Giant Jewel (Chlorocypha centripunctata. Photo by Kai Schuette

The latest update of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species™ shows that 17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction. Those threatened are 21 percent of ALL known mammal, 30 percent of ALL known amphibians, 12 percent of ALL known birds, 28 percent of reptiles, 37 percent of freshwater fishes, 70 percent of plants, 35 percent of invertebrates.