As many as 49 species of Indian mammals are facing extreme levels of danger from problems ranging from poaching, habitat destruction, alteration and pollution, a study conducted by an international environment agency has said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in its 2008 red data list, has mapped these species, which are facing the brunt of human invasion in their territory besides the atmospheric changes.
The list, which is up on the IUCN's website, have placed 124 Indian mammals in firing line.
Of them, 10 have been included as Critically Endangered, 39 species as Endangered, 48 species are Vulnerable for extinction and 29 species are showing sharp decline in their population.
A closer look at the list indicate that around 16 species of mammals included in the list are from the Western Ghats of India which includes the protected areas and forests of Goa.
The list includes mammals like the tiger, leopard, dhole (wild dog) and sambar amongst others, all of which have a presence in the state's forests.
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The IUCN list is established as world's most comprehensive information source on the globe conservation status of plant and animal species.
It assesses the risk of extinction of a species, which are thus listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
Collectively, all are known as threatened.
"The Red List of Threatened Species is compiled by some of the world's leading scientists and the 2008 list has assessed almost 44,837 species of which over 38 per cent have been acknowledged as Threatened under one or the other categories mentioned above," the website reads.
The main objectives of the IUCN list are to identify and document those species most in need of conservation attention for reduction in global extinction rates and to provide a global index of state of change of biodiversity.
At regional level in India, the list attains significance as species like the leopard (Panthera pardus) found in the state like Goa has been included as a near Threatened species, while the sambar (Rusa unicolor) found across all the protected forest areas has been included as a Vulnerable species besides other species.
The Red List also acknowledges the fact that most of the land mammals identified are from the Western Ghats that have high rate of endemism and a rich biodiversity but are threatened due to various forms of human activity.
The environmentalists in the state are fighting a battle against the projects in the wildlife dotting the state. Goa shares boundry with Maharashtra and Karnataka and Mhadei water diversion project is one such project vehemently opposed by the locals.
"The main repercussion of Mhadei wildlife sanctuary is destruction of forest. Entire Bhigmad forest area will be under water," state's noted environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar told PTI.
He said that the dam projects coupled with the increased mining activity in the Sahyadri range forest has posed severe danger to the wildlife here.