Two-thirds of wild animals could be extinct by 2020: Report
Two-thirds of the world’s wild animals could be extinct by 2020 as a result of habitat destruction, hunting and pollution, according to a report from WWF and the Zoological Society of London. The mass extinction also threatens humanity’s sources of food, water, clean air and materials. The research, which is the most comprehensive study to date of animal populations, shows that numbers fell by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with this figure expected to rise to 67% by 2020. Such population collapse is further evidence that the earth is entering the Anthropocene, a new geological era marked by human domination.

5268 species and 38427 populations

The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of the world's biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. The LPI was adopted by the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) as an indicator of progress towards its 2011-2020 targets and can play an important role in monitoring progress towards the post-2020 goals and targets negotiated at COP15 this December.