Humans hunting for meat or body parts are threatening to drive to extinction 60 per cent of the world’s megafauna, including iconic creatures such as the beluga whales, the Chinese giant salamander and the Somali ostrich, scientists said on Wednesday. The whale shark, the leatherback turtle and the African elephant are also among the megafauna species threatened with extinction by people seeking their meat, body parts, or eggs, the scientists said in their study published in the journal Conservation Letters. The researchers confined their vulnerability analysis to megafauna — defined as fish or mammals with average weights of 100kg or higher and amphibians, birds and reptiles with average weights of 40kg or higher. The scientists have pointed out that the world has lost at least nine megafauna species between 1768 and 2012. “Intentional snaring for bushmeat is prevalent in many parts of Southeast Asia and Africa and a major threat to some megafauna species,” Ripples said.

Source: The Telegraph February 07, 2019 13:41 UTC