114

April 22, 2004 11:32 AM

A new report [complete PDF here] by the Center for Biological Diversity reports that 114 species have gone extinct in the first twenty years of the Endangered Species Act, mostly due to lack of enforcement and political ineptitude.

Here's a list of currently endagered animal and plant species, and an organization that tracks and lists known extinctions.
posted by moonbird (5 comments total)

Only 17 since 1990 though. That seems relevant somehow.
posted by smackfu at 12:36 PM on April 22, 2004

Oops, looks like there is a 10-year delay before it can get listed as endangered. So no items after 1994 are possible.

I still have issues with this premise though:

"A natural background rate of one extinction per million species per year (Wilson 1992) would predict four known extinctions between December 1973 and April 1994. We identified 114 (description of all 114 species, appendix A). This very high extinction rate is of particular concern since it occurred in the first twenty years after the creation of the Endangered Species Act."

Shouldn't they be comparing relative to the rate pre-ESA to see if it's effective? Rather than some theoretical ideal number?
posted by smackfu at 12:42 PM on April 22, 2004

jared diamond offered a great presentation today on MPR on bio-diversity and the choices we face as planet right now - to save ourselves and our planet... or stay the course we are on, and look forward to much less pleasant global future.
posted by specialk420 at 1:02 PM on April 22, 2004

The Jared link looks to be extinct. If anyone finds a working stream of that show it would be interesting.
posted by stbalbach at 4:40 PM on April 22, 2004

The extinction crisis is over. We lost.
posted by homunculus at 5:13 PM on April 22, 2004