New research shows a quarter of freshwater animals are threatened with extinction

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a quarter of animals living in rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources are threatened with extinction, according to new research published Wednesday.

“Huge rivers like the Amazon can appear mighty, but at the same time freshwater environments are very fragile,” said study co-author Patricia Charvet, a biologist at Brazil's Federal University of Ceará.

Freshwater habitats – including rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, bogs and wetlands – cover less than 1% of the planet’s surface, but support 10% of its animal species, said Catherine Sayer, a zoologist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature in England.

The researchers examined around 23,500 species of dragonflies, fish, crabs and other animals that depend exclusively on freshwater ecosystems. They found that 24% were at risk of extinction – classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered – due to compounding threats from pollution, dams, water extraction, agriculture, invasive species, climate change and other disruptions.

“Most species don’t have just one threat putting them at risk of extinction, but many threats acting together,” said Sayer, a study-co-author.

The tally, published in the journal Nature, is the first that time researchers have analyzed the global risk to freshwater species. Previous studies have focused on land animals including including mammals, birds and reptiles.

Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not involved in the study, called it “a long-awaited and hugely important paper."

“Almost every big river in North America and Europe is massively modified" through damming, putting freshwater species at risk, he said.

In South America, the vast Amazon River ecosystem also faces threats from deforestation, wildfires and illegal gold mining, said Charvet.

Illegal fires to clear forest result in waves of ash polluting the river, and unlicensed gold miners dump mercury into the water, she said.

Rivers and wetlands “concentrate everything that happens around them," she said. "If something goes really wrong, like an acid or oil spill, you can threaten an entire species. There’s nowhere else for these animals to go.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers marched Thursday in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Some said they prayed for good health for their families, an end to tensions in the South China Sea, and for incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to be kinder to Filipino immigrants.

The procession marks the feast of Jesus Nazareno and is a major annual Catholic event in Asia. The image was previously called the Black Nazarene, but church officials appealed for a change, saying the former name was not founded in history and evoked a racial slur.

The procession in Manila began before dawn, with organizers putting the early crowd at around 250,000. Their number swelled later in the day, but there was no immediate updated crowd estimate. Last year, at least 2 million devotees joined the 15-hour procession, with some estimates of the crowd as high as over 6 million.

Gaspar Espinocilla, a 56-year-old Manila city employee and a devotee of Jesus Nazareno for the last 20 years, said he is praying for his family, including his sister who has ovarian cancer. He is also praying for an end to tensions in the West Philippines Sea, a part of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines, where China has been harassing Filipino fishermen and coast guard vessels.

“I hope China will ease up on us, they cannot seize everything as theirs,” said Gaspar, who was wearing a maroon T-shirt printed with face of Jesus Nazareno. “It is ours, not theirs.”

Renato Reyes, a garbage scavenger who has been a Jesus Nazareno devotee for more than three decades, said he prays for a better life for his family, for the Philippines to be free from calamities, as well as for wars overseas to end. He also said he will include in his prayers Filipinos who may be affected by Trump’s planned mass deportation of illegal immigrants.

“I hope they will not implement that because our countrymen are there just to earn a living for their families,” he added.

Thousands of police and plainclothes officers were deployed, along with drone surveillance and commandos positioned on rooftops along the nearly 6-kilometer (3.7 miles) route of the procession. Many nearby roads were closed and cell phone signals were blocked.

More than a dozen devotees were seen being carried on stretchers as ambulances were on standby for people who would fall ill.

The statue of Jesus carrying the cross was brought to the Philippines from Mexico on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived, according to some accounts. Church historians, however, said the statue’s color owes to the fact that it was carved out of mesquite wood, which darkens as it ages.

Many devotees believe the statue’s endurance, from fires and earthquakes through the centuries and intense bombings during World War II, is a testament to its miraculous powers.

Devotees raise their hands as they join the annual procession of Jesus Nazareno in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)

Devotees raise their hands as they join the annual procession of Jesus Nazareno in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)

Devotees pull a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)

Devotees pull a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)

Devotees pull a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)

Devotees pull a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, Thursday. Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe)