Wildlife Populations Decline by 69 Percent

In general, wildlife populations have declined by 69%. That may not be apparent to most people because most people do not encounter anything that isn’t managed by people. Most people only see animals that are dogs or cats or birds. Encountering wildlife in wilderness is rare. So, 69% of something people never see goes unnoticed. Blame climate change, mining, urbanization, or whatever, the wild world is declining.

“…an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970.” – World Wildlife Fund

One place that may be more visible is in our food, particularly seafood. Fish are still caught in the wild, despite fish farms. One particularly disturbing decline is in a popular seafood, Alaskan Snow Crab. That population has declined by more, possibly from over-harvesting, but also possibly because the Arctic is warming 4-5 (7?) times faster than the rest of the planet.

“The snow crab population shrank from around 8 billion in 2018 to 1 billion in 2021…”, according to Benjamin Daly, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.“

Just because it isn’t happening in our neighborhoods doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Maybe we’ll notice when what we want can’t show up in our kitchens.

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“Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from the waters around Alaska…” – CNN