LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The world's wildlife populations have declined by more than two-thirds since 1970 as forests have been cleared and oceans polluted, according to an assessment released on Thursday.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, which used 2018 data from ZSL on the status of 32,000 wildlife populations covering more than 5,000 species, found that population sizes had declined by 69% on average.
Wildlife populations in Latin American and the Caribbean were hit especially hard, experiencing a 94% drop in just five decades.
One population of pink river dolphins in the Brazilian Amazon plummeted by 65% between 1994 and 2016, the report said.
"Nature was in dire straits and it is still in dire straits," said Mark Wright, director of science at WWF-UK.
In December, delegates from around the world will gather in Montreal to hash out a new global strategy to protect the world's plants and animals.
One of the biggest asks is likely to be increased financing for global conservation efforts. »
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