Twenty-five percent of the world's mammal species are in danger as a result of agricultural expansion, hunting and the introduction of exotic species, according to a meeting of experts from 50 countries last week in Argentina. The warning was issued during the 10th International Congress of Mammalogy, held for the first time in a South American country, in the city of Mendoza, 1,050 kilometers west of Buenos Aires.

Ecologist Ricardo Ojeda, an organizer of the Congress, told Tierramérica that there was consensus on “the need to conserve the environment in order to protect mammals' habitat.”

Aug. 9-14, some 1,200 mammal experts from around the world participated in the sessions organized by the Argentine Institute of Arid Zone Research and the Argentine Society for the Study of Mammals, among others.