Over 45,000 species are now threatened with extinction — 1,000 more than last year — according to an international conservation organization that blames pressures from climate change, invasive species and human activity such as illicit trade and infrastructural expansion.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature released its latest Red List of Threatened Species on Thursday. Now in its 60th year, the list sounds the alarm about animals and plants at risk of extinction, but it also highlights conservation success stories such as the Iberian lynx.
The list now includes 163,040 species, an increase of about 6,000 from last year. Copiapoa cacti, native to Chile’s Atacama coastal desert, the Bornean elephant and the Gran Canaria giant lizard are among the threatened species, IUCN revealed.
Copiapoa cacti have long been coveted as decorative plants, driving an illegal trade that has been amplified by social media where enthusiasts and traders showcase and sell the cacti.
A staggering 82% of the species is now at risk of extinction, a significant jump from 55% in 2013, the report said.
IUCN said that the decline is due to the surge in demand for the Chilean cacti in Europe and Asia as ornamental species. The smugglers and poachers facilitating the trade, the organization said, have gained increased accessibility to the plants’ habitat due to roads and housing expansion in the Atacama area.
“It is easy to distinguish if copiapoa cacti have been poached or grown in a greenhouse,” said Pablo Guerrero, a member of the IUCN's group on the plants. “Poached copiapoa have a grey tone and are coated in a dusty-looking bloom that protects the plants in one of the driest deserts on Earth, whereas cultivated plants appear greener.”
The 2024 update also highlights the Asian elephant in Borneo as an endangered species. It is estimated that only about 1,000 Bornean elephants remain in the wild, according to IUCN analysis.
The population has decreased over the past 75 years primarily due to extensive logging of Borneo’s forests, destroying much of the elephants’ habitat. Conflicts with humans, habitat loss due to agriculture and timber plantations, mining and infrastructure development, poaching, exposure to agrochemicals, and vehicle collisions also threaten the species, the IUCN said.
The list also revealed the “staggering” decline of endemic reptiles — the giant lizard and skink — on the Canary Islands and Ibiza due to predation by the invasive snakes.
In a contrasting tale, conservation efforts have revived the Iberian lynx from the brink of extinction, with the population increasing from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022 and more than 2,000 now.
Once considered one of the most endangered wild cat species in the world, their population declined by 87% and the number of breeding females dropped by more than 90% between 1985 and 2001, according to Canada-based International Society for Endangered Cats.
The species was revived by restoring the Iberian lynx’s natural Mediterranean scrub and forest habitat as well as increasing the abundance of its primary prey, the European rabbit. Conservation efforts have also involved increasing the lynx’s genetic diversity by relocating them to new areas and breeding them in controlled environments.
Since 2010, more than 400 Iberian lynx have been reintroduced to parts of Portugal and Spain, IUCN said.
It is “the greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation,” said Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, who led the conservation action for the Iberian lynx.
But with threats remaining, mainly from fluctuations of their prey's population, poaching and road kills, Salcedo Ortiz said “there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that Iberian lynx populations survive."
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FILE - A pair of Iberian Lynx play together in the surroundings of the Doñana National Park, in Aznalcazar, Spain on Oct. 2, 2018. Over 1,000 new species have been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” as invasive species, climate change and human activities such as illicit trade and infrastructure development threaten certain animal and plant species with extinction. However, in a significant conservation success, the population of the Iberian lynx recovered from the brink of extinction. (AP Photo/Antonio Pizarro, File)
FILE - Two pygmy elephants cross the road in Taliwas forest on Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island, July 21, 2005. Over 1,000 new species, including the Borneo elephant have been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” as invasive species, climate change and human activities such as illicit trade and infrastructure development threaten certain animal and plant species with extinction. It is estimated that only about 1,000 Bornean elephants remain in the wild, according to IUCN analysis. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
FILE - An Iberian lynx is visible in Doñana National Park, in Aznalcazar, Spain on Sept. 28, 2018. Over 1,000 new species have been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” as invasive species, climate change and human activities such as illicit trade and infrastructure development threaten certain animal and plant species with extinction. However, in a significant conservation success, the population of the Iberian lynx recovered from the brink of extinction. (AP Photo/Antonio Pizarro, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Fred Richard envisioned this long ago. All of it.
The confetti. The flashing lights. The adrenaline rush of hearing his name called as an Olympian.
The charismatic 20-year-old who has made it his life's mission to make men's gymnastics relevant in the United States knew reaching the Olympics would be a vital step in the process.
And now it's here. Emphatically.
Richard will headline the five-man U.S. team that will head to Paris next month with a legitimate chance to medal after winning the Olympic trials on Saturday.
“It’s like a new mountain in my life,” Richard said. “And I’m ready to climb it.”
It certainly looks that way. Richard posted a steady and occasionally spectacular two-day all-around total of 170.500 at trials, just ahead of three-time national champion Brody Malone at 170.300.
Richard, known as “ Frederick Flips ” to his hundreds of thousands of social media followers, has spent years trying to nudge men's gymnastics toward the spotlight through creative viral videos that often include collaborations with athletes in other sports.
The lights don’t get any brighter than the ones Richard and Olympic teammates Malone, Asher Hong, Paul Juda and Stephen Nedoroscik will compete under at Bercy Arena.
Nine months after earning a bronze at the 2023 world championships — the men's program's first at a major international competition in nearly a decade — Richard and the rest of the Americans believe they're capable of even more this summer.
“It’s like we shouldn’t even be aiming for even just a medal,” said Richard, who also earned a bronze in the all-around at worlds last fall. “We should be aiming for gold and we’re going to land on something.”
The Americans have spent the last three years overhauling their program after finishing well off the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. They revamped their scoring system, offering bonus points at domestic meets for athletes who attempted more challenging skills.
The goal was to close the chasm in overall difficulty that had developed between the U.S. and longtime superpowers China and Japan. When the Americans saluted the judges for their first event in Tokyo they were already six points behind, the difference between the cumulative difficulty of their routines compared to the teams they were chasing.
That gap will be down to two points when the U.S. steps onto the floor during Olympic qualifying on July 27, giving them a legitimate chance to finish on the podium.
“(We are in) a much different position now,” high performance director Brett McClure said. “We’re going to be able to control our own destiny."
And they'll do it with the 24-year-old Malone, whose career was nearly derailed by a devastating right knee injury in March 2023. Three surgeries, 15 months and countless hours of physical therapy later, Malone's knee is not perfect but better. His gymnastics might be, too.
Malone methodically worked his way back from the brink, though the last few weeks have been a blur. He didn't put together a full floor routine until May, though he hasn't exactly looked rusty. He cruised to a national title earlier this month and would have topped Richard at trials if not for a sloppy — by his standards — high bar routine on Saturday.
Considering where he was last fall when he watched the men's program he was supposed to be the standard-bearer for between Tokyo and Paris roll on without him, Malone will more than take it.
“It crept up on me real quick I’m just super grateful for all the medical staff and everyone has helped me get back to this point,” Malone said. “I really couldn’t have done it without them.”
Juda and Hong, members of last year's world championship team, will join Malone and Richard as the core of what will be a relatively young American team. Nedoroscik is 25. Malone is 24. Juda turns 23 on July 7. Richard and Hong are all of 20.
The quiet and unassuming Juda broke down in tears multiple times in the aftermath while Hong was relieved after a somewhat nightmarish performance at nationals — thanks in part to what he believes was rough treatment by the judges gave him little margin for error heading into trials.
“It was kind of like a battle between me and the judges,” Hong said. “That was kind of the goal. Like, ‘Try and find something (wrong) in this routine, I dare you.’”
Khoi Young and Shane Wiskus will serve as the alternates. Wiskus, a member of the 2020 Olympic team, is retiring at the end of the competition season. The Minnesota native — who left his home state not long after the University of Minnesota cut its men's program — drank in every ovation in what may have been the last performance of his career.
While Wiskus is stepping away, Richard is poised to move into his prime. He began pointing toward Paris long ago while growing up in the Boston suburbs. Now it's finally here and he is eager to show that there is plenty of substance underneath all that showmanship.
“I want to be a medalist Olympian, that's my personality,” he said. “There’s always more to go. And I’m excited to just keep gunning for it.”
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Shane Wiskus competes on the parallel bars at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Stephen Nedoroscik competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Stephen Nedoroscik competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Khoi Young competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Asher Hong competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Asher Hong competes on the still rings at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Paul Juda competes on the horizontal bar at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Asher Hong is introduced at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Brody Malone competes on the horizontal bar at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Frederick Richard competes on the horizontal bar at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Frederick Richard competes on the horizontal bar at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Frederick Richard competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Brody Malone competes in the floor exercise at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Brody Malone competes on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Frederick Richard celebrates after competing on the pommel horse at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
From left to right, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Frederick Richard, Khoi Young and Shane Wiskus celebrate after being named to the 2024 Olympic team at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
