Gefährdete Tierarten#
Animals, Endangered species of: In Austria 186 species are considered to have died out, been exterminated or to have disappeared, and 425 species as threatened by extinction. At present a total of 2,038 species are endangered, a further 580 species are potentially endangered due to their rareness. Among the vertebrates 34 species have died out, been extirpated or have disappeared; 57.2 % of their remaining species are endangered to a varying degree (amphibians: 100 %, reptiles: 92 %, fish: 58 %, birds: 55 %, mammals: 46 %).
The main causes of the endangering of species are the expansion and
cultivation of land in agriculture and forestry by modern methods,
mass tourism and the extensive use of chemicals.
Literature#
Rote Listen gefaehrdeter Tiere Oesterreichs (Red lists of endangered species in Austria), ed. by the Ministry for the Environment, 1983ff.