Global wildlife populations are falling “catastrophically” according to a report by the WWF.
On Thursday the charity revealed that numbers of mammals, birds, fish, plants and insects have fallen an average of 68% globally since 1970 – more than two thirds in 50 years.
Agriculture and land-use change, including the conversion of wild spaces into farmland, are named among the main causes of global nature loss, as well as over-fishing.
The Living Planet Report 2020, which includes contributions from more than 125 experts from around the world, draws on the latest findings measured by a Zoological Society of London index tracking 20,811 populations of 4392 species.
The report shows that African elephant populations in the Selous-Mikumi ecosystem in Tanzania have declined by 98% between 1985 and 2010 due to the increasing of poaching in the early 1980s.
In the UK, the grey partridge has declined by 85% between 1970 and 2004, likely due to the effects of agricultural intensification.