Desert lynx, Corsican deer, birds, rodents and reptiles are some of the wild species that WWF is concerned about after the fires that devastate the Mediterranean basin and Russia.
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“Globally, fires caused by humans compromise the survival of wildlife, killed or injured by direct contact with smoke and flames or suffering significant habitat destruction,” Margaret Kinnaird told AFP., Head of Wildlife at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
It is difficult to establish what the exact impact will be on each species, particularly those that are already threatened, adds Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, in which they are listed. the species of animals and plants according to their risk of extinction.
They also point out that the impact depends on the ability of the species to flee or resist the flames, “some can even thrive after a fire” and offered a balance of some of the places visibly affected.
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Turkey
According to the first observations of WWF, “the forests and mountains of the provinces of Mugla and Antalya, where the iconic species of the caracal (or desert lynx, a feline) and the mountain goat reside, suffered significant damage.
These territories are also home to an endemic rodent species, the woolly dormouse, continues WWF. “The local populations of 121 threatened species for Antalya and 87 threatened species for Mugla could have been affected, including five species of owls, five of woodpeckers, 21 of reptiles and amphibians”, specifies the NGO.
Greece
WWF speaks of a “great catastrophe”, “the recent fires have affected vital ecosystems and countless wild and domestic animals”.
North Attica is the only area in southern Greece where the critically endangered red deer still lives in the country.
“Europe’s largest forest deer has been the victim of poaching and habitat destruction. This area is also home to two packs of gray wolves, a European protected species and is an important area for forest-dwelling animals. conifers (foxes, squirrels, woodcocks) “, explains WWF.
Italy
Aspromonte National Park, which spans much of the Calabria region, has suffered several fires. It is home to, among other things, a rare small rodent endemic to the area, similar to a dormouse (Dryomys nitedula aspromontis) and centuries-old trees.
WWF is concerned about “Sardinia, one of the richest regions in biodiversity in the Mediterranean”, since the llamas threaten the survival of several endemic species; among them, the Sardinian-Corsican deer, saved from extinction in the 80s, the Moorish partridge and the Sardinian hare. The fires also killed a large number of reptiles, including fringed turtles, the NGO deplores.
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Russia
In Russia, the vast forests of the Siberian Republic of Yakutia are engulfed in flames “that threaten many large animals that live in the protected areas of the region.”
Species such as elk (from the elk family), wild reindeer, roe deer, brown bears, wolverine, lynx and flying squirrel are endangered. Also rarer species such as the musk deer (recognizable by its two upper canines in the form of long conical fangs), the snow sheep, a species of marmot, the whooping crane and the black crane, the gyrfalcon and the peregrine falcon, as well as the white-tailed eagle and the golden eagle, listed by the WWF.
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