More than three hundred species in Costa Rica joined the global endangered list this year

The Peccary, a pig-like mammal known locally as a “chancho de monte.”

December 2^nd, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The Peccary, a pig-like mammal known locally as a “chancho de monte,” is a species that lives in Costa Rica and which joins 332 other species in Costa Rica to join this year’s Red List of threatened or endangered species, developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The latest update of the list on November 26^th brings to 333 the number of species that live or pass through Costa Rica during migration that have been added to the list this year alone.  That number, however, is less than the record addition of 980 such species to the list last year.

This year, the additions include 204 animals or insects, while the rest are plant species.

In total, there are 2,974 species in Costa Rica facing some degree of threat, according to the list.  Worldwide, the figure stands at 71,576 species.

Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species (of which a little more than 300,000 are insects) which represents nearly 4% of the total estimated species in the world, making Costa Rica one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.