The wildlife we have lost: the species dying out as sixth mass extinction takes off

It’s hard to overstate the potential scale of loss of the world’s precious wildlife, writes Jane Dalton

Sumatran orangutans are among species critically endangered (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

According to climate activists, climate crisis and the linked biodiversity crisis will dwarf the Covid-19 pandemic in their effect on our world.

It’s hard to overstate the potential scale of loss of the world’s precious wildlife as the sixth mass extinction happens around us.

Time and again in recent years, scientists have sounded the alarm over the rate at which human activity is wiping out species, many of which inhabited the planet long before we did.