SINGAPORE, Feb 12 (Reuters) – More than a fifth of the world’s migrating species are at risk of going extinct as a result of climate change and human encroachment, according to the United Nation’s first-ever report on migrating animals published on Monday.
Billions of animals make journeys across deserts, plains or oceans every year to breed and feed, and «unsustainable» pressures put on migratory species could not only see their populations dwindle, but also disrupt food supplies and threaten livelihoods, the report said.
Of the 1,189 species covered by a 1979 U.N. convention to protect migratory animals, 44% have seen numbers decline, and as many as 22% could vanish altogether, the report added.