As CNN reported : ” Announced during the IUCN of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, the list is the culmination of work by 8,000 scientists who identified the animals, plants and fungi that are most in danger of extinction.
” Animals like the Hainan gibbon, pygmy three-toed sloth and Luristan newt are critically endangered but perhaps better placed to survive than many of the less charismatic species on the list, said the report’s authors. “
” There is a fear among some conservationists that many of the plants and fungi listed will not be saved or gain public attention because they don’t benefit humans. “
This is brilliantly expressed in The Guardian, which titled its related article ” The expendables? World’s 100 most endangered species listed” in an allusion to the recent movie featuring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.
The subtitle is ” Scientists ask whether humans care only for species from which they can extract benefit, and dismiss the rest as ‘worthless'”
This is in indeed a question worth asking ourselves.