Crickets might be gearing towards extinction, IUCN says
BBC – The first comprehensive assessment of Europe’s crickets and grasshoppers has found that more than a quarter of species are being driven to extinction.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the insect group is the most threatened of those assessed so far in Europe.
Europe harbours more than 1,000 species of grasshopper and cricket.
If we don’t act now the sound of crickets could become a thing of the past, said the IUCN.
Crickets, bush crickets and grasshoppers – a group known as Orthoptera – live on grassland.
They are an important food source for birds and reptiles, and their decline could affect entire ecosystems.
Their habitat is being lost due to wildfires, intensive agriculture and tourism development.
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