IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

One in six (16.5%) Mediterranean mammals included in this Red List report are threatened with extinction at the regional scale, with a further 8% assessed as Near Threatened. Out of the 49 threatened species, 20 are unique to the region and occur nowhere else in the world. One mammal species, the Sardinian Pika (Prolagus sardus), has become globally extinct since 1500 A.D. and a further seven species, including the Lion Panthera leo and Tiger Panthera tigris have been extirpated from the Mediterranean region.

Overall, more than one-quarter (27%) of Mediterranean mammals have declining populations, 31% are stable, and for 40%, the population trend is unknown. Only 3% of these species populations are increasing, often due to conservation action, according to the study.

Terrestrial mammal biodiversity is higher in mountainous parts of the region, with particularly high concentrations of threatened species found in the mountains of Turkey, the Levant, and north-west Africa. The Maghreb holds a large number of endemic species, which are unique to the Mediterranean and found nowhere else in the world.

The main threat to Mediterranean mammals is the destruction and degradation of their habitat, caused by a variety of factors including agricultural intensification, urbanization, pollution and climate change.

Human disturbance, overexploitation and invasive species are also major threats. Agriculture affects 65% of threatened mammals, hunting and trapping 60%, and invasive species 50%.

Threatened mammals in the Mediterranean are in need of conservation measures such as legislation, monitoring, research, management of populations, restoration of the balance between prey/predator populations, habitat conservation and restoration, land acquisition and management, and even captive breeding and benign introductions. In addition, conservation action needs to focus not only on species but also on habitat sites in the wider landscape.