Manyanimalpopulationsfacingthreats 　　Aworldwidestudyhasfoundthatalmosttwenty-fivepercentofwildmammalsareindangerofpermanentlydisappearing.Scientificresearchersconsideredallknownmammalpopulations.Theresearcherssaypermanentdisappearancethreatensatleastonethousandonehundredforty-onespeciesorgroupsofanimals.Mammalsaretheclosestrelativestohumanbeings. 　　Theresearchersareblaminglossofhabitat,orlivingspace,andhuntingforthreatenedlandmammals.Theysaywatermammalssuffermorefrompollution,beinghitbyshipsandcaughtinfishingnets. 　　Onethousandsevenhundredexpertsworkedonthestudy.Theyarefromonehundredthirtycountries.TheirfindingswerereportedattheWorldConservationConferenceoftheInternationalUnionforConservationofNatureinBarcelona,Spain. 　　ThereportwaspresentedinconnectionwiththeRedListofThreatenedSpecies.TheWorldConservationConferenceannouncestheRedListeachyear.Thelistcontainsalmostfortyfivethousandanimalsandplants.Ofthose,almostseventeenthousand,oraboutthirtyeightpercent,arethreatenedwithextinction. 　　SomescientistssaythereportprovidesevidencethatEarth'swildlifeisgoingthroughwidespreadextinction.Thelastsuchperiodmayhavetakenplacemillionsofyearsago,whendinosaursbecameextinct. 　　JanSchipperledthewritingofthereport.HedirectstheI.U.C.N.'sprogramthatobservesanimalpopulationsworldwide. 　　MisterSchippersaysuptothirtysixpercentofmammalscouldbefacingextinction.Hesaysthisistruebecausenotmuchinformationexistsaboutsomespecies.Atleastseventy-sixmammalshavepermanentlydisappearedsincefifteenhundred. 　　ThedirectorgeneraloftheI.U.C.N.,JuliaMarton-Lefevre,sayshumanactivitycouldcauselossofhundredsofspecies.Shesaysthatisafrighteningsignofwhatishappeningtohabitats.Still,thereportsaidhumaneffortsalsocouldhelpsavesomespecies.MizMarton-Lefevreiscallingforactiontomakethathappen. 　　Forstudypurposes,theI.U.C.N.dividesanimalsintogroups.Thescientistscallanimalsthathavedisappeared,oralmostdisappeared,extinctornearlyextinct.Afrog-likecreaturecalledHoldridge'stoadwasdeclaredextinct.ItlivedonlyinCostaRica. 　　Otherdivisionsdependontheamountofthreattheanimalsface.Theanimalsinmostdangerareconsideredcriticallyendangered. 　　Forexample,theIberianlynxiscalledcriticallyendangered.Asfewaseighty-fouradultmembersofthelarge,cat-likeanimalsremainalive. 　　TheRedListidentifiesthesecondmostthreatenedanimalsasendangered.ThescientistsnamedaSoutheastAsiananimal,thefishingcat,asamongtheendangered.Partofthefishingcat'swetlandhabitatnolongerexists. 　　AnewstudysuggeststhelastwoollymammothsinSiberiawerenativetoNorthAmerica.ScientistshadbelievedthesemammothscamefromEuropeorAsia. 　　Thestudyinvolvedgeneticevidencefromtheremainsoftheancientanimal.WoollyMammothsshareanancestorwithmodern-dayelephants.Themammothisrecognizableforitslonghairandlargetusks. 　　Woollymammothsdisappearedthousandsofyearsago,afterEarth'smostrecenticeage.Butmammothswereabletosurviveforthousandsofyears.Duringthisperiod,theyslowlychangedtoliveinex