World Risks Losing 1 in 5 Reptile Species as Human Activity Destroys Ecosystems, Says Report Author

We speak with one of the leaders of a new study that finds one in five reptiles are threatened by extinction. The results of the first comprehensive study of over 10,000 reptile species around the world were just published in the journal Nature and found multiple causes, including deforestation, urban encroachment, hunting and the climate crisis. “The fate of reptiles is wrapped up with the fate of many other species,” notes Bruce Young, the chief zoologist and senior conservation scientist for the wildlife conservation group NatureServe.

Transcript

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AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to continue to look at climate change but at how a devastating new report finds that one in five reptiles are threatened by extinction, with turtles and half of all crocodile species most at risk. That’s the conclusion of the first comprehensive study of over 10,000 reptile species around the world, that took nearly a thousand scientists and 15 years to complete. The study was just published in the journal Nature, found multiple factors are threatening reptiles, including deforestation, urban encroachment, hunting and the climate emergency. This is environmental biologist Leslie Rissler with the National Science Foundation.

LESLIE RISSLER: Species are declining at a rapid rate. Some estimates 10 times, 100 times, 1000 times more than the background rate of extinction that normally happens on the planet, so we’re at a really critical time in our — you know, in Earth’s history.

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