Animal Info - France

Threatened Species, Environmental and Social Data (Mammals, Biodiversity/Ecosystems, Population, Area/Land Use, Protected Lands, Economy, Education), References and Links

Threatened Species

Threatened Species: The following list includes all mammals which occur in France and are rated as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) or Vulnerable (VU) in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

Critically Endangered:
- Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus).
Endangered:
- European Mink (Mustela lutreola).
- Northern Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis).
Vulnerable:
- Bechstein's Bat (Myotis bechsteini).
- Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra).
- Garden Dormouse (Eliomys quercinus).
- Geoffroy's Bat (Myotis emarginatus).
- Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).
- Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
- Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros).
- Long-fingered Bat (Myotis capaccinii).
- Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale).
- Mehely's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi).
- Mouflon (or Urial) (Ovis orientalis).
- Pond Bat (Myotis dasycneme).
- Pyrenean Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus).
- Western Barbastelle (Bat) (Barbastella barbastellus).
- White Whale (Delphinapterus leucas).

Environmental and Social Data

Mammals

Total number of species: 93 (Groombridge & Jenkins 1994)
Number of endemic species: 0 (Groombridge & Jenkins 1994)
Number of threatened species: 1996: 13 (14.0 % of total species) (IUCN 1996); 2000: 18 (19 % of total species) (IUCN 2000)

Biodiversity/Ecosystems

France, including its Overseas Territories, contains portions of the New Caledonia Moist Forests, New Caledonia Dry Forests, Southern European Montane Forests, Mediterranean Shrublands & Woodlands, New Caledonia Streams, and Icelandic & Celtic Marine Ecosystems Global 200 Ecoregions (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999)
France, in its Overseas Territories, contains the New Caledonia Global Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 1999a)

Population

Population in 1995: 58,109,000 (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population density in 1995: 106.8 people/sq km (276.7 people/sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Population in 1998: 58,804,944 (World Almanac 1999)
Average population growth rate, 1980 - 1990: 0.5 % (World Bank 1992)

Area/Land Use

Area: 543,965 sq km (210,026 sq mi) (Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995)
Percentages of primary world ecosystem types:

Other Coastal Aquatic: 5 %
Grass and Shrub: 2 %
Crop and Settlements: 49 %
Interrupted Woods: 28 %
Major Forests: 16 %

(Groombridge 1992)

Percent of land area classified as the following degree of human disturbance: Low: 1 %; Medium: 14 %; High: 85 % (WRI 1994)

Protected Lands

Area: 53,580 sq km (20,682 sq mi) (Groombridge 1992)
Percent of land protected: 0.51 % totally protected; 9.34 % partially protected; 9.85 % totally or partially protected (Groombridge 1992)

Economy

Per capita GNP ($ U.S.) (1991): $20,486 (WRI 1994)
Per capita GDP ($ U.S.) (1996): $20,900 (World Almanac 1999)

Education

Percent of females in secondary education (1989): 100 % (World Bank 1992)

References and Links

References: Cons. Intl. 1999a, Groombridge 1992, Groombridge & Jenkins 1994, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2004, Natl. Geog. Soc. 1995, Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999, World Almanac 1999, World Bank 1992, WRI 1994

General Links (After you get to one of these sites, click on the link for France): CIA World Factbook, Foreign Embassies of Washington, D.C., Library of Congress - Country Studies, University of Texas - Country Maps, Washington Post - Countries, World Resources Institute - Country Profiles; Links for France: World Wildlife Fund - France (Français)

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Last modified: November 9, 2005;