Asian elephants, jaguars and great Indian bustards were among 10 new species added to a global wildlife agreement on Saturday.
Many animals – including birds, fish and mammals – migrate along set routes in search of food or breeding grounds. How best to protect them in a rapidly changing world is the focus of a major UN wildlife meeting which opened in Gandhinagar, India, on Monday.
Saturday marks World Migratory Bird Day which, this year, is raising awareness about the serious threats that plastic pollution poses to bird life, with a call for urgent measures to end the problem.
The population of migratory birds worldwide is in danger of collapsing unless their habitats are taken better care of and climate change is addressed.
That’s the view of Borja Heredia, head of the avian unit at the UN Convention on Migratory Species.
Speaking on World Migratory Bird Day, marked each May 10, he said that “we have to do something” to prevent birds making epic journeys from north to south at this time of year, from simply disappearing.