Report: World wildlife populations dropped by nearly three-quarters in 50 years

Worldwide wildlife populations have shrunk by nearly three-quarters on average over the past 50 years, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Thursday in the latest edition of its Living Planet Report.

The report monitors population trends across nearly 5,500 species from 1970 to 2020 and found that, on average, vertebrate wildlife populations fell 73 percent during that period. Within that broader group, the report found the steepest losses among freshwater wildlife populations, which fell 85 percent...