Wildlife population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles have dropped by an ‘alarming’ 68 percent between 1970 and 2016, according to a new report published by WWF.

The Living Planet Report 2020 also documents a 94 percent decline in wildlife population in the tropical subregions of the Americas – which has been described as ‘the largest fall observed in any part of the world’.

It blames ‘humanity’ for the declining population, stating that the world has been ‘transformed by an explosion in global trade, consumption, human population growth, and urbanization’ in the last 50 years.

The report does not include the near-three billion animals that were either killed or displaced during Australia’s ‘catastrophic’ fires in the past year.

‘Catastrophic impacts’

“The Living Planet Report 2020 clearly outlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives,” said Director General of WWF International Marco Lambertini.

“The way we produce and consume food and energy, and the blatant disregard for the environment entrenched in our current economic model, has pushed the natural world to its limits.”

Lambertini added that there is still an opportunity to ‘heal our relationship with nature’ and to ‘mitigate risks of future pandemics’.

You can read the full report here