Are we eating the world's megafauna to extinction?

Ripple, WJ; Wolf, C; Newsome, TM; Betts, MG; Ceballos, G; Courchamp, F; Hayward, MW; Van Valkenburgh, B; Wallach, AD; Worm, B

Are we eating the world's megafauna to extinction?

Ripple, WJ Wolf, C Newsome, TM Betts, MG Ceballos, G Courchamp, F Hayward, MW Van Valkenburgh, B Wallach, AD

Worm, B

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Conservation Letters, 2019
Issue Date:: 2019-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ripple, WJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wolf, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Newsome, TM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Betts, MG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ceballos, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Courchamp, F	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hayward, MW	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Van Valkenburgh, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wallach, AD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6640-3887	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Worm, B	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Conservation Letters, 2019	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/134705
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 The Authors. Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Many of the world's vertebrates have experienced large population and geographic range declines due to anthropogenic threats that put them at risk of extinction. The largest vertebrates, defined as megafauna, are especially vulnerable. We analyzed how human activities are impacting the conservation status of megafauna within six classes: mammals, ray-finned fish, cartilaginous fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles. We identified a total of 362 extant megafauna species. We found that 70% of megafauna species with sufficient information are decreasing and 59% are threatened with extinction. Surprisingly, direct harvesting of megafauna for human consumption of meat or body parts is the largest individual threat to each of the classes examined, and a threat for 98% (159/162) of threatened species with threat data available. Therefore, minimizing the direct killing of the world's largest vertebrates is a priority conservation strategy that might save many of these iconic species and the functions and services they provide.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Conservation Letters	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/conl.12627	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Are we eating the world's megafauna to extinction?	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 The Authors. Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Many of the world's vertebrates have experienced large population and geographic range declines due to anthropogenic threats that put them at risk of extinction. The largest vertebrates, defined as megafauna, are especially vulnerable. We analyzed how human activities are impacting the conservation status of megafauna within six classes: mammals, ray-finned fish, cartilaginous fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles. We identified a total of 362 extant megafauna species. We found that 70% of megafauna species with sufficient information are decreasing and 59% are threatened with extinction. Surprisingly, direct harvesting of megafauna for human consumption of meat or body parts is the largest individual threat to each of the classes examined, and a threat for 98% (159/162) of threatened species with threat data available. Therefore, minimizing the direct killing of the world's largest vertebrates is a priority conservation strategy that might save many of these iconic species and the functions and services they provide.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/134705