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Migratory species at risk worldwide, with a-fifth in danger of extinction, landmark U.N. report says
From African elephants searching for water, to turtles crossing seas to nest, to albatrosses on their ocean-spanning searches for food, the world’s migratory species are under threat across the planet, according to a landmark report Monday.
The first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species assessment, which focusses on the 1,189 species covered by the U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), found that one in five is threatened with extinction and 44 percent are seeing their populations decline.
Silvia Izquierdo / AP
Humans are to blame, by destroying or breaking up habitats, hunting, and polluting areas with plastics, chemicals, light and noise.
Climate change also threatens to interfere with migration routes and timings, by altering seasonal conditions.
“We are finding out the phenomenon of migration itself is under threat,” CMS chief Amy Fraenkel told AFP, adding that the report should be a “wake up call about what’s happening.”
The report was released as over 130 signatory countries — with the notable absence of the United States, China, Canada and Russia — gathered for a conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from February 12 to 17.
“These are species that move around the globe. They move to feed and breed and also need stopover sites along the way,” The Associated Press quoted Kelly Malsch, lead author of the report, as saying.
“Migration is essential for some species. If you cut the migration, you’re going to kill the species,” Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not involved in the report, told the AP.
Stephan Savoia / AP
Migratory species often rely on very specialized sites to feed and mate and their journeys between them can cross international borders and even continents.
Iconic species that make some of the most extraordinary journeys across the planet include the monarch butterfly, the humpback whale and loggerhead turtle.
“Today’s report sets out the evidence that unsustainable human activities are jeopardizing the future of migratory species,” said Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Some factors behind the peril
Among the chief threats are agriculture and fishing.
Farming can destroy habitat, Fraenkel said, while “bycatch” by fishing vessels — when other fish or animals become ensnared by fishing gear — is the biggest continued threat for whales.
She said while habitat destruction is considered the main risk to migratory animals, for some species the report found that it was “intentional killing,” either for wild meat or sport, or because the animals are thought of as pests.
“There is a big gap that we’ve now identified that needs action,” she said.
The report, compiled by UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Center, found that over the past three decades, 70 CMS-listed species have become more endangered, including the steppe eagle, Egyptian vulture and the wild camel.
Just 14 now have an improved conservation status — including blue and humpback whales and the white-tailed sea eagle.
By the numbers
Of the 158 mammals listed under the convention, 40 percent are threatened across the globe, according to the report.
Meanwhile almost all — 97 percent — of the 58 fish species listed are facing a high risk of extinction, including migratory sharks, rays and sturgeons.
More than 960 species of birds are CMS-listed and while only 14 percent were assessed as threatened, the authors stressed this still amounts to some 134 species.
The report also found 399 migratory species — including albatrosses, ground sharks and stingrays — are categorized as threatened or near-threatened but are not yet CMS-listed.
The report, which is intended to feed into the Samarkand conference, includes a focus on species most at risk, highlighting the threats from fishing, farming and pollution.
They echo a flagship biodiversity accord in 2022, when countries agreed to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and sea by 2030.
Many of the migratory species listed on CMS provide economic value or “services” useful to humans — from tourism centered on whales, dolphins, elephants and cheetahs to the pollination provided by birds and bats.
But Fraenkel said these species also connect communities across the world, their departures and arrival marking the passing of the seasons.
“They are really magnificent creatures,” she said.
An American climber was rescued after she and another alpinist from the U.K. were stranded for two days at more than 20,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Michelle Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37, went missing on Thursday after their equipment and food tumbled down a ravine while trekking up India’s Chaukhamba mountain, CBS News partner BBC reported.
The pair sent an emergency message but search and rescue teams were unable to find them.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
Manners told the BBC they were “terrified” as they tried to make part of the descent down the treacherous mountains without supplies.
“I watched the bag tumble down the mountain and I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,” she said. “We had none of our safety equipment left. No tent. No stove to melt snow for water. No warm clothes for the evening.”
The terrifying ordeal intensified when it started to snow. They took cover on a ledge while waiting for rescuers.
“I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm,” Manners said.
The rescue was made difficult because of the conditions, including bad weather, fog and high altitude.
“The helicopter flew passed again, couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,” Manners told the BBC.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
On the second day, the pair began to cautiously abseil down the mountain. They spotted a team of French climbers coming toward them. Manners said they shared their equipment and food and contacted the helicopter company with an exact location.
“I cried with relief knowing we might survive,” she said.
The Indian Air Force said in a post on the X social media platform that their helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet after “battling two days of bad weather.”
Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
President Biden approved the mobilization of another 500 active-duty troops to North Carolina to assist in the recovery efforts after the deadly and devastating Hurricane Helene.
“With a total of 1,500 troops now supplementing a robust on-the-ground effort – including more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and more than 7,000 Federal personnel – the Biden-Harris Administration is mobilizing all relevant resources to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,” the White House said in a statement Sunday.
Mr. Biden previously announced that the federal government would cover “100%” of costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures in North Carolina for six months. The Biden administration has also released more than $137 million in federal funds – including $100 million in transportation funds for North Carolina to begin rebuilding damaged roads and bridges.
Mike Stewart / AP
More than 800 people unable to return home are staying in lodging provided through FEMA, and 22 shelters are still housing nearly 1,000 people as mobile feeding operations continue to help survivors.
“My Administration is sparing no resource to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,” Biden said. “We will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders – regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.”
Earlier Sunday, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tills called for more resources to bolster the relief effort and likened the damage to Hurricane Katrina’s mark on Louisiana in 2005.
“The scope of this storm is more like Katrina,” he told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”. “It may look like a flood to the outside observer, but again, this is a landmass roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts, with damage distributed throughout. We have to get maximum resources on the ground immediately to finish rescue operations.”
Mr. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have all traveled to some of the impacted regions.
Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains and killed more than 225 people across multiple states. That number includes 114 killed in North Carolina alone.
The White House said Mr. Biden has also been briefed on Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to make landfall in Florida’s Tampa Bay area as a major storm on Wednesday.
U.S. disaster relief chief blasts false claims about Helene response
Deanne Criswell, who leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on Sunday that the recent false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to the storm are “demoralizing” aid workers.
“It’s frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” she said. “It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do. We have had the complete support of the state,” she said, referring to North Carolina.
Joe Raedle/ Getty Images
Republicans, led by Trump, have helped foster a frenzy of misinformation over the past week among the communities most devastated by Helene, promoting a number of false claims, including that Washington is intentionally withholding aid to people in Republican areas.
Trump accused FEMA of spending all its money to help immigrants who are in the United States illegally, while other critics assert that the government spends too much on Israel, Ukraine and other foreign countries.
Tillis, a Republican, on Sunday rejected that claim, telling “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that resources being used on immigration is “not yet … affecting the flow of resources to western North Carolina.”
Tillis said the stream of misinformation about relief efforts in North Carolina is a “distraction.”
“I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground,” Tillis said. “It’s at the expense of hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their lives.”
Mr. Biden said in a statement Sunday that his administration “will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders –- regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.”
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American and U.K. climbers rescued after 2 days stranded on Himalayan mountains in India
Biden sends more troops to North Carolina for continued Hurricane Helene response
Scene along Twin Cities Marathon: Bananas, Alan Page, pickle juice
American and U.K. climbers rescued after 2 days stranded on Himalayan mountains in India
Biden sends more troops to North Carolina for continued Hurricane Helene response