Editing Holocene extinction (section)

===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>