Extinction Rates Seem to Be Faster Than Expected, Should We Ban Wildlife Trade?

Researchers recently revealed that extinction rates are a lot faster than they previously thought after they analyzed thousands of species of vertebrates. They recommend worldwide action to ban wildlife trade, among other measures, to hold back the coming sixth mass extinction.

Paul Ehrlich and colleagues published a paper in 2015 declaring the coming of the sixth mass extinction. After five years, his research team updated their prediction, saying that the rate is much faster than they thought. Their new study was published in the journal PNAS.

They posited that human activities like wildlife trade decimated species in the hundreds and endangered even more, at a rate not seen before. Scientists estimate a total of 543 land vertebrates that went extinct in the last century, and in the next 20 years, they think that almost as many species will be gone as well. Ehrlich said that as humans exterminate creatures, they also destroy their life support system. He adds that conservation must become a worldwide emergency.

Some senators recently expressed that they want to shut down wildlife markets and stop wildlife trade. Destruction of habitats, human overpopulation, wildlife trade, climate change, and pollution threaten the existence of thousands of species and destroy ecosystems such as mangrove forests, coral reefs, deserts, and rainforests, which have interlinked dependencies and relationships with each other to maintain the planet. Killing off species will disable ecosystems' capacity to preserve the climate, pollinate plants, produce freshwater, and provide protection from disease and natural disasters.

The study focused on critically endangered species' distribution and abundance and found that 515 terrestrial vertebrates or 1.7 percent of the entire number of species which they analyzed are nearing extinction, with numbers fewer than a thousand living individuals. Roughly half of all species analyzed did not reach 250 living individuals. Most of these species are found in tropical or subtropical regions. They estimated that since the start of the 20th century, over 237,000 populations from the 515 species mentioned earlier have gone extinct.

A smaller number of populations means improper ecosystem functioning, with consequent ripple effects. National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute of Ecology senior researcher and study lead author Gerardo Ceballos said that how we deal with this crisis for the next 20 years will determine species survival. This, he adds, is the final chance to prevent the irretrievable sabotage of ecosystem services.

The researchers also say that species extinction will destabilize the ecosystem and put other species at similar extinction risk. Extinction begets more extinction. They thus recommend species with fewer than 5,000 individuals to be considered critically endangered in the Red List of IUCN.

The study promotes conservation by identifying regions and species that need immediate attention, as well as the variables most responsible for the extinction. One action recommended is the global ban on wildlife trade.

The researchers point out that COVID-19 is a clear example of how wildlife exploitation can harm humans. They emphasize that wildlife transmit infectious diseases, which recently increased because of more contact with wildlife from disturbance and exploitation, as well as habitat encroachment.