GLOBAL BIOMASS OF MAMMALS ON EARTH

Total weight of humans is 10 times that of all wild mammals put together according to a report.

Key findings of the report:

  • The population of wild mammals is shrinking despite conservation efforts.
  • Total mass of humans is 10 times that of all the world’s wild mammals combined.

Wild mammals comprise some of the heaviest animals of the planet:

  1. the elephants,
  2. bears,
  3. bisons and

The total weight of wild land mammals and marine mammals is around 22 million tonnes and 40 million tonnes respectively.

  • Humans weigh 390 million metric tonnes.
  • Domesticated mammals weigh around 630 million metric tonnes.
  • Many domesticated mammal species outweigh the top wild mammal biomass contributors by 10 to 1,000 fold.
  • The total mass of domestic cats is more than that of all of the world’s African savanna elephants combined.
  • The total weight of dogs is similar to that of all the terrestrial mammals put together.
  • The most significant mammal biomass contributors are cattle (420 million tonnes), humans and other livestock species most commonly reared for meat or dairy (including buffaloes, pigs, sheep and goats).
  • Domesticated pigs alone weigh 40 million tonnes, almost double the combined mass of all terrestrial wild mammals.
  • About 30 per cent of terrestrial wild mammals live in both human-dominated and natural habitats.
  • A section of them are hunted down as pests, hurting their overall population.
  • About 40 per cent of the global biomass of wild land mammals is concentrated in only 10 species.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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