Author: Matthew Knight
Source: CNN
June 20, 2012

"Serving as a timely reminder to delegates convening for the Rio +20 Earth Summit, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published its latest Red List detailing the ongoing threats to biodiversity on the planet.

The IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 plant and animal species around the globe which revealed 19,817 of that number are currently threatened with extinction, with 3,947 described as "critically endangered" -- the final classification prior to extinction.

A further 5,766 are "endangered," while more than 10,000 species are listed as "vulnerable.""

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