Wildlife numbers fall by 73% in 50 years, global stocktake findsGetty Images Wildlife populations have plummeted, mainly due to habitat loss, WWF figures revealHuman activity is continuing to drive what conservation charity the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) calls a "catastrophic" loss of species.
The Living Planet Report, a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world, reveals global wildlife populations have shrunk by an average of 73% in the past 50 years.
Among many snapshots of human-induced wildlife loss, it reveals 60% of the world's Amazon pink river dolphins have been wiped out by pollution and other threats, including mining and civil unrest.
But the WWF said these “isolated successes are not enough, amid a backdrop of the widespread destruction of habitats”.
Lead author and WWF chief scientific adviser Mike Barrett said through human action, "particularly the way that we produce and consume our food, we are increasingly losing natural habitat”.

Nature decline is now nearing dangerous tipping points, WWF warns