IELTS Reading 29-09-2019: Reading Passage 3 (General) | Red List of Threatened Species Reveals Global Extinction Crisis

Section 3

Questions 26 – 40 are based on the passage “Red List of Threatened Species Reveals Global Extinction”. The passage has 17 paragraphs labeled A-Q.

Questions 26 – 30
Which paragraphs contain the following information? Write the appropriate letter A – Q in boxes 26 – 30 on your answer sheet. You only need ONE letter for each answer.

26. The causes of species reduction in freshwater habitats.
27. What the report shows us that we must do to correct the destruction.
28. Usefulness of the report.
29. Statistical data to provide evidence that humans are primarily the cause.
30. What one contributing organisation did in response to the threats of certain species.

Question 31 — 35
Write the answers to the following questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS in boxes 31 – 35 on your answer sheet

1. The starting date of the report.
2. Besides the problem of habitat changes, what was a big reason for problems in rivers, as mentioned in the report?
3. At what annual event will participants be immediately discussing the findings?
4. The geographical areas or terrain that seem to be the worse for endangering birds and mammals be it at high elevations or low elevations.
5. For what purpose are hunters especially interested in killing primates?

Questions 36 — 40
Do the statements below agree with the information given in the test ? in boxes 36 – 40 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                           if the statement is true
FALSE                         if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN              if the information is not given in the passage

36. The report lists most of the plants of the world.
37. BirdLife has successfully helped reduce the number of deaths related to fishing.
38. A higher percentage of mammals are threatened with extinction than are birds
39. The Red List shows that a third of all plant species are threatened.
40. Hunting is not the main threat to birds, plants, or animals.

Red List of Threatened Species Reveals Global Extinction Crisis

A The Earth’s most critically endangered animals and plants have been disappearing very rapidly since 1996, the world’s largest international conservation organisation reported today. One in four mammal species and one in eight species of birds are facing a high risk of extinction in the near future, in almost all cases because of human activities. The total number of threatened animal species has increased from 5,205 to 5,435. The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is released once every four years by the IUCN–The World Conservation Union. The Red List is considered the most authoritative and comprehensive status assessment of global biodiversity. Founded in 1948, the IUCN brings together 77 states, 112 government agencies, 735 non-governmental organizations, 35 affiliates, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a worldwide partnership. Drawing on all these sources of information, the Red List report uses scientific criteria to classify species into one of eight categories: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Lower Risk, Data Deficient and Not Evaluated. A species is classed as threatened if it falls in the Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable categories.

B “The fact that the number of critically endangered species has increased–mammals from 169 to 180; birds from 168 to 182–was a jolting surprise, even to those already familiar with today’s increasing threats to biodiversity. These findings should be taken very seriously by the global community,” says Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser, the IUCN’s director general. The magnitude of risk, shown by movements to the higher risk categories, has increased, although the overall percentage of threatened mammals and birds has not greatly changed in four years, the IUCN found. Primates such as apes and monkeys showed the greatest increase in the number of threatened mammals–from 96 to 116 species. Many changes were found to be caused by increased habitat loss and hunting, particularly the bushmeat trade. The number of Critically Endangered primates increased from 13 to 19. Endangered primates number 46 today, up from 29 four years ago.

C Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and chair of the IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group says, “The Red List is solid documentation of the global extinction crisis, and it reveals just the tip of the iceberg.” “Many wonderful creatures will be lost in the first few decades of the 21st century unless we greatly increase levels of support, involvement and commitment to conservation,” he warns. Human and financial resources must be mobilised at between 10 and 100 times the current level to address this crisis, the Red List analysis urges.

D Indonesia, India, Brazil and China are among the countries with the most threatened mammals and birds, while plant species are declining rapidly in South and Central America, Central and West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Habitat loss and habitat degradation affect 89 percent of all threatened birds, 83 percent of mammals, and 91 percent of threatened plants assessed. Habitats with the highest number of threatened mammals and birds are lowland and mountain tropical rainforest.

E Freshwater habitats are “extremely vulnerable” with many threatened fish, reptile, amphibian and invertebrate species. Freshwater turtles, heavily exploited for food and medicinal use in Asia, went from 10 to 24 Critically Endangered species in the past four years. “Hunting of these species is unregulated and unmanaged, and the harvest levels are far too high for the species to sustain,” the IUCN warns. As populations disappear in Southeast Asia, there are signs that this trade is increasingly shifting to India, and further afield to the Americas and Africa. The report points to “extremely serious deterioration” in the status of river-dwelling species largely due to water development projects and other habitat changes. One of the major threats to lake-dwelling species is introduced species. A systematic analysis of the status of these species will be undertaken in three years.

F BirdLife International produced the global status analysis that forms a major component of the Red List. The most significant changes have been in the albatrosses and petrels, with an increase from 32 to 55 threatened species. Sixteen albatross species are now threatened compared to only three in 1996, as a result of longline fishing. Of the remaining five albatross species, four are now near-threatened. Threatened penguin species have doubled from five to 10. These increases reflect the growing threats to the marine environment,” the IUCN reports. BirdLife International has started an international campaign titled, “Save the albatross: keeping the world’s sebirds off the hook” to reduce the accidental–by catch of seabirds through longline fisheries, adopting appropriate mitigation measures. The Philippines, another biodiversity hotspot, has lost 97 percent of its original vegetation and has more Critically Endangered birds than any other country.

G The IUCN Red List includes 5,611 species of threatened plants, many of which are trees. The total number of globally threatened plant species is still small in relation to the total number of plant species, but this is because most plant species have still not been assessed for their level of threat, the IUCN says. The only major plant group to have been comprehensively assessed is the conifers, of which 140 species, 16 percent of the total, are threatened. Assessments undertaken by Nature Conservancy, not yet incorporated in the Red List, indicate that one-third of the plant species in North America are threatened. In the last 500 years, human activity has forced 816 species to extinction or extinction in the wild. One hundred and three extinctions have occurred since 1800, indicating an extinction rate 50 times greater than the natural rate. Many species are lost before they are discovered. A total of 18,276 species and subspecies are included in the 2000 Red List. Approximately 25 percent of reptiles, 20 percent of amphibians and 30 percent of fishes, mainly freshwater, so far assessed are listed as threatened.

H Since only a small proportion of these groups has been assessed, the percentage of threatened species could be much higher, the IUCN says. As well as classifying species according to their extinction risk; the Red List provides information on species range, population trends, main habitats, major threats and conservation measures, both already in place and those needed. It allows insight into the processes driving extinction. The release of the 2000 Red List comes a week before the second World Conservation Congress in Amman, Jordan, where members of the IUCN will meet to define global conservation policy for the next four years, including ways of addressing the growing extinction crisis.