World Wildlife Fund Germany announces winners, losers for 2025
Some animals fared better than others this year, with antelopes, lynx, koalas and turtles having a better year than white rhinos, Arctic seals and corals, Germany’s World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a report released on Sunday.
Many birds have also struggled around the world, with avian flu particularly affecting cranes in Germany, the organization said. The decline of phytoplankton also threatens a key food component of the oceans, according to the WWF report.
The main causes of species extinction are habitat destruction, poaching, overexploitation, invasive species, environmental pollution and the climate crisis, said Kathrin Samson, director of nature conservation at WWF Germany.
“But it also means that humans hold the key to solving this crisis.”
Setback for seals, birds and white rhinos
This year’s update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species shows a “worrying trend” for birds in particular, with 61% of all bird species in decline. The negative trend for the entire bird class is “alarming,” the report said.
In addition, for thousands of cranes, the southward migration over Germany was the last because of bird flu.
In October, three species of Arctic seals were also included on the Red List. The situation is particularly critical for the hooded seal, now considered “critically endangered”. It hasn’t been a good year for white rhinos either. According to a survey, their population fell by 11% in 2025.
Tropical coral reefs were already among the losers of WWF Germany last year, where large-scale destruction continues. Many of these reefs could disappear forever if the international community does not act quickly against rising temperatures, the report says.
