One in five species of livestock endangered: FAO

[NicoleRussell]

One in five species of livestock endangered: FAO

Fri Dec 15, 12:38 PM ET

Some 20 percent of the world's livestock species -- cattle, pigs and poultry -- are threatened with extinction, with one breed disappearing each month, the Food and Agriculture Organization warned.
Over the past five years alone, some 60 breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry have become extinct, the Rome-based UN agency said in a draft document, blaming globalization as the "biggest single factor" in the erosion of livestock biodiversity.
"Of the more than 7,600 breeds in FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction," the draft says.
Some 150 experts from 90 countries met in Rome this week to review the findings, the first of their kind on a global scale.
"The globalization of livestock markets is the biggest single factor affecting farm animal diversity," the FAO says.
"Traditional production systems require multi-purpose animals, which provide a range of goods and services, (while) modern agriculture has developed specialized breeds, optimizing specific production traits," the report says.
"Maintaining animal genetic diversity will allow future generations to select stocks or develop new breeds to cope with emerging issues, such as climate change, diseases and changing socio-economic factors," said Jose Esquinas-Alcazar, secretary of the FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Rearing livestock contributes to the livelihoods of one billion people in the world, the FAO says.
A final report will be published for the first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources, to be held in Interlaken, Switzerland in September next year.