Basking shark, ten other animals, added to endangered species list

From The Scotsman:

Basking shark swims onto list of endangered species

EBEN HARRELL

A SHARK that summers in Scottish waters is to be given international protection due to fears that it is on the brink of extinction.

The basking shark, the world’s second largest fish, can be found in warm seas off the coasts of 48 different countries.

In the UK, the shark traditionally spends the summer in Gulf Stream waters near Cornwall, but global warming has led to an increase in sightings off Scotland’s west coast. …

New species on the endangered list

Red Knot – a medium-sized shorebird which breeds on islands in the Arctic regions of Canada and winters along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Also found in Europe and Asia.

Basra Reed Warbler – small brown bird, breeds in southern Iraq.

Bukhara Deer – central Asia’s only true deer, it migrates across Tajikistan and Uzbekistan where it is threatened by habitat destruction and pollution.

Only 800 to 900 survive.

Henderson’s Petrel – a dwindling population preyed on by rats on the tiny, uninhabited Henderson Island in the South Pacific.

Rat threat now being addressed.

Malagasy Pond Heron – found in southern Africa, rare elsewhere on the continent.

Balearic Shearwater – breeds on cliffs in the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean.

Spotted Ground Thrush – its woodland habitat in East Africa is being destroyed.

Short-Beaked Common Dolphin – thousands still being caught in tuna nets, with other dolphin species, in the eastern tropical Pacific, though its plight may be improving.

Madagascar Squacco Heron – in decline as wetlands disappear.

Atlantic Sturgeon – migrating fish that has been exploited for caviar for many years.

See also here.

Endangered bird species: here.