—the fact is that most of the 1800 threatened living species identified in australia are plants, making up 77 per cent or 1342 of threatened species. and while australia’s endangered mammals are thought to have declined by about a third in the past two decades, and endangered birds by a half, the population size of threatened plants fell by three quarters. read : as the first threatened plant index is compiled, experts wonder why flora has to fight so hard for attention.

— many environmentalists were alarmed when the federal government announced that the monarch butterfly (state insect of texas) warrants listing under EPA but that the agency can’t afford to complete the required paperwork. read : monarch butterflies are endangered, threatened with extinction. what now