11,000 plants and animals risk extinction

"More than 11,000 plants and animals risk extinction, according to the most comprehensive analysis of global conservation, the World Conservation Union's 2000 Red List of Threatened Species . . . But scientists acknowledge that even this study only scratches the surface. There are an estimated 14 million species, but only 1.75 million have been documented . . . Conservationists estimate that the current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than it should be under natural conditions . . . Humans are the primary cause: deforestation, agriculture and fishing pose significant threats to biodiversity. In the past 500 years, 816 species have disappeared, some permanently, while others exist only in artificial settings like zoos. With 11,046 more at significant risk and 4,595 on the brink of being declared threatened, conservationists are gloomy."