Fifth of reptile species are 'facing extinction'

Almost one in five of the world's reptile species are in danger of extinction as their habitats are cleared away for farming and logging, a report said on Friday.

An assessment of 1,500 randomly selected species of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, tortoises and other reptiles found that 19 per cent were threatened, said the study in the journal Biological Conservation.

Of these, more than a tenth were listed as critically endangered, 41 per cent endangered and nearly half as vulnerable.

Freshwater turtles are particularly at risk, with nearly half of species believed to be close to extinction, said the report compiled by the Zoological Society of London and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission.

Among freshwater reptiles as a group, a third were estimated to be close to extinction.

Study author Monika Boehm said: "Reptiles are often associated with extreme habitats and tough environmental conditions, so it is easy to assume they will be fine in our changing world.