About 20 percent of reptile species risk extinction, mainly because people are taking away their habitats for agriculture, urban development and logging, according to the first global reptile assessment of its kind. From inch-long geckos to the iconic king cobra, at least 1,829 species of reptiles, including lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles, are threatened, the study found. “It’s another drumbeat on the path to ecological catastrophe,” said Bruce Young, co-leader of the study and a senior scientist at NatureServe, a nonprofit conservation research group. Such a collapse threatens humans because healthy ecosystems provide necessities like fertile soil, pollination and water supplies. Among reptiles, particularly hard hit are turtles, with almost 60 percent of species at risk of extinction, and crocodiles, with half.

Source: International New York Times April 28, 2022 09:24 UTC