mammals beware

Perhaps you’ve heard of the The Red List of Threatened Species (?). The gang has spent decades tracking species and habitats in an effort to catalog what’s happening out yonder in the Big Outside. And what they found isn’t much fun.

Now, as reported by the erudite BBC, the Red Listers have a new pronouncement to add to an already troubled picture of our natural world – “At least 25% of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction, according to the first assessment of their status for a decade.”

Not that we should be shocked by such news; it’s just another piece of flotsam in a sea of dismal data. But the interesting tidbit is that “The biggest threat to mammals is loss of habitat, including deforestation.”

Why is that of note? Because, unlike most stupid human tricks, we can do something about habitat destruction and tree whacking. Of course, the “environmental movement” currently appears myopically focused on one subject – global warming. Which is understandable, in that fund raisers know where the butter meets the bread.

Suggested reading – anything by John Muir, Aldo, Leopold, Reed Noss , or Paul Shepard.

posted by Mudd