Monday, January 15, 2007

Animals on the EDGE

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has launched a new campaign to save the world's most endangered mammals.
The ZSL is drawing attention to 100 Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE )species. Most of these, unlike charismatic icons such as the giant panda, are currently receiving little or no conservation attention. The EDGE program will focus on ten of these species each year.

This year's top 10 is headed by the Yangtze river dolphin, which (as noted in an earlier post) may already be extinct.

The first 10 are:
Yangtze River dolphin
Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna
Hispaniolan solenodon
Bactrian camel
Pygmy hippopotamus
Slender Loris
Hirola antelope
Golden-rumped elephant shrew
Bumblebee bat (usually rated as the world’s smallest mammal)
Long-eared jerboa

No comments: