CB BureauThe rate of extinction of rare species of animals and plants is being exaggerated to as high as 160 per cent, claimed two scientists in a report published in the journal Nature. According to the scientists, the rate at which species of animals and plants are getting extinct is much less that what so-called wildlife conservationists claim.
The discrepancies in various reports and studies, too, suggest a large and well-planned scam as huge amounts of funds are allocated by government, corporate and individual donors towards conservation of wildlife in tropical and developing countries in the name of preventing extinction of species.
The published report says that there is no credible method proving what species have disappeared and what are the ones on the verge of extinction.
The two scientists, Fangliang He and Stephen P Hubbell, have shown how the extinction rates have been flawed, caused by using statistics badly. The duo warns that their results do not imply species are going extinct at a dangerous rate, but the trajectory is not as disastrous as has been claimed so far by many green NGOs across the world.
‘These results might receive a mixed reaction from the conservation community. On the one hand, the good news is that all extinction rate estimates based on the backward SAR method (the standard method used to project extinction rate) are overestimates. On the other hand, these results could jeopardize conservation efforts and be falsely construed in some quarters to imply that habitat loss is not a problem. Nothing could be further from the truth,’ the scientists noted.