Going, going, gone: The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is listed as 'critically endangered' on the IUCN's Red List. It's estimated only 84 to 143 animals remain in the wild.

Credit: Antonio Rivas

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SYDNEY: Up to one-third of mammals may soon no longer roam the Earth, according to the 2008 endangered species list, released today.

More than 1,700 scientists from around the globe have contributed to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 2008 Red List, an assessment of species' extinction risk.

The list is updated every four years, but this edition is the first since 1996 that has included an evaluation of all the world's 5,487 known mammals.

The news is good for some species, but dire for others.

The list shows that more than five per cent of threatened species are making a comeback. The African elephant (Loxodonta africana), and the black footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) – which was reintroduced into seven states of the U.S. in the last decade after becoming extinct in the wild - are two such success stories, with numbers increasing or remaining stable.

The number of species has increased 19 per cent since 1992, with many new creatures discovered in Madagascar and the Amazon.

Alarming rate

However, about one-quarter of mammals face extinction. That figure could be closer to one-third, if it included little-studied animals whose conservation status is unknown.

The total list, including reptiles, marine creatures and plants, accounts for 44,838 species, 38 per cent of which are threatened with extinction.

More than seven per cent of species worldwide are in the highest category - 'critically endangered'. And scientists estimate that 76 mammal species have been wiped from the Earth since the year 1500.

Amphibians also fare poorly, with 366 species added to the list this year. Almost one-third of them are either extinct or nearly extinct.