More species near extinction, says conservation group

A freshwater shrimp, an island-dwelling lizard and a pupfish from Arizona have been declared extinct, while nearly 21,000 species are at risk of dying out, an updated "red list" released yesterday showed.

"The overall picture is alarming," said Jane Smart of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is behind the red list of threatened species that to date has assessed 70,294 of the world's 1.82 million known species of plants and animals.

Smart, who heads IUCN's biodiversity conservation union, insisted urgent and more efficient action was needed "if we are serious about stopping the extinction crisis that continues to threaten all life on earth".

According to the update, 20,934 species are "threatened with extinction", compared with 20,219 in October.

Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of IUCN's Red List, said the rise of more than 700 species in this category was explained by increased pressure on a number of them. It was also due to species moving down from the more serious "endangered" category, as well as new species being added to the assessment list.

Yesterday's updated list focused especially on the decline among conifers, a category of cone-bearing trees and shrubs that includes the world's oldest and largest organisms, such as the bristlecone pine that can live to be almost 5,000 years old and the coast redwood, which can grow to a height of 110 metres.