The European hamster has now come in the category of 'critically endangered' animals and is only one step away from extinction, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Hamsters were once in a good number especially in Russia and Europe.
The lower reproduction rates of the animal are also one of the reasons for this situation. In the previous century, female hamsters would annually reproduce 20 offsprings while in the current century they are only giving birth to 5-6 pups each year, The Daily Mail reported.
If the report is to be believed then these cute animals will be extinct in the next three decades. The possible reasons for this are going to be global warming, industry, light pollution and monoculture farming.
Further what is more worrisome is the fact that a total of 32,441 species are on the brink of extinction.
IUCN Acting Director-General Grethel Aguilar told the Daily Mail, "It also shows that Homo sapiens needs to drastically change its relationship to other primates, and to nature as a whole."
Stressing upon how possibly some damage control can be done, he mentioned that human beings will have to come up with sustainable livelihoods in order to replace their dependency on 'deforestation and unsustainable use of wildlife.'
Aguilar added, "At the heart of this crisis is a dire need for alternative, sustainable livelihoods to replace the current reliance on deforestation and unsustainable use of wildlife."
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