Living Planet Report: Wildlife Down 73% Since 1970

Wildlife populations being monitored worldwide are down 73% on average since 1970, according to the new Living Planet Report from WWF and the Zoological Society of London. Nearly 36,000 populations went into the analysis. It is a blunt result, and the authors still chose to end on hope.

What the 73% actually measures

The headline figure is not a body count. According to Inside Climate News, the researchers measured changes in relative abundance, so a monkey group that shrinks from 200 to 100 counts the same as a bat colony that drops from 20,000 to 10,000. Every population gets equal weight, which gives a cleaner read on the health of nature.

That also means the world does not have 73% fewer wild vertebrates than in 1970. Our World in Data notes that exactly 50% of the surveyed populations declined, 43% increased and 7% were stable. The average is dragged down by the size of the losses, which outweigh the gains elsewhere.

The dataset covers 35,803 population records from 5,790 species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians between 1970 and 2022, according to WWF. It works out to an average drop of about 2.5% a year, and ZSL's Andrew Terry said there is no evidence yet of a global recovery.

Where the losses hit hardest

Geography matters a lot here. Latin America and the Caribbean saw an average 95% decline, while Africa fell 80% and Asia and the Pacific 49%. North America and the combined Europe and Central Asia region dropped around 25%, though the authors point out that development had already reshaped nature there before 1970.

Freshwater life took the biggest beating at 85%, compared with 69% on land and 59% in the ocean, per the WWF Canada release. Pollution, overharvesting and dams are the main culprits. One example: the Amazon pink river dolphin plunged 65% between 1994 and 2016 in a single Brazilian reserve.

The causes are familiar. On land, habitat loss and degradation drive most of the decline, while marine life is squeezed by overfishing. Climate change piles on top, which is why this story belongs next to every other climate emergency headline.

The comebacks nobody expected

This year's edition carries the subtitle "The Science of Hope," and it earns it. Green sea turtles became the first marine turtle to be downlisted by the IUCN in 2025 after roughly five decades of coordinated work across more than 80 countries, from protecting nesting females and eggs to lighting rules and bycatch devices.

Tigers, Southern African elephants and Atlantic bluefin tuna are also rebounding. Tiger numbers rose by nearly 80% from 2010 to 2025. Lead author Rebecca Shaw, WWF's chief scientist, said the stark headline hides "some real movement in some species." Stricter fishing rules did the heavy lifting for tuna.

Who is actually paying for the fix

Money is the obstacle. Terry told Inside Climate News that aid cuts from northern hemisphere governments have hit people and nature alike, and the report notes deep US cuts to conservation programs. One estimate it cites says $7.3 trillion flowed into activities that harm nature in 2023, more than 30 times what went to protecting or restoring it.

Shaw's pitch is to stop playing whack-a-mole species by species. She wants the focus on the food, energy and finance systems and how they connect. Agriculture is the single biggest driver of habitat loss, and solar's rapid growth is the report's example of a system that can flip fast.

The catch scientists want you to know

Not everyone thinks the number tells the whole story. Columbia University's Viorel Popescu, who was not part of the report, said it may understate total losses since it only covers vertebrates. Insects make up roughly three-quarters of known animal species, and their declines could be even more drastic.

The Conversation also flagged that large parts of the world's animals still are not being counted, so the data behind the 73% is far from complete. That is a gap, not a reason to shrug. If the best available picture is this grim, the unmeasured parts probably are not rosy.

What to watch next

The Living Planet Report lands as climate officials gather in Fiji for talks ahead of COP, where Tuvalu's leaders are pushing for $1.5 billion for 1.5 degrees. Expect nature funding to become a bigger fight in the next round of science and policy headlines.

For now, the takeaway from the Living Planet Report is simple: decline is real, recovery is real, and the difference is whether money and rules follow the science. Turtles and tigers prove the playbook works when countries stick with it for decades.