Wild mammals have declined by 85%, but there is a possible future where they flourish

Apr 26, 2021

A child walks near a sculpture displaying a mammoth during sunset on the outskirts of Khanty-Mansiysk, March 4, 2011. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ANIMALS) - GF2E73716M001

The Quaternary Megafauna Extinction led to the extinction of more than 178 of the world’s large mammals. Image: REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

Hannah Ritchie

Researcher, Our World in Data

Our Impact

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Have you read?

a chart showing the biomass drop of animals between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago

The Quaternary megafauna extinction saw a mass decline in animal biomass. Image: Our World in Data

a chart showing how the transition to agriculture affected libestock

Agricuture put pressure on wild mammals. Image: Our World in Data

a chart showing the decline of mamals biomass

Animals account for only 3 million tonnes of carbon today. Image: Our World in Data

a chart showing global agrilcture land area per capita

More land is needed to feed more people. Image: Our World in Data

Discover

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about deforestation?

a chart showing mamal numbers if less land was used for agriculture

Reducing land use for agrilcture, would see a boost in wild mammal numbers. Image: Our World in Data

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Future of the Environment
See all

From fuel to fertilizer, how green ammonia could help curb emissions

Charlotte Edmond

November 30, 2023

This is what the climate crisis is costing economies around the world

Emma Charlton

November 29, 2023

1:36

Air pollution affects how children score on exams

World on course for almost 3°C of warming this century, and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week

Johnny Wood

November 27, 2023

The Sámi people want Sweden to protect its reindeer. Here’s why

Charlotte Edmond

November 27, 2023

The wind power industry is facing major cost headwinds. What's going on (and what can be done)?

Johnny Wood

November 23, 2023