List of Australia's endangered animals grows

07/10/2008 18:35:54

The director of the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia says humans are entirely to blame for the growing list of endangered species around the world.

As Hayley Conole reports, the Red List was released today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Since last year's list the Australian Sealion has gone from being of low concern to endangered.

The Tasmanian Devil has also declined rapidly, with 60 percent of its population lost in the last ten years.

Professor Christ West, from the Adelaide Zoo, says human intervention is making the situation worse

"We're farming, we're extracting water, we have urban sprawl, we're simply the cause of this extinction."

Worldwide, nearly one in four animals are endangered and Primatologist Dr Jane Goodall says she's not suprised.

"It's pretty obvious travelling around that things aren't going rights."

In Australia, 57 mammals are under threat - the worst record of any industrialised country.

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