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Sixty per cent of wildlife gone since 1970

Wildlife Loss - Level 0

Wildlife is disappearing faster than before. The world's wildlife population fell by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014. The WWF said the loss of wildlife is like a "mass extinction". This is because of "exploding human consumption". There are more people on Earth. They are eating more and using more resources and energy.

Humans have changed three-quarters of the Earth. In South and Central America, there has been an 89 per cent loss of wildlife since 1970. The WWF said this was shocking. It said the loss was "a [depressing] reminder...of the pressure we [put] on the planet." It warned we must act now and not "let Earth slip away".

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Wildlife Loss - Level 1

Wildlife is disappearing faster than ever before. The WWF says the world's wildlife population dropped by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014. It said: "Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions." Most of this is because of "exploding human consumption". There are more people and they are eating more, buying more, cutting down trees for beef, and using more energy. This has led to a big loss of habitat for animals.

The report says that only a quarter of the world is untouched by humans. Researchers looked at 4,000 species of animals. In South and Central America, there has been an 89 per cent loss of wildlife in four decades. The WWF wrote that the shocking loss of wildlife, "is a [depressing] reminder...of the pressure we [put] on the planet." It warned: "We can be the generation that had its chance and failed to act; that let Earth slip away."

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Wildlife Loss - Level 2

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Wildlife is disappearing at a faster rate than at any time before. The new "Living Planet Report" from the World Wildlife Fund says the world's wildlife population dropped by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014. It warned that: "Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions." Most of the decline is because of "exploding human consumption". There are more humans on this planet. We are eating more, overfishing, cutting down trees for beef, consuming more, and using more energy and natural resources. This has led to a massive loss of habitat for animals.

The report says that only a quarter of the world's land is untouched by humans. Human activity has greatly affected animals on three-quarters of Earth. Researchers tracked 4,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians. The situation is worst in South and Central America, which has seen an 89 per cent loss of wildlife in four decades. The WWF wrote: "The astonishing decline in wildlife population...is a [depressing] reminder...of the pressure we [put] on the planet." It warned: "We can be the generation that had its chance and failed to act; that let Earth slip away."

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Wildlife Loss - Level 3

Earth is losing wildlife at a faster rate than at any time in history. This is according to the new "Living Planet Report" from the World Wildlife Fund. The report says the global wildlife population shrank by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014. The WWF warned that: "Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions." Researchers state that most of the decline in our animal population is because of "exploding human consumption". There are more and more humans on this planet. We are eating more, overfishing, cutting down trees for beef production, consuming more, and using more energy and natural resources. This has resulted in a massive loss of habitat for animals.

The report estimates that only a quarter of the world's land has been untouched by humans. This means human activity has greatly affected animals on three-quarters of Earth's surface. Researchers tracked more than 4,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians. They say the loss of animal life is worst in South and Central America. These regions saw an 89 per cent loss in the population of vertebrates in the past four decades. The WWF wrote: "The astonishing decline in wildlife population...is a [depressing] reminder, and perhaps the ultimate indicator, of the pressure we [put] on the planet." It warned: "We can be the generation that had its chance and failed to act; that let Earth slip away."

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