date=April 19, 2017|title=Giraffes must be listed as endangered, conservationists formally tell US|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting|work=The Guardian|access-date=April 29, 2018|archive-date=April 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430050100/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting|url-status=live}}</ref>

The surge in the mass killings by [[poachers]] involved in the illegal ivory trade along with habitat loss is threatening [[African elephant]] populations.<ref>{{cite report |author1=UNEP |author2=CITES |author3=IUCN |author4=TRAFFIC |year=2013 |url=http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAivory_draft7.pdf |title=Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis |type=A Rapid Response Assessment |isbn=978-82-7701-111-0 |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme. Printed by Birkeland Trykkeri AS, Norway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810061656/http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAivory_draft7.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-10|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="sevenyears">{{cite news |title=African Elephant Population Dropped 30 Percent in 7 Years |work=The New York Times |date=September 1, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 22, 2017 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308134535/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1979, their populations stood at 1.7&nbsp;million; at present there are fewer than 400,000 remaining.<ref>{{cite web |last=Marche |first=Stephen |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50431/the-ivory-game-review-netflix/ |title=This Is the Most Important Issue That's Not Being Talked About in This Election |work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=November 7, 2016 |access-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314145407/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a50431/the-ivory-game-review-netflix/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to European colonization, scientists believe Africa was home to roughly 20 million elephants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McKenzie |first1=David |last2=Formanek |first2=Ingrid |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/africa/great-elephant-census/ |title=Our living dinosaurs |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=September 1, 2016 |access-date=2022-11-10 |archive-date=2021-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213183959/http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/africa/great-elephant-census/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[Great Elephant Census]], 30% of African elephants (or 144,000 individuals) disappeared over a seven-year period, 2007 to 2014.<ref name="sevenyears"/><ref>{{cite news |last=McKenzie |first=David |date=December 31, 2016 |title=We are failing the elephants |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/world/vanishing-mckenzie-botswana-elephants/index.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |archive-date=2021-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206012402/http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/world/vanishing-mckenzie-botswana-elephants/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> African elephants could become extinct by 2035 if poaching rates continue.<ref name="suttergiraffe"/>

[[File:Number of African elephants.svg|thumb|Decline in the number of African elephants since 1500 AD]]

Fishing has had a devastating effect on marine organism populations for several centuries even before the explosion of destructive and highly effective fishing practices like [[trawling]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Unnatural History of the Sea|last=Roberts|first=Callum|year=2007}}</ref> Humans are unique among predators in that they regularly prey on other adult [[apex predator]]s, particularly in marine environments;<ref name="Darimont-2015" /> [[bluefin tuna]], [[blue whale]]s, [[North Atlantic right whale]]s,<ref>{{cite news|author=Claudia Geib|date=July 16, 2020|title=North Atlantic right whales now officially 'one step from extinction'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/16/north-atlantic-right-whales-critically-endangered-one-step-from-extinction|work=The Guardian|access-date=July 17, 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408110539/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/16/north-atlantic-right-whales-critically-endangered-one-step-from-extinction|url-status=live}}</ref> and over fifty species of sharks and [[Batoidea|ray]]s are vulnerable to predation pressure from human fishing, in particular commercial fishing.<ref>{{cite news|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=December 4, 2018|title=World's strangest sharks and rays 'on brink of extinction'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46420736|work=BBC|access-date=December 10, 2018|archive-date=February 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207124715/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46420736|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2016 study published in ''Science'' concludes that humans tend to hunt larger species, and this could disrupt ocean ecosystems for millions of years.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Payne|first1=Jonathan L. |last2=Bush|first2=Andrew M.|last3= Heim|first3= Noel A.|last4=Knope| first4=Matthew L.|last5=McCauley |first5=Douglas J. |year=2016|title =Ecological selectivity of the emerging mass extinction in the oceans|journal=Science|volume=353|issue=6305|pages =1284–1286|doi =10.1126/science.aaf2416|pmid= 27629258|bibcode=2016Sci...353.1284P|doi-access=free}}</ref> A 2020 study published in ''[[Science Advances]]'' found that around 18% of marine megafauna, including iconic species such as the [[Great white shark]], are at risk of extinction from human pressures over the next century. In a worst-case scenario, 40% could go extinct over the same time period.<ref>{{cite news|last=Osborne|first=Hannah|date=April 17, 2020|title=Great White Sharks Among Marine Megafauna That Could Go Extinct in Next 100 Years, Study Warns|url=https://www.newsweek.com/great-white-shark-extinction-megafauna-1498592|work=[[Newsweek]]|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222113455/https://www.newsweek.com/great-white-shark-extinction-megafauna-1498592|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a 2021 study published in ''Nature'', 71% of oceanic shark and ray populations have been destroyed by [[overfishing]] (the primary driver of ocean [[defaunation]]) from 1970 to 2018, and are nearing the "point of no return" as 24 of the 31 species are now threatened with extinction, with several being classified as critically endangered.<ref>{{cite news|last=Yeung|first=Jessie|date=January 28, 2021|title=Shark and ray populations have dropped 70% and are nearing 'point of no return,' study warns|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/world/sharks-rays-decline-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|work=CNN|location=|access-date=January 28, 2021|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307120210/https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/world/sharks-rays-decline-study-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1= Pacoureau|first1=Nathan|last2= Rigby |first2=Cassandra L.|display-authors=etal.|date=2021|title=Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays|url=|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=589|issue= 7843|pages=567–571|doi=10.1038/s41586-020-03173-9|pmid=33505035|bibcode=2021Natur.589..567P|hdl=10871/124531|s2cid=231723355|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Einhorn|first=Catrin|date=January 27, 2021|title=Shark Populations Are Crashing, With a 'Very Small Window' to Avert Disaster|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/sharks-population-study.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131005226/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/sharks-population-study.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays around coral reefs are threatened with extinction from overfishing, with 14 of 134 species being critically endangered.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Sherman|first1=C. Samantha|last2= Simpfendorfer|first2=Colin A.|display-authors=et al|date=2023 |title=Half a century of rising extinction risk of coral reef sharks and rays|url= |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=14 |issue=15 |page=15 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-35091-x|pmid=36650137 |pmc=9845228 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14...15S |access-date=}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=If this pattern goes unchecked, the future oceans would lack many of the largest species in today's oceans. Many large species play critical roles in ecosystems and so their extinctions could lead to ecological cascades that would influence the structure and function of future ecosystems beyond the simple fact of losing those species.|source=Jonathan Payne, associate professor and chair of geological sciences at Stanford University<ref>{{cite news |last=Vaughan |first=Adam |date=September 14, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/humanity-driving-unprecedented-marine-extinction |title=Humanity driving 'unprecedented' marine extinction |work=The Guardian |access-date=September 20, 2016 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506001024/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/humanity-driving-unprecedented-marine-extinction |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
{{clear}}

===Disease===
{{See also|Decline in amphibian populations|White nose syndrome|Colony collapse disorder|Pesticide toxicity to bees}}
[[File:Bufo periglenes2.jpg|thumb|right|The [[golden toad]] of Costa Rica, extinct since around 1989. Its disappearance has been attributed to a confluence of several factors, including [[El Niño]] warming, fungus, habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259639291|first1=L.|last1= Ochoa-Ochoa|first2=R. J.|last2=Whittaker|first3=R. J.|last3=Ladle|year=2013|title=The demise of the golden toad and the creation of a climate change icon species|journal=Conservation and Society|volume=11|issue=3|pages=291–319|doi=10.4103/0972-4923.121034|doi-access=free}}</ref>]]
[[File:Ecnomiohyla rabborum.jpg|thumb|left|[[Toughie (frog)|Toughie]], the last [[Ecnomiohyla rabborum|Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog]], died in September 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hance |first=Jeremy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/oct/27/rabbs-fringe-limbed-treefrog-frog-amphibians-extinct-extinction-media |title=Frog goes extinct, media yawns |work=The Guardian |date=27 October 2016}}</ref> The species was killed off by the [[Chytridiomycota|chytrid fungus]] ''[[Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis]]''<ref>{{Cite iucn|author=Mendelson, J.R.|author2=Angulo, A.|title=''Ecnomiohyla rabborum''|volume=2009 |page=e.T158613A5241303|date=2009|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T158613A5241303.en|access-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>]]
The decline of amphibian populations has also been identified as an indicator of environmental degradation. As well as habitat loss, introduced predators and pollution, [[Chytridiomycosis]], a fungal infection accidentally spread by human travel,<ref name="Kolbert-2014" /> globalization, and the wildlife trade, has caused severe population drops of over 500 amphibian species, and perhaps 90 extinctions,<ref name="Scheele2019">{{cite journal|last1=Scheele|first1=Ben C.|display-authors=etal.|date=March 29, 2019|title=Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=363|issue=6434|pages=1459–1463|doi=10.1126/science.aav0379|pmid=30923224|hdl=1885/160196|s2cid=85565860|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10069937/1/Garner_Scheele-et_al-Science_2019_Amphibian%20fungal%20panzootic%20causes%20catastrophic%20and%20ongoing%20loss%20of%20biodiversity.pdf|bibcode=2019Sci...363.1459S|access-date=June 27, 2019|archive-date=April 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427121913/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10069937/1/Garner_Scheele-et_al-Science_2019_Amphibian%20fungal%20panzootic%20causes%20catastrophic%20and%20ongoing%20loss%20of%20biodiversity.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> including (among many others) the extinction of the [[golden toad]] in Costa Rica, the [[Gastric-brooding frog]] in Australia, the [[Rabb's Fringe-limbed Treefrog]] and the extinction of the [[Panamanian golden frog]] in the wild. Chytrid fungus has spread across Australia, New Zealand, Central America and Africa, including countries with high amphibian diversity such as [[cloud forest]]s in [[Honduras]] and [[Madagascar]]. ''[[Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans]]'' is a similar infection currently threatening [[salamander]]s. Amphibians are now the most endangered vertebrate group, having existed for more than 300 million years through three other [[mass extinction]]s.<ref name="Kolbert-2014"/>{{rp|17}}

Millions of bats in the US have been dying off since 2012 due to a fungal infection known as [[white-nose syndrome]] that spread from European bats, who appear to be immune. Population drops have been as great as 90% within five years, and extinction of at least one bat species is predicted. There is currently no form of treatment, and such declines have been described as "unprecedented" in bat evolutionary history by Alan Hicks of the [[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Blehert |first1=D. S.|last2=Hicks |first2=A. C.|last3=Behr |first3=M. |last4=Meteyer |first4=C. U.|last5=Berlowski-Zier |first5=B. M. |last6=Buckles |first6=E. L. |last7=Coleman |first7=J. T. H. |last8=Darling |first8=S. R. |last9=Gargas |first9=A. |last10=Niver |first10=R.|last11=Okoniewski |first11=J. C.|last12=Rudd |first12=R. J. |last13=Stone |first13=W. B. |title=Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?|journal=Science|date=9 January 2009 |volume=323|issue=5911|pages=227|doi=10.1126/science.1163874|pmid=18974316|bibcode=2009Sci...323..227B |s2cid=23869393}}</ref>

Between 2007 and 2013, over ten million beehives were abandoned due to [[colony collapse disorder]], which causes [[worker bee]]s to abandon the [[queen bee|queen]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Benjamin, A. |author2=Holpuch, A. |author3=Spencer, R. |newspaper=The Guardian |year=2013 |access-date=21 August 2015 |title=Buzzfeeds: The effects of colony collapse disorder and other bee news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/30/buzzfeeds-bees-colony-collapse-disorder |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905094423/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/30/buzzfeeds-bees-colony-collapse-disorder |url-status=live }}</ref> Though no single cause has gained widespread acceptance by the scientific community, proposals include infections with ''[[Varroa]]'' and [[Acarapis woodi|''Acarapis'']] [[mite]]s; [[malnutrition]]; various [[pathogen]]s; [[genetics|genetic factors]]; [[immunodeficiency|immunodeficiencies]]; [[habitat destruction|loss of habitat]]; changing [[beekeeping]] practices; or a combination of factors.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Multiple-causes-for-colony-collapse---report/tabid/1160/articleID/296401/Default.aspx|work= 3 News NZ|title= Multiple causes for colony collapse – report|date= 3 May 2013|access-date= 3 May 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191137/http://www.3news.co.nz/Multiple-causes-for-colony-collapse---report/tabid/1160/articleID/296401/Default.aspx|archive-date= 29 October 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name=Cepero2014>{{cite journal|last1=Cepero|first1=Almudena|last2=Ravoet|first2=Jorgen|last3=Gómez-Moracho|first3=Tamara|last4=Bernal|first4=José Luis|last5=Del Nozal|first5=Maria J.|last6=Bartolomé |first6=Carolina|last7=Maside|first7=Xulio|last8=Meana|first8=Aránzazu|last9=González-Porto |first9=Amelia V.|last10=de Graaf|first10=Dirk C.|last11=Martín-Hernández|first11=Raquel|last12=Higes |first12=Mariano|title=Holistic screening of collapsing honey bee colonies in Spain: a case study |journal=BMC Research Notes|date=15 September 2014|volume=7|pages=649|doi=10.1186/1756-0500-7-649 |pmid=25223634|pmc=4180541|issn=1756-0500 |doi-access=free }}</ref>