By Dr. Robert Thorson

The deafening crescendo of political din is done. What a relief! Perhaps now we will be able to hear the cries from the other animal species on Earth that didn’t have a chance to vote. Assuming that you will not be moved to compassion by bug-eyed insects, slimy mollusks or slithering reptiles, then please take a moment to focus on the plight of the world’s mammals, our closest relatives on the family tree of life.

I’m guessing that about 99.9 percent of sentient Americans heard campaign news in the last month. But I’m guessing that less than 0.1 percent heard the more important news about the future from the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Based out of Geneva, Switzerland, this is the world’s largest and oldest global environmental network, one that counts more than 1,000 governments and nongovernmental organizations as members.

The news I speak of was the release of a report produced by 1,700 experts from 130 countries that was five years in the making. Its main conclusions were published in the Oct. 10 issue of Science as an article with 130 authors with 101 institutional affiliations. This is an example of international cooperation that politicians might want to emulate, being long on information and short on spin.

The take-home message of the group’s report: “Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide.” Of the 5,487 species of land and marine mammals known to have existed in the wild since 1500, more than half have declining populations. A quarter “of all mammals for which adequate data are available . . . are threatened with extinction.”

This estimate ranges from 21 percent to 36 percent when data for historic trends involving datadeficient species is included. “The conservation of marine species is of particular concern, with an estimated 36 percent (range 23 percent to 61 percent) of species threatened.” All of the 188 critically endangered species face a very high probability of extinction. “For 29 of them, it may already be too late.”

There is some good news. First, new species continue to be discovered “at surprisingly high rates.” Second, this report presents a firm historic baseline that can be used to examine future trends. Third, and most important, conservation efforts for some species have been quite successful: for example, those involving the grey wolf and brown bear in the United States. Indeed, the choices made by humans today will determine the fate of species hanging on by a thread. The choice for change is ours.

For land mammals, the most important problem is habitat loss and degradation, especially due to deforestation, especially in the tropics. Another serious problem is over-harvesting for food and materials, especially in Asia, Africa and South America.

For marine animals, the most serious threat is accidental mortality, with more than three quarters being affected by fisheries by-catch and by vessel strikes in shipping lanes. Remember the pod of seven killer whales that disappeared from Puget Sound at about the time the group’s report was being released? What will become of this magnificent species, whose home range is probably the largest on Earth, estimated to be 135,000 square miles?

It’s easy to argue that humans being self-absorbed with our own affairs is fine, After all, some argue, why should we care more about the fate of skunks or shrews than they care about us? The answer, of course, is that humans are the only species capable of understanding that everything on Earth is part of a single web of existence. Its ongoing unraveling comes at the cost of our well-being.

The 2008 presidential election was about change. Let a renewed global commitment to species conservation be part of that change.