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Population Declines
Sudden or dramatic population declines are a sign of a species under threat. The articles here focus on declining populations of animals recorded from around the world and examine what's being done to stop shrinking populations from turning into extinctions.
House Sparrows in Decline in Britain
In Britain, scientists have found that in urban and rural areas there are now ten million fewer house sparrows than there were a few decades ago. The decline is more rapid in urban areas when compared to rural regions. London's sparrow population has dropped by sixty percent during the past six years. In rural areas of Britain, populations have fallen the same amount over the past thirty years.
Ten Million Fewer House Sparrows
Despite widespread public concern about shrinking house sparrow populations, scientists could not pinpoint the cause of the decline. But now, Mark Whittingham and his colleagues at the University of Oxford have uncovered one possible explanation—intensified agricultural practices.
Urgent Action Needed to Save Chimpanzees, Bonobos, and Orangutans
Researchers, officials from the United Nations Great Ape Survival Project, and government ministers from countries throughout Africa and Asia met for fives days in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) city of Kinshasa to discuss ways to protect dwindling populations of great apes.