IUCN: Two-Thirds of Deep-Sea Vent Molluscs Face Extinction
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- IUCN Red List assessment found two-thirds of the more than 200 mollusc species found only on deep-sea hydrothermal vents are at risk of extinction, with deep-sea mining's sediment plumes cited as the primary threat
- Snail Lirapex felix is classified as critically endangered due to mining activity in the Indian Ocean, while more than 30 vent species remain safe inside marine protected areas where extraction is banned
- Desert rain frog, which survives almost without water by burying itself in sand, is now classed as vulnerable due to diamond mining and energy infrastructure expansion along the west coast of South Africa and Namibia
- Numbat moved from endangered to near threatened, rebounding from roughly 300 individuals in the late 1970s to between 2,000 and 3,000 today through feral cat and fox control, predator-proof fencing, and captive breeding at Perth Zoo
- Five Australian marsupials — the crest-tailed, southern, northern and little mulgaras, plus the little bettong — were confirmed extinct with no sightings for at least 60 years, bringing modern mammal extinctions in Australia to more than 40
- IUCN Red List now covers 175,909 species, of which 49,505 are threatened with extinction, and the body voted for a moratorium on deep-sea mining in 2021 ahead of the International Seabed Authority meeting in Jamaica this month
- Emperor penguins were declared in danger of extinction in an IUCN update in April, with mass chick drownings linked to climate-driven sea ice loss
Why it matters: The IUCN's global assessment frames vent molluscs as "one of the most highly threatened of all animal groups" (per Prof Julia Sigwart) and arrives as the International Seabed Authority meets in Jamaica this month — a direct policy moment for deep-sea mining governance. The numbat's recovery from 300 to 2,000–3,000 shows conservation can work, yet the species occupies just 0.04% of its original range and five more Australian marsupials have now been declared extinct, underscoring how thin those gains remain against invasive predators.
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