Among five taxonomic groups investigated, the study identified 794 highly threatened species confined to single sites: this is more than three times larger than the number of species known to have gone extinct in the past 500 years! While extinction is a natural process, current human-caused rates of species loss are 100-1,000 times greater than natural rates, and a further ten-fold increase is predicted in coming decades. In recent history, most species extinctions have occurred on isolated marine islands following the introduction of invasive predators such as cats and rats. The current study shows that the extinction crisis has now become a full-blown assault on Earth’s major land masses, with the majority of at-risk sites and species now found in continental mountain and lowland areas.

“This study confirms that the face of extinction is changing,” says Michael Parr, secretary of the AZE. “Whereas most recent extinctions have been of species that were ecologically fragile or in some way targeted by humans, particularly island species, a much broader range of species is now on the brink. The main threat is habitat loss in regions that are the storehouses of biodiversity.”

The majority of AZE sites identified to date are in developing countries, with Mexico topping the list with more than 60 sites. But the United States and Australia (with 18 sites each) also appear among the top ten countries, as ranked by number of sites; Japan (with 9 sites) is the only other developed nation to appear among the top twenty countries. The sites in the United States are primarily in Hawaii, where many extinctions, particularly avian, have already occurred since human settlement. Sadly, it may already be too late for at least one AZE species: the Po’o-uli Melamprosops phaeosoma. It is believed that the last known individual may have died in captivity at the end of 2004.

The study found that more than two-thirds of all AZE sites have no known legal protection, and most are surrounded by intense development. As such, the AZE member organizations have formed an unprecedented alliance to avert imminent species extinctions, using the results of this study as a guide to where limited resources should most immediately be applied. Most AZE sites, for example, are concentrated in biodiversity hotspots, with the largest concentrations found in the Tropical Andes, the Caribbean Islands, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, Madagascar, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, and Sundaland; the new data helps conservationists pinpoint exactly where within those regions they should target their efforts.

A number of AZE-prompted projects are already underway. Just recently, the American Bird Conservancy and Conservation International jointly committed some US$35,000 towards on-the-ground conservation projects in the Americas, including work on the Juan Fernández Firecrown Sepphanoides fernandensis and the Sapphire-bellied Hummingbird Lepidopyga lilliae – both Critically Endangered – and a monitoring project for threatened birds on Socorro Island.

Army ants reproduce through “colony fission”, the splitting of one larger colony into two smaller colonies. This mode of reproduction severely limits the dispersal abilities of these ants. When forests are fragmented or destroyed, army ants are among the species which are most vulnerable to local extinction in small forest patches. Once they disappear from an area, recolonization is almost impossible.

The region’s varied geography, ranging from high-elevation mountains in the Caucasus, Anatolia and Iran, through the low-lying deserts and scrublands, offer an array of habitats for the region’s diverse mammal fauna. The workshop data are currently being reviewed; however the preliminary results show that over 10% of the mammal fauna of Southwest Asia are at risk of extinction. A further 12% were classified as Data Deficient, highlighting the need for further research to determine the conservation status of these species. The region’s large mammal species were assessed, although since many of these species have populations occurring outside of the region, their Red List assessments are still pending. Among small mammals, 48 species of bats (Chiroptera) were fully assessed, with preliminary assessments yielding five Vulnerable, five Near Threatened, and a further nine listed as Data Deficient due to lack of information necessary for evaluation. A total of 20 species of shrews (Soricomorpha) were assessed, with all Least Concern except for four species listed as Data Deficient. Shrews in this region are particularly widespread geographically, and as such, maintain relatively secure global populations. However, many of these insect-eating species are threatened locally due to increased human pressures on their habitats. A total of 96 species of rodents were assessed, of which five are Endangered, seven Vulnerable, three Near Threatened, and six Data Deficient in the preliminary assessment.

Southwest Asia’s mammal fauna is becoming increasingly threatened by habitat loss, although many of the large mammals have been heavily hunted. In fact, some large mammals have been completely extirpated from the region, including tigers Panthera tigris, while others survive in remnants of their natural range, including the Endangered Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx and the Vulnerable cheetah Acinonyx jubatus.

The GMA is a worldwide initiative to evaluate the state of the world’s mammal fauna, through a partnership of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the CI Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, and the University of Virginia. The workshop was conducted in partnership with Doğa Derneği , the official Birdlife affiliate, whose mission is to protect Turkey's threatened species and their habitats, through a national grassroots network.

The actual identity of the animal remains unclear, however. Erik Meijaard of The Nature Conservancy, for example, has suggested that it actually shows features, including skin flaps, eye shine, eye position, ear shape and size, colour, and tail shape and length, more consistent with a giant flying squirrel (Petaurista sp.) than a carnivore. While flying squirrels are normally arboreal, it is conceivable that one could come to the ground to feed on the camera trap bait - maybe explaining why the photograph is baffling locals and scientists alike. Others have argued that the photographs may show a marten, a fox, a cat, or even, rather implausibly, a lemur.