From humpback whales to monarch butterflies, eels, sharks and fruit bats: they are all migratory animals and are increasingly at risk of extinction, everywhere in the world.
This is indicated by the first UN report called 'State of the World's Migratory Species' which shows that 1 in 5 migratory species is at risk of extinction, a particularly dramatic situation is for migratory fish, 97% of which are at risk of disappearing.
The cause lies in particular in the reduction of habitats due to human exploitation and climate change as well as indiscriminate trapping.
Performing migrations is a strategy adopted by many animal species that allows them to follow the best environmental conditions and have food available more easily.
These are often animals that have a fundamental role in regulating the balance of the ecosystems into which they periodically move and in many cases are the protagonists of incredible journeys - such as that of the Bar-tailed Godwit, a bird that is able to fly non-stop for 13 thousand kilometres. moving from Alaska to Tasmania, or eels that are all born in the Sargasso Sea and then spend their lives in rivers around the world and finally return to spawn in their place of origin.
But migrants also have to deal with human activities: almost half of the key areas of the 1,200 migratory species present in the report have significantly reduced mainly due to human activities and many species are hunted excessively, as happened for example to eels.
In just 14 cases out of 1,200 there was some improvement, as in the case of the blue whale or the white-tailed eagle ray, while the situation worsened in most cases, especially among fish such as the many migratory sharks, the rays and sturgeons whose populations have reduced by 90% in 50 years and are now at risk of extinction.
The report underlines the importance of common international policies, in particular protecting their habitats and reducing their capture for commercial purposes.
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