Dolphins, turtles, salmons: How the world lost 73% wildlife in 50 years

In 2012, the last remaining member of the Pinta Island tortoise species – over a hundred years old and known as Lonesome George – died at a conservation centre in the Galapagos.

His species – Chelonoidis abingdoni – was declared extinct in 2015.

The story of George made the headlines, but many other species have gone extinct in recent years, barely making it to the footnotes of animal history on Earth.

On Thursday, the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) unveiled its Living Planet Report for 2024, revealing a staggering loss in wildlife in the last half-century – between 1970 and 2020, our planet saw an average 73 percent decline in monitored wildlife populations.

The report, based on data from the Zoological Society of London’s Living Planet Index, tracks almost 35,000 vertebrate populations across 5,495 species.

With the latest data taken in 2020, the steepest losses are seen in freshwater populations, which have plummeted by 85 percent, while terrestrial and marine populations have decreased by 69 percent and 56 percent, respectively.

Habitat loss, degradation, and overharvesting—primarily driven by the global food system—are cited as the dominant causes of this decline, with invasive species, disease, and climate change exacerbating the situation.

These dramatic reductions in wildlife populations are pushing ecosystems closer to critical tipping points, where the destruction becomes irreversible.

Examples include the decimation of North American pine forests, the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and mass die-offs of coral reefs.

Habitat destruction, overharvesting, and climate change are the main culprits behind these declines.

The consequences extend beyond environmental damage, threatening food security, livelihoods, and global economies.

‘Slow motion catastrophe’

WWF-US President and CEO Carter Roberts has warned that these declines represent a “slow-motion catastrophe” that endangers human health, economies, and the stability of the planet’s climate.

“Nature provides the foundation for human health, a stable climate, the world's economy, and life on earth,” Roberts said.

“A wake-up call that we need to get going, and fast,” he said, referring to the report’s findings.

Among the species experiencing sharp declines are the Amazon pink river dolphins, which have decreased by 65 percent, and Chinook salmon in California’s Sacramento River, which have dropped by 88 percent.

More recently, extreme weather in 2023 killed over 330 Amazon river dolphins in just two lakes.

The report also points to a 57 percent decline in nesting female hawksbill turtles in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef between 1990 and 2018.

However, conservation efforts have also produced success stories.

Mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains of East Africa have grown at around 3 percent per year between 2010 and 2016, and bison populations in central Europe rose from 0 to 6,800 between 1970 and 2020.

Urgency of global action

WWF chief scientist Rebecca Shaw highlighted that these sharp wildlife declines are not only a sign of nature’s unravelling but also a dire warning of its diminished resilience.

This loss of biodiversity, compounded by climate change, brings the planet dangerously close to tipping points that could disrupt the water, food, and air systems humanity depends on.

Despite international agreements like the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, the report emphasises that current national commitments fall short of the action needed to reverse the damage.

With major biodiversity and climate summits (COP16 and COP29) on the horizon, WWF calls for world leaders to scale up ambitious national plans to halt biodiversity loss and cut carbon emissions.

The report urges both governments and businesses to align their policies with sustainability goals and reallocate investments to support biodiversity and climate recovery.

At Galapagos, just before Lonesome George died, a signboard was placed outside his enclosure.

It read: “Whatever happens to this single animal, let him always remind us that the fate of all living things on Earth is in human hands.”