• 137 species are estimated to go extinct each day
  • 50,000 species are estimated to go extinct each year
  • 78 species were on the original U.S. endangered species list
  • 1,201 species were on the U.S. endangered species list as of October 1999
  • 43 percent of endangered and threatened animals in the U.S. depend on wetlands
  • 40 percent of all modern medicines are either modeled on or synthesized from natural compounds derived from various species
  • 95 percent of known plant species have yet to be screened for their medicinal values
  • 30 million species of plants and animals — more than half of all life forms on our planet — live in rainforests

Sources:
1, 2 — Natural Resources Defense Council
3 — Environmental Defense Fund
4 — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
5-7 — National Wildlife Federation
8 — Natural Resources Defense Council