![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/071026desertfrog.png\")
<\/p>\n\t<\/p>\n
Desert rain frog at risk of extinction from diamond mining.Jeanne Tarrant via the Guardian<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tGet your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally published by\u00a0the\u00a0Guardian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0is reproduced here as part of the\u00a0Climate Desk<\/a>\u00a0collaboration.<\/p>\n Life has colonized every corner of the planet by evolving ingenious survival strategies, but these are increasingly being overwhelmed by destructive human activities, this year\u2019s red list of endangered species has revealed.<\/p>\n Many snails, limpets and clams have adapted to life at crushing depths in the oceans on hydrothermal vents where water temperatures can reach 450 degrees C (842 F). But an assessment for the red list found that two-thirds of the hundreds of mollusk species found only on deep sea vents were at risk of extinction because of\u00a0deep-sea mining<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a clear path out of the biodiversity crisis: Nature conservation works.\u201d<\/p>\n Mining for diamonds has put another extraordinary creature at risk of disappearing\u2014the desert rain frog. Most frogs rely on water for survival but the bulbous desert rain frog has evolved to need almost none. It hides from the southern African sun by burying itself deep in the sand, coming out only at night to hunt insects.<\/p>\n However, dwindling species can be saved, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which produces the\u00a0red list<\/a>, said. The new list shows the numbat, a stripy, termite-eating marsupial from Australia, has come back from the brink thanks to protection from feral cats and foxes.<\/p>\n \u201cLife on Earth has adapted to survive in the most hostile and unusual habitats [but] as pressures on biodiversity mount across the planet, even the creatures with the most ingenious survival strategies are under threat,\u201d said Dr Grethel Aguilar, the IUCN director general. \u201cBut there is a clear path out of the biodiversity crisis: Nature conservation works. By protecting the astounding range of biodiversity on this planet, we can preserve a welcoming environment for humans and wildlife alike.\u201d<\/p>\n An IUCN update in April declared emperor penguins officially in danger of extinction owing to the\u00a0mass drowning of chicks<\/a>\u00a0as sea ice is melted by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n More than 200 species of mollusk are known to live only on hydrothermal vents, where water heated by volcanic rocks jets out from the seabed. Many have been discovered only in the last decade but already face extinction.<\/p>\n \u201cThis global assessment reveals that [vent] mollusks are one of the most highly threatened of all animal groups.\u201d<\/p>\n The exploration and extraction of deep-sea minerals throws up sediments that smother the animals. One snail,\u00a0Lirapex felix,\u00a0is classed as critically endangered because of mining activity in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n However, more than 30 vent species are not in danger, as they live in marine protected areas where mining is not allowed. These include an ornately shelled snail,\u00a0Provanna exquisita, that lives only in the Mariana Arc of Fire national wildlife refuge in the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cThis global assessment reveals that [vent] mollusks are one of the most highly threatened of all animal groups,\u201d said Prof Julia Sigwart at Senckenberg Nature Research, the IUCN red list partner that coordinated the assessment. \u201cIt provides important information as the International Seabed Authority meets in Jamaica this month.\u201d The IUCN\u00a0voted for a moratorium on deep-sea mining<\/a>\u00a0in 2021.<\/p>\n The desert rain frog is classed as vulnerable owing to diamond mining and energy infrastructure expansion into its range along the west coast of\u00a0South Africa<\/a>\u00a0and Namibia. There is further pressure on the frog because of rising demand from the exotic pet trade following a viral video of the species squeaking its distress call.<\/p>\n The good news on the numbat comes after decades of conservation work, which has helped numbers rebound from a low of just 300 in the late 1970s to between 2,000 and 3,000 today. The numbat has moved from endangered to near threatened on the red list.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/070926mollusk.png\")
A queen conch looks out on the sea floor in the Cayman Islands on November 11, 2023.Allison Bailey\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty<\/p>\n