A mammalian problem

The findings of a study team, comprising zoologists led by Takeo Kawamachi of Osaka City University and commissioned by Japan's Mammalogical Society, say that half of Japan's mammals face the threat of extinction. The results also say that the government's official assessment has underestimated the country's wildlife crisis. The team studied 154 species of terrestrial and marine mammals across the Japanese archipelago and ranked them in seven categories according to their conservation status. It came out that five species, including two species each of wolf and bat, have already been wiped out, 22 are on the verge of extinction, and 85 face a real threat of extinction ( New Scientist , Vol 156, No 2108).