The Mirror helps WWF celebrate 50 years of saving wildlife from extinction
WILDLIFE across the planet faced extinction. The world needed waking up to the danger... and the Daily Mirror published a special, shock edition to shame us all into action.
Under the headline DOOMED, on October 9, 1961 the Mirror highlighted the species which could disappear “due to man’s folly, greed and neglect”. We railed against “the foolishness of the most superior animal on Earth – man himself” and, crucially, we helped launch the World Wildlife Fund.
This week, the Mirror is again proud to be working with the WWF, to celebrate its 50th anniversary and its work...
● In 1961 polar bears, pandas, black rhinos and elephants faced extinction. Now, thanks to the WWF, their futures look far brighter.
●Poachers hunted the 20,000 black rhino in Kenya until there were only 300 left. Now there are more than 600.
●In 1961 Peter Scott was inspired to create the WWF logo by Chi-Chi the giant panda at London Zoo. Numbers fell to 1,000 but there are now 1,600 in south-west China.
TV legend Sir David Attenborough insists: “The conservation of the natural world is one of our greatest responsibilities and WWF has made a real contribution towards protecting the world’s species.”
And the BBC’s Countryfile presenter Ben Fogle adds: “From visiting rhino breeding projects to helping monitor tiger populations in Nepal, I’ve seen the impact of the good work the WWF has done since its launch with the Mirror.”
David Nussbaum (left), chief executive of WWF-UK, believes the vision of the charity’s founders has paid off. “We’ve saved a lot of threatened species,” he says. And the Mirror and its caring readers have played a crucial role.
David says: “You recognised millions of people had a great interest in and passion for these issues.”
Although a great deal has been achieved in the past 50 years, a third of the world’s known species – more than 18,000 – are still in danger.
Nearly one fifth of vertebrate species are threatened and an average of 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians move closer to extinction every year. There are only 3,200 tigers left. They are slaughtered and used in quack Chinese medicine.
Six of seven types of marine turtle are endangered. Their eggs are poached or caught in industrial fishing nets. Bluefin tuna is being fished to extinction for food. Orangutan numbers have halved in the past 60 years because 80% of their forest habitat has been bulldozed.
But there is hope. Last year conservation groups met in Russia and agreed a Tiger Recovery Programme aimed at doubling numbers by 2022. Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio pledged $1million (£650,000) to the project. And at home, a 10-year campaign led to the Marine and Coastal Protection Act being passed in 2009.
The words of Peter Scott as he launched the great crusade 50 years ago still echo down the years: “We can’t save everything we would like to but we will save a great deal more than if we had never tried.”
3 Watch Daybreak all this week from 6am on ITV1 for more on the WWF 50th anniversary.Read More ...
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