Wildlife Is Being Lost at an Alarming Rate—Here’s Why You Should Care

The WWF reports the Earth lost half its wildlife in the last 40 years—a rate that exceeds the great extinction of the dinosaurs

A brown pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon has affected wildlife throughout the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

The WWF has reported the Earth lost half its wildlife in the last 40 years. This is an alarming rate that exceeds the great extinction of the dinosaurs, experts said.

The “Living Planet Report“ is compiled by the WWF every two years to assess the biodiversity of the planet. By compiling a measurement of more than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, into a record called the Living Planet Index, researchers have determined that the total has dropped by 52 percent since 1970.

The report, broken down, shows a percentage loss of 39 percent in terrestrial animals, 76 percent loss in freshwater animals, and 39 percent in marine animals between 1970 and 2010.

But how important are these findings?

A group of experts on wildlife conservation gave a chilling account of what this really means.

Species decline between 1970 and 2010. WWF. 2014. Living Planet Report. WWF International, Gland, Switzerland.