A very heart wrenching fact has been put forward through an international survey that due to the destruction of natural habitats and constant hunting, a quarter of the world's mammals are now under the verge of extinction.

The report, released yesterday, is the most comprehensive till date and it revealed that there is huge decline in the populations of half of all 5 487 species of mammals. 

The list of mammals threatened with extinction is enormous, with animals like blue whales to Thailand's insect-sized bumblebee bat in it. 

The team of 1700 researchers was led by Jan Schipper, who reported, “Mammals are declining faster than we thought - one in four species is threatened with extinction worldwide.” The report was issued in Barcelona as part of a "Red List" of threatened species.  

He further expressed concerns for land mammals in Asia, which are at the greatest threat. Animals like orangutans are suffering from deforestation and the report informed that almost 80% of primates in the region are under threat.  

The scientist have data for 4 651 mammals and out of these, 1 139 species have been learnt to be at the risk of extinction.  

The danger of extinction has increased for species like Tasmanian devil, which is an Australian marsupial and the Caspian seal also known as the fishing cat, found in Asia. Since 1500, at least 76 mammals have become extinct. 

There are nearly 188 species of mammals which have been marked as “critically endangered”. Iberian Lynx is included in this list, and it is reported that there are less than 150 of them left worldwide. 

Schipper and his team informed in the journal Science that the main causes for imposing this threat on animals is habitat loss and hunting. Other than this, even global warming has been seen as a reason behind this entire unwanted occurrence, claims the UN Climate Panel. Global warming has adversely affected the animals like polar bear which are entirely dependent upon the Artic Sea.