Bhubaneswar: Human activity has resulted in "catastrophic" loss of species, said a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recently. 

From elephants in tropical forests to hawksbill turtles off the Great Barrier Reef, populations are plummeting, according to a stocktake of the world's wildlife.

The Living Planet Report, a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world, reveals global wildlife populations have shrunk by an average of 73 per cent in the past 50 years.

The loss of wild spaces was "putting many ecosystems on the brink", the WWF said, and many habitats, from the Amazon to coral reefs, were "on the edge of very dangerous tipping points".

The report is based on the Living Planet Index of more than 5,000 bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile and fish population counts over five decades.

Among many snapshots of human-induced wildlife loss, it reveals 60 per cent of the world's Amazon pink river dolphins have been wiped out by pollution and other threats, including mining and civil unrest.

It also captured hopeful signs of conservation success. A sub-population of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains of East Africa increased by about 3 per cent per year between 2010 and 2016, said the report.

But the WWF said these “isolated successes are not enough, amid a backdrop of the widespread destruction of habitats”.

The report found habitat degradation and loss was the biggest threat to wildlife, followed by overexploitation, invasive species, disease, climate change and pollution.

The report also warns nature loss and climate change are fast pushing the world towards irreversible tipping points, including the potential "collapse" of the Amazon rainforest, whereby it can no longer lock away planet-warming carbon and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

This alarm call for the planet's wildlife comes as world leaders prepare to gather for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, in Colombia, to discuss how to restore nature.

Almost 200 countries have committed to a landmark 2022 UN agreement to tackle nature loss, including setting aside 30 per cent of the planet for nature by 2030.

(Note: This story is a part of Punascha Pruthibi - One Earth. Unite for it', an awareness campaign by Sambad Digital)